I'm restoring a midget that was completed in September of 1980. The body panels are in original paint & everything is vinyl. Apparently it was pretty standard by then. So to maintain its "period correctness" I will use vinyl on the freshly painted tail tank. As a kid I used to watch the sign painters letter race cars, trucks, and shop windows. A hand lettered race car is still the "gold standard" in my opinion.
I'm currently in the process of doing the restoration paint , lettering , pinstriping and artwork on the "Soapy Sales " TF/D from the '60's that ran in So Cal. All of the lettering will be real 23K goldleaf and paint ,, absolutly no vinyl on this car !
I love the hand painted look but good sign painters are hard to find and some are hard to deal with. Ego with a big "E".
I've noticed that Ego thing with some of the new younger kids getting into it.......I think it's just this younger generation entirely.......it's kinda like Ahe Man, wha chu wunt, I ain't got all day..........Most will grow out of it the first time they letter someones car and mess it up........only 2 things you always remember...."Never mess up a mans car or kick his dog".....you can say stuff about his wife, but not the other.....hehehe There is some GREAT YOUNG KIDS out there doing Beautiful work though....Some of them have the Hand for it and just pick it up and run.....It all comes down to you either are a Sign Painter or you do Sign Painting....there is a difference.
I had my O/T racecar lettered with vinyl if you care to look its at facebook.com/tdcracing and i love it. Besides i dont think i could afford painting. But for my 31a im gonna have Hotrod Jen do some work soon cause basically shes awsome and it looks so much better. Dave
VINYL SUCKS!!!! I have seen so many High Dollar vintage drag car restorations fucked up becouse the owner goes cheap on the one thing they shouldent go cheap on!!! The lettering. If it's a tits car, I'll even give a guy a brake on hand lettering it just so they can keep their period correct car, PERIOD CORRECT!
If you operate a current day sign shop, you do vinyl. It serves a purpose for the masses that want things FAST AND CHEAP. Vinyl never has any pesky brush strokes either! ha. Most of the unwashed are fine with the general layout and kerning that the plotter's software provides. Anyway, if someone thinks 1-shot slingers charge too much, then they should use the vinyl shop next to the Starbucks. A little bit of soul costs money.
Vinyl is inexpensive? Sez who? The Pinheads/Letterheads are some of the coolest, friendliest, and creative people. Filled with inspiration and guidance. I have had the fortune to cross paths with many of these people. I pinstripe, but I am no pinstriper. I hold in high regard the craftperson that can walk around a car and lay down a single or a double or triple line with speed and consistancy. I have wittnessed lettering layed down quicker than the startup time for a computer. One of my regrets is that I was not born left handed. I had an instructor/mentor that once told me that where I resided the norm was "visually illiterate". The examples he pointed out, still abound today, 30 years later. Like vinyl lettering it is accepted by a large part of my socty. Not by me. Acmechris Rat Fink #590 Pinhead #477
My shirts say... "cool costs money... how cool ya wanna be?" I'll say it again... if you want the real thing.. neon, pinstriping, welding... you can find it in any area of the country.... just takes a little effort.... a far reach for some, I know.
Hey man, hope all is well with you! You know the work you did on my mom's race car helmet was one of the biggest influences on me getting into pinstriping?? That was the firt piece I actually saw up close and got to examine and learn from... Thanks man!!!!!!! take care!!!
I have a buddy who has made a living as a sign painter for 35+ years I have known him and he was on the ground floor when vinyl lettering etc. came in...
There is something to say about a sign painter applying his gift to someone's ride. A lost art for sure. We have come so far and have lost so much along the way..... Progress?
coming from someone who is getting into lettering its a true art for sure . been pinstriping for awhile and branched into lettering not to long ago and i love it .. i've met so many people who are sign painters and in the "hay day" were really busy doing this by hand..in a way just like illustrators, engineers and architects have faced industry changes .. time is money in some cases , less time less money thats what a lot of people want, so to have the tools to do it vinyl is the sign guys tool . i know some who kept up with the times and can keep a float doing vinyl , and also do hand painted things if someone wants that done ... for myself i'm not a fan of vinyl and i'll just try to keep spreading the love of hand lettering with my paint brush ...
I do vinyl lettering/signs on the side from my everyday job.....i admit you will never find any vinyl on any of my cars. It makes me some good side money that funds my projecets so i cant compain to much.. but vinyl has its place as does everything...its fast easy and cheap(which i think has got us into a lot of the problems we are in today).. i can get a roll of black or white vinyl 24"x30' to the door for about $35 and bought the cutter used about 4yrs ago for about 1000. got my money back and then some... but i do agree that there is nothing better then good hand lettering or stripes on a car and i do plan on learn how to stripe by hand
no vinyl here.and i dont charge alot either,sure i have to make a living ,but i truly enjoy doing it!come on over and git some!
Vinyl is great on the race car trailer, but, that's it..Get someone like my friend Edweird to lay the art work. And pay him. You ain't gonna inpress nobody with vinyl.....!
i dont like vinyl never have.but when i wanted to have some lettering done on a car i have i couldnt find anyone in my area or even a few hundred miles out of my area that still does it.then one day not long ago i met a man who said he still does it. i went to shake his hand and the poor guys hands shake worse than mine when i run out of pain meds and thats bad.but hell he was 82 yrs old.so if i find one say like edweird who live in s.c. and me in al. i got a choice,i can buy gas to get the car to him or i can pay him to letter it for me. cant afford both.so as bad as i hate to say it and i do hate to say it but it will have to be vinyl if i letter it. but then i might not because it just aint the same.