Here's an update on my progress on the Comet. The first two pics are the front and back where I have painted the black details on the hood and rear tail light panel also showing the bumpers mounted. I'm down to getting the Comet decals on. I bought the decals from Phoenix Graphix. They came fast via Fed-Ex. I spoke with Christian on the phone there. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for decals of any car. Anyone having applied these type of decals before, I would appreciate any pointers. While I got some directions and a squeegee with the kit, they were short and to the point. They recommended Slide-On or dish soap and water for the decal transfer. Anyone ever use Slide-On before? The last three picture are of the engine bay and the carb and intake I'm using on the xflow engine. The intake I'm running is the one on the right. I've basically taken a stock intake and made a flange for the Holley 350. The stock intake used a weber carby and I couldn't find a kit for it. The problem I have with the carb is that according to the tag, it came off of a sixties big block Ford truck and it appears to be running a little bit rich. It doesn't blow black smoke or give me any problems running except that sometimes after running the car when you re-start it up, the engine seems to be loaded up. You have to rev it up to kind of clear it out. It doesn't do it every time, only if you pump it or maybe when someone else is driveing the car. After it's cleared it's throat it runs fine. Just isn't as crisp as I think it should be. I was thinking about changing the jet size. Anyone know what size jet I should buy? Any help is appreciated. I'll post more pics when I get the decals on. Dave
Looks great!!! Phoenix Graphix is a great company to deal with. I called them and wanted the stripe in a stencil rather than a decal because when I finally get around to redoing my GT, I plan on painting the stripe on and bury it in clear coat.
We have used the Slide On gel many times and we never put on large decals without it. It's easy to use and works great. When you use enough of it, you can move the decal around as much as you want until you get it in just the right location. After that you just squeegee out the gel from under the decal. Start in the middle of the decal and squeegee the gel out to the sides. Any gel that does not squeegee out will evaporate once the sun beats down on it.
Re: I asked them about a stencil too because I also wanted to paint on the stripe. His hesitation told me either that they don't do it very often, they don't like to do it or that it was going to be expensive. Maybe all three. I didn't want to wait so I went ahead and ordered the decal.
Make sure your car is cool and you are in the shade. We used dish soap. Make sure no bugs are around when you put them on. Get a fresh pack of single edge razors for trimming. Make sure before you apply the spray/decals that you thoroughly wash the car and use something like amonia/windex to remove any wax if there is any. I marked with safe release masking tape the areas that I wanted the stripe-using the top of the fenders, window and trunk line as a gauge. Good luck. Seth
The paint on the hood is DCC. I used a black the lady at English Color recommended. She said it was typically used to paint trim work. Then put a flat clear on top which is supposed to make it last longer. I'm liking the color. It's not shiney like a gloss, but a little shiney-er than a flat. I was concerened about getting the tape right afraid it wouldn't look like the factory stripeing and also was afraid to shoot the clear. While it isn't perfect it looks pretty close. I'm happy with it. It helped the car and I find myself going outside to look at it over and over. The clear was applied at 3:00am Sunday morning. The only real mistake was in a spot right under neith the hood scoop. So it worked out. On the decals, what do I need to trim with the razors? I thought I would cut the decals out in strips(their all on one sheet) and they would slide off similiar to model decals once I sprayed on the Slide-Off. Are you talking about to trim the ends? I haven't applied any wax or polish to the paint yet. My thinking was to do a light high grit double action sanding followed up with polish and buffing after I apply the decals. I was going to polish around the decals and black trim. One more thought...Do people clear coat over decals?
yes.... You have to trim at the back of the fenders, both ends of the doors and at the start of the quarter stripe at the front of the quarter. They are usually a little longer than needed. I would do whatever sanding/polishing/buffing prior to installing stripes. You would have to add lots of clear to coat stripes to eliminate edges, then you would have too much material. I wouldn't try it. Your clear could possibly make the stripe draw.
