About to spray some primer. What is the best way to mask the vin plate? I don't want to drill the rivets and I don't want to paint over the vin plate. Any products you recommend?
Just tape it off, trim around the edges and call it good. Some states are getting real nasty about vin or serial number plates that have been removed and put back on with the wrong fasteners. When I moved up here from Texas in 1977 the door post plate on my 48 probably had ten coats of paint on it and the state patrol officer who inspected the truck just took his pocket knife and scraped off the area where the serial number was stamped and that is the way it has been ever since.
Usually you mask items. With other items called masking tape, and masking paper. Preferably automotive paint grade.
I thought about getting an exacto knife or scalpel to cut around the vin plate when applying the masking tape.
Hello, One of the best items to put over any surface, to protect and seal is rubber cement. If a good layer of rubber cement is put on top of a metal surface, it will protect what is underneath. Then, when one is finished with the surrounding spray or body work, etc, then the rubber cement can be rubbed off or peeled off. The neat thing is that most rubber cement cans come with a brush and now, you can brush it on the plate. Once the plate is covered, then dry, spray what you want. The surface of the plate is covered with rubber cement and protected. Jnaki There are tons of brands and some are found in most biug box stores or art supply stores. The brush is handy for all applications. The tube versions, one has to use your finger or a spatula to spread out the rubber cement. When you are finished and the surrounding area is dry, then the rubber cement can be rolled off of the plate to stock appearance, again. Fair warning: The aroma coming from an open container of rubber cement is powerful. If you are finished with rubber cement, cap it asap. Or put some clear stretched Saran Wrap over the top(and seal the open area) if you are doing a lot of spreading with the brush. (The aroma will fill a two car garage fast and inhaling it for a long time is hazardous to your health...) Afterwards, the brush can go back in and cap the bottle for the next time of usage. YRMV
I knew a guy who wanted to make his tarnished aluminium data plate under the hood look nice again. Took him hours to tape the whole engine bay off and 2 minutes to rattle-can the data plate .
In addition to rubber cement, brush paintable liquid masks are sold in home improvement stores and hobby shops. They are a little easier to paint than rubber cement. Both should work fine for what you are doing.
I just use 2" masking tape, then a razor blade to trim around the plate. I wouldn't want any grease on it that could affect adjacent primer or paint later!
We used grease some in the army. Works pretty well if you're careful, I still use it in places like where a gasket goes.
Man @old_chevy you have got all of these random threads on "how do you......" Let me ask you this, what kind of a car are you working on? ( I imagine it is some kind of chevy) This is a community of car guys, we love old cars and would be interested in hearing the story behind your car. people here are very helpful but also love pictures. Why not start a thread on the restoration of your car, tell us the history, show pics describing the steps and rather than have dozens of different threads asking about the best way to do every little thing, you could have one thread that people could follow and offer advice and answer questions on.
I removed mine and rather than paint it, I polished it. Reattached with correct hollow style rivets with black dum dum sealer to replicate OEM.
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