Are the frame detail kits worth the money? I was thinking of just purchasing the stencils and use or mix my own paint for the inspection markings on a 60 vette frame off.
Just seems like a lot of money just for a few ounces of paint in the kits.

Thanks ,
mac

 

With all due respect...it is all depending on what you are trying to "pass-off". Something that your friends can see and appreciate...or something that will pass when those who know what they are looking at see it.

This is also depending on the type of paint that GM used and the amount of luster in it. Some types of paint are highly pigmented and when applied..can give a different effect (coverage) than that of what was originally applied. If being judged...you might regret it if "they" can detect that the color is not just right. I do frame-offs. And there are areas where it often times does not make sense to cut corners...but that is totally my view on that...because I am charging people for the frame-off....and the last thing I would need to hear is that they got points off or noticed "something just not right" due to trying to save $$$ on something that is going to be checked. AND knowing that the cost for the frame-off is "what it is"...the percentage of the cost for this "kit" is so minute to the total costs...it just does not make sense. All it would take is a judge with a very sharp eye for color like what I have. AND YES...I could custom mix up the color on my mixing service I have in my shop and get it "spot-on"...but that also takes time and just not make sense to waste more time on mixing up a color than I can buy it for.

DUB

 

Dub,
I didn't want to come off cheap . Unfortunately I buy new cars and can find the flaws in 5 min in paint and fit. So you know restraining from making a 50 year old car "original" vs perfect is more of a challenge for a type "A" personality like myself.

I have only seen the detail kits on line and they all seem to be the same kit through all the vendors. Two rattle cans and what looks to be a few bottles of paint like my wife buys from the craft store had me concerned. I just didn't want to purchase material that would go from a red mark and be pink a month later. I think the quality vs the price was more of my question.

Thanks,
Mac

 

Why are you doing this?

If you intend to get the car judged and "originality" is an issue then spend the money and get a proper kit with proper date coded stencils etc. This was often done with a roller - not spray paint. Some years were not with a stencil at all, but by hand written crayon.

If this is important to you - do the research before you do the work.

PM to you on supplier.

 

I CAN relate and this is always a concern with me also. But as long as some companies make and sell crap and people buy it. Those that sell the "good/right stuff", regardless what it is..often times either go out of business or begin to sell the crap because they can not compete with those companies selling the crap to people who buy it. PERFECT example of the 95% rule.

By the way...I did not mean to write my reply like you were "cheap". That is not how I intended it to come across to you when you read it.

Like my father always says. "Remember TIM". T.I.M. (Time IS Money).

DUB

 

Funny you say that thirty years ago when I was painting cars to pay for a college education I didn't want, my father use to say "you will never get rich trading time for dollars ." He was right to a extent and I ended up using the education and the skill to be fortunate to do both.