Topic: Engine Paper ID Stickers -

[J_Speegle]

Guys - the purpose of this thread is about creating the labels not about specific labels and their coding. Great subject for over in the 70 section

[cobrajet_carl]

Guys - the purpose of this thread is about creating the labels not about specific labels and their coding. Great subject for over in the 70 section

Maybe I should have put my post with my attempt at making a decal in this thread.

[J_Speegle]

Sounds great since the intended focus in this thread was making/creating the stickers.

I've learned things by making these and other labels over the years in an effort to improve. The early sticker in the first post shows some terrible edges and even some odd edges - not something I would use at this point. Not sure if that was a mistake in the design of the letters of the inkjet printer I was using at the time. Have since moved on to using only a better printer. Copies turn out sharper and the inks are more permanent than the inkjet I use to use. During that period I had to seal or coat the paper after they were printed. 

[Countrysquire]

What font is used for these decals?  I want to try to make one for my son?s 1970 Bronco that we are finishing up.

Thanks,
Bobby

[J_Speegle]

What font is used for these decals?  I want to try to make one for my son?s 1970 Bronco that we are finishing up.

Thanks,
Bobby

Don't know I draw each letter individually by hand to keep control

[Bossbill]

I scan a tag (or use an online pic) I want to emulate, pic a font that is close ("view fonts" and run through them), convert the text to paths and stretch/push each letter so that it looks like the original.
I usually put the pic on one layer and the text/path on a layer above the pic. Vary the translucency on the letters

There is no "Ford font". Sometimes the font on dates is different between mo/day/year on the same stamp! Usually each vendor has their own font although they tend to have the same "2" and "7" (with the curved back).

[Countrysquire]

Thanks, I will give it a try.

Bobby

[Countrysquire]

So I gave it a try for the 302-2V in my son?s 1970 Bronco and would rate the results between fair and pretty good. Using Avery shipping labels, I printed a sheet, applied packing tape, cut it to size, then recreated the ?tears? on the ends with a packing tape dispenser like Jeff demonstrated. Even at the highest print quality settings, my ink jet printer simply can?t get the letters black enough. I?m going to try again with a laser jet and see if there?s a notable difference. My other concern is that the adhesive won?t hold up for long, but it?s just about as easy to make 20 of them as 1, so no big deal there.

[Bob Gaines]

You could also have a stamp made with your artwork . That way you could get it much darker.

[J_Speegle]

So I gave it a try for the 302-2V in my son?s 1970 Bronco and would rate the results between fair and pretty good. Using Avery shipping labels, I printed a sheet, applied packing tape, cut it to size, then recreated the ?tears? on the ends with a packing tape dispenser like Jeff demonstrated. Even at the highest print quality settings, my ink jet printer simply can?t get the letters black enough. I?m going to try again with a laser jet and see if there?s a notable difference. My other concern is that the adhesive won?t hold up for long, but it?s just about as easy to make 20 of them as 1, so no big deal there.

Started out using the same brand and adhesive label paper as yours. You may find that the ink will run if your using an ink jet especially in humid conditions and especially if you don't top coat it with the think clear plastic top layer. I've since gotten a laser jet for making labels of all kinds, changed to paper sheets that provide me with the features I was looking for and using a hobby machine to apply the adhesive backing to the sheets once printed

Have always made 4-6 of every decals since like originals the paper will get old and show age and I'm not planning singles in the future for this sort of thing.

Wonder why his was on the passenger side valve cover.  Just seems odd but guess you had pictures and its location and details were documented

[Bob Gaines]

Started out using the same brand and adhesive label paper as yours. You may find that the ink will run if your using an ink jet especially in humid conditions and especially if you don't top coat it with the think clear plastic top layer. I've since gotten a laser jet for making labels of all kinds, changed to paper sheets that provide me with the features I was looking for and using a hobby machine to apply the adhesive backing to the sheets once printed

Have always made 4-6 of every decals since like originals the paper will get old and show age and I'm not planning singles in the future for this sort of thing.

Wonder why his was on the passenger side valve cover.  Just seems odd but guess you had pictures and its location and details were documented

+1 . Thought the same thing. The sticker is more typically seen on driver side small block valve cover.

[J_Speegle]

Depends on year. Once you get into at least 73 then you have a different style ID sticker with multiple lines and punch out that are installed on the passenger valve cover as shown above. Just wanted to check to see if someone used a later year example to guide them with placing this one 

In 71 at least some of the engine plants started to apply the stickers to the passenger side though the size, style and layout used in the earlier years continued




Picture below shows examples from 73. In some cases the printing changes to blue while black is used on others

[Countrysquire]

+1 . Thought the same thing. The sticker is more typically seen on driver side small block valve cover.

I didn't have anything to reference on the truck since the valve covers had been repainted, so I went with what I saw in the few original photos that I could find as well as photos on here (from unrestored Mustangs).  Some of those photos were from '71-'73, so that might have misled me.  To be honest, we took some liberties regarding true concours correctness because they would probably hurt more than help in the types of shows this thing will see.  Unpainted waterpump bypass hose and clamps, no overspray on the exhaust manifolds, etc.  That said, we want it to be correct as possible otherwise, so I will place the next attempt at the ID sticker on the driver side valve cover. 

We are lucky that it is an 80,000 mile truck that was mostly untouched under the hood and underneath, so we had a lot we were able to duplicate, such as the yellow motor mounts, but concours Bronco info is not easy to find...

Thanks for y'all's help.

[Bossbill]

My wife used to work in an arboretum and did massive scale planting there and by herself in our greenhouse. The industry uses plastic plant ID tags of various styles including the solid spear and loop-back styles. Although those are rather thick and have no adhesive, there are literally thousands of plastic tags or labels available to this and other industries.

My wife has various machines called vinyl heat transfer machines which produce the plant ID tags. A roll of transfer tape (can be of various colors) is inserted along with a roll of vinyl transfer media. The vinyl transfer, as noted, can be thick like the spears or as thin as mylar. The later can have a really aggressive adhesive.

The machine I have in the shop is one of her spares and I've used it to print information on tubular shrink labels to put over wires for identification. Great for use on racecar wiring systems. In other words, these printers are extremely versatile. (pic 1).
 
The thin vinyl I have in there now is one of the smaller label styles. As I said earlier, these can be purchased in many sizes and thicknesses. The current software in the machine does text on two lines as entered on the keyboard (an optional extra)  (pic2).  You can also download graphics alone or in combination with keyboard entry. One could create the graphics for the engine tag on the computer and then download it to the machine as a graphic.

The thermal transfer does really solid colors as seen on the label I created here. Because it is done thermally, the transfer stays on the vinyl and is very hard to remove except by abrasion. The shininess of the label makes it appear as if it were laminated. Example in pic 3.

Just another rabbit hole to dive into as you require the machine, keyboard, software to drive the machine and thousands of different labels from which to choose.

[JohnB]

Not sure, but does the label turn black when the engine warms up?