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Front End Lettering

B

burnstiger

Donation Time
I have a '65 that had the SUNBEAM lettering removed from the front over 25 years ago. I would like to put them back on. I can feel the holes underneath to somewhat help with general location but I don't see drilling those holes out from underneath as an option, given the limited amount of room and the angle. Do any of you have any spacing dimensions for the letttering or any other ideas of how to proceed and get the letters correctly located? My understanding is the letter spacing is closer together on the front than the trunk lettering is, so using that spacing won't help. If anyone has their lettering off and can make a template or do a tracing of their letters(Crayon/Marker) or any other ideas, I would really appreciate your help. In my youth I thought removing the letters would give cleaner lines- now I really miss the way it looked with the front end lettering on.

Thanks in advance everyone!
 
AlsPine

AlsPine

Donation Time
If someone here has a early car that they are willing to pull the letters off, he could make a template for you with the hole locations, then all you need to do is tape it down and drill your holes.
Or....
If the holes were filled with bondo, you could try pushing the plug from the back and watching the top for a bulge then drilling from the top.
Or...
If they are bondo pluged, heat up a small nail and push from the back and burn through the bondo, then drill the holes out from the top.

I noticed that in looking under in that area on my '67, the sub support had the holes for the letters.
It is always nice to have everything correct on the year model, so hope you can make it correct.
Good Luck.
 
tony perrett

tony perrett

Gold Level Sponsor
Do you know if the original holes were filled with lead or a body filler? If the latter, it should be possible to use an angled scribing tool to scratch away the filler from behind the panel. It is a slow process but you then reveal the original holes which is far better than drilling new ones as only the slightest error will ruin the alignment of the letters.
 
alpine_64

alpine_64

Donation Time
Eric,

I'm thinking the same person.. but im guessing you knew that too.. maybe they are trying to shop around for some other options.
 
A

agmason54

Donation Time
front end letting

I have several letters with broken studs you could glue on.I could lay a yard stick across the top of the SUNBEAM letters of an early car for you and send a picture...
One false move drilling through bondo could chip off a nice sized flake of paint.I would get a nice set and find the holes during the next paint job .
For a template I have some letters still on parts car but they are under an iinch of ice right now.
I was tooling my SII through your state once and met a guy who claimed he owned the only Tiger in Minnesota so it must be you...
Take care,
Al
 
B

burnstiger

Donation Time
Frony End Lettering

I posted on TE/AE for ideas on the lettering. Then posted here to broaden the range of the ideas people had. My car untill last summer had not been on the road for 20 some years-to the best of my knowledge there are at least a half dozen or so Tigers and many Alpines in and around the Twin Cities. Thanks everyone for your ideas- please keep them coming if you have other thoughts.

Kevin
 
B

bmohr

Gold Level Sponsor
Kevin,

If you can feel the holes from the backside, is it possible you could poke thru with a dental pick. The local hardware stores sell knockoff picks for a few bucks. Then once you knew poked thru from the back, you could push from the front with an awl or a small phillips head.

I might have a chance to trace over my letters and scan it, just not sure how much help that will be locating the holes.

Last thought is that if you might take a strong magnet and put it on the hood then put some iron filings over the spot where the letters should go. They should stick where there's metal, but not where there's filler. Never tried this, it just popped in my head while I was typing so no guarantee.

Good luck,
 
A

agmason54

Donation Time
Kevin,
Cool beans, Let me know what color it is so I don't confuse it with an Alpine in the drive. I'll wash the mud off before I return it.Thanks
Agm
 
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