Restoring Billboards

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by FUNFER2

Looks great !
That's what I exactly what I want. Nice & white letters with dressing that's not too shinny. In the photo, did you treat the treads too ?

I hope mine comes out that good.

My buddy with the chassis dyno recommends to wait to paint my billboards until after the last run, for the magazine saying, it's hard on bias ply tires.

Did not finish the tread. Don't think that is a good idea due to potential traction issues that some chemicals would create.

- Fred

[RedBarchetta]

Fred, thanks for the detailing tips. Your car is fantastic (heck, ALL of your cars are fantastic). Earlier today I committed to the set that is currently for sale here (thanks, Bob...looking forward to closing the transaction next week). They are already nicely painted (again, thanks Bob...great work), but I already have a can of the Ranger paint for touch-ups. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get my Billboards this soon, but some circumstances came up and I'm able to make it happen. I had already previously lined the rear wheelwells...onto the fronts I go!

-Dean

[fkemmerer]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Fred, thanks for the detailing tips. Your car is fantastic (heck, ALL of your cars are fantastic). Earlier today I committed to the set that is currently for sale here (thanks, Bob...looking forward to closing the transaction next week). They are already nicely painted (again, thanks Bob...great work), but I already have a can of the Ranger paint for touch-ups. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get my Billboards this soon, but some circumstances came up and I'm able to make it happen. I had already previously lined the rear wheelwells...onto the fronts I go!

-Dean

Hi Dean,

Thanks for the nice coments - I appreciate them. You'll want to figure out some sort of protection system for you fronts of your rear fenders as well. The Billboards look and handle great but they do through alot of stones. Best to have the protection in place before you install the new tires and drive the car.

- Fred

[RedBarchetta]

Fred, agreed. I had already lined the rears before I put on my MT drag radials. I have the materials to do the fronts and will get right on it...don't need "stars."

[FUNFER2]

Fred- thanks again.

Before I sanded my body down, I had the under body sprayed with under coating. I hope it will with stand the pebble pounding !

[elmariachi]

I just bought a set of Billboards from a neighbor with only 200 miles on them. He had used the spray-on Plasti-Dip stuff and while it looked okay, it had absorbed the oil from the rubber and turned the letters sorta tan, and with very little effort I managed to rub a letter completely off with my thumb. So I rubbed all of them off, masked them all, and ordered a can of the Ranger Tire Paint. The Einsteins at Ranger said the stuff was water-based so I thinned it a bit and loaded up my Badger airbrush. The stuff comes out of the can with some lumpy coagulation to it that I couldn't resolve. So, it didn't spray very well, but I did manage to get it working well enough to spray them all with a base coat and then a heavier final coat. I then went back and used an awl to scratch the stencil lines in the letters. They look great and based on how much scratching I had to do to get the stencil lines back, I'd say they will look good for a long time.

It took me about 30 minutes to mask each tire, so a couple hours there, and then 10 minutes to paint all four and clean up. So all in all maybe 3-4 hours.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

I just bought a set of Billboards from a neighbor with only 200 miles on them. He had used the spray-on Plasti-Dip stuff and while it looked okay, it had absorbed the oil from the rubber and turned the letters sorta tan, and with very little effort I managed to rub a letter completely off with my thumb. So I rubbed all of them off, masked them all, and ordered a can of the Ranger Tire Paint. The Einsteins at Ranger said the stuff was water-based so I thinned it a bit and loaded up my Badger airbrush. The stuff comes out of the can with some lumpy coagulation to it that I couldn't resolve. So, it didn't spray very well, but I did manage to get it working well enough to spray them all with a base coat and then a heavier final coat. I then went back and used an awl to scratch the stencil lines in the letters. They look great and based on how much scratching I had to do to get the stencil lines back, I'd say they will look good for a long time.

It took me about 30 minutes to mask each tire, so a couple hours there, and then 10 minutes to paint all four and clean up. So all in all maybe 3-4 hours.

El,
Forget water, thin it with 50% isopropyl. Strain and fill your cup. Then turn down your brush pressure and shoot freehand, no mask. You'll get the same look as the original.
The Ranger won't turn brown but over time, exhaust soot and brake dust will gray them down. I actually prefer that to the bleached white look, really has that vintage look. Easy to recoat once a season if you like.
Besides, stop screwing with tires and get on that cooling system!

[cobra de capell]

You know, using an air brush sounds like the way to go for the best look.

I've not used one, don't have one - would a beginner be able to readily use one for this job? If yes, what air brush and compresser do you recommend?

Also, what other projects do you use it for?

Thanks.