Camaro Letter Inserts

[ne0hisda0ne]

I know there are "decals" I can get or chrome inserts for the letters. I was wondering if anyone has just painted them in? If so what paint did you use, can I get it at any autoparts store? I want to paint my Camaro Letters "black" since I have a silver camaro to stand out more. Any tips on painting them?

[hockeyman]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Painting with a brush would not look right. If you want to use a spraycan or an airbrush, then there are a huge variety of paints to choose from.

If you're going to tape off the letters and use a spraycan, I'd suggest Krylon Fusion Paint. That stuff bonds to plastic like epoxy. You can get that at Walmart, K-Mart, Autozone, etc.

For silver, I'd suggest gunmetal metallic or graphite colored letters.

[ne0hisda0ne]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Ok, so I got a the Krylon Fusion paint you suggested. I also got tape and alcohol prep wipes. What would be the best way of taping it off? I've been thinking about it and I'm pretty sure my hand is not "pin striping" steady so outlining it without messing up worries me. I also thought about covering the whole area in tape and then using a razor blade to cut the letters out using the side of the letters as a guide. Also I dunno if I should do the side wall of the letters or leave them silver? What do you guys suggest? I've googled and can't really see if anyone has done the side wall of the letters, most images were decals.

[cam98aro]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

you are going to have to sand the camaro depressions down and put some primer on it first or your paint is not going to stick and just flake off

[cam98aro]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

is there a reason why you dont want to use decals?

you can buy them for like $10 shipped to your house, its easier and cheaper than trying to paint it

if you dont want to use the decals i would suggest removing the tail light panel and painting it indoors so you dont get overspray all over your car

[ne0hisda0ne]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Because I think it looks cheap I guess...I dunno...I guess the feeling of doing it myself also is a big part of it. Another reason is the decals I've seen look like they just stick on with like maybe 4 square stickers on the back from 3M. What would water/rain do to them? How long would they last, seems like a cheap & quick solution.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Get some polished stainless letters like I have. Certainly not cheap looking. They also sell acrylic fill-ins that will not look "cheap" either.

The decals really don't look cheap, anyway. I had two sets of those before I got the stainless ones, they are full stick on and stuck just fine for a year plus until I picked them off. Took a good amount of effort to remove them, so I'd say they would have stuck for a long time to come.

[pace2006]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Get some polished stainless letters like I have. Certainly not cheap looking. They also sell acrylic fill-ins that will not look "cheap" either.

The decals really don't look cheap, anyway. I had two sets of those before I got the stainless ones, they are full stick on and stuck just fine for a year plus until I picked them off. Took a good amount of effort to remove them, so I'd say they would have stuck for a long time to come.

x2. I got some mint stainless letters from a salvage yard on ebay. Definitely doesn't look cheap and finished off the look of the Berger panel. I just cut some 3M double sided adhesive and lined the back of the letters. They're not going anywhere and fill in the letter depressions, all while looking nice.

[cam98aro]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Because I think it looks cheap I guess...I dunno...I guess the feeling of doing it myself also is a big part of it. Another reason is the decals I've seen look like they just stick on with like maybe 4 square stickers on the back from 3M. What would water/rain do to them? How long would they last, seems like a cheap & quick solution.

i got mine from bret franker (sp) and they have been awesome

[hockeyman]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

What would be the best way of taping it off?

First, I'd lightly scuff the insides of the letters to give the paint something to grab onto. Something like an 800 grit.
There are two ways to tape them off;
1-The easy way which is to cover the whole area then use an "Exacto Knife" to carve out the letters.
2-The harder way which is to outline each letter with masking tape. This method is much more time consuming, but this is the way I've been taping body parts off as I'm learning to paint flames. I personally like this method much better.

After taping them off, use a light coat of primer on the letters, then light-to-medium coats of Krylon until you've reached a nice and even painted surface.

Doing the sides of the letters is up to you. Since most cars have deacals and the sides are the same as the body color, I'd paint them...just to be different. :rolleyes:

[Smoke Panther]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

What would water/rain do to them?

They didn't do anything to mine

How long would they last, seems like a cheap & quick solution.

Mine have stayed in place, not cracked etc etc for going on 3 years

[cam98aro]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Mine have stayed in place, not cracked etc etc for going on 3 years

im not sure what you have, but that pic i posted was taken about 3 years ago, and mine still looks exactly the same, they arent trying to peel or anything

[ne0hisda0ne]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

im not sure what you have, but that pic i posted was taken about 3 years ago, and mine still looks exactly the same, they arent trying to peel or anything

Dude, that camaro looks exactly like my *** end. Also your 98 as well, nice...

Well so basically the census is saying go decal not paint?

[cam98aro]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

Dude, that camaro looks exactly like my *** end. Also your 98 as well, nice...

Well so basically the census is saying go decal not paint?

thanks man, that picture is before i even put my dual exhaust on, so i know its pretty old

but its really up to you what you want to do, its just my opinion that it would be a ton of work to pant it

[fbodyrs96]

Re: Camaro Letter Inserts

model car paint markers work great to...it's been on there 4yrs now and still looks good.