Has anyone done this, can you post some pics or a how to?
I am going to do the Black 1st gen style panel and I want to fill in the lettering to airbrush or use 1st gen style badges on it.
I know its a pretty stout panel but its still plastic and it still flexes a little. What would be the body filler of choice? Is there a plastic weld that would be better suited for this? If it works out well I will do smooth the insert for the front badge too.
Thanks.

p.s. I tried searching but didn't have much luck using panel, filler, camaro, rear, etc.

 

you might not be interested in the vinyl strips, but i did that on my 2000v6 and got the lettering off ebay for like 8 bucks shipped to the door and it took maybe 15 minutes to put them on... all you had to do was clean the area and then spray it with a watery soapy solution and put the adhesive part to the car, which slid around into place with the solution on it. then you get the air bubbles out with your fingers and you're done...don't know about painting the letters though...you can't tell i have vinyl strips in mine..

 

I bought some stainless steel letters from ebay, a prefect fit.

 

Here are a couple of shots of my rear letter inserts.


All Letters


Details

I bought them from a seller on eBay called Auto Trim Design.

http://showcase.vendio.com/gallery?cid=11815761_&mid=4

 

Actually, I think what he is wanting to do is completely fill in the letters for a smooth panel surface. I also did the vinyl inlays in the letter depressions but I'm reading BigBad as he is wanting to smooth out the panel by doing away with the concave letters.

 

I did mine with carbon fiber inserts from www.rksport.com they have other selections too

 

exactly. while the inserts are ok, i want to smooth the car out. my concern is that if i fill it using a regular "bondo" that over time it will separate and crack.

 

oic, Sorry. I missed that entirely. I would agree with your thinking about bondo cracking. However, I am no expert in that area. I suggest you find a body man with a lot of "miles" on him and pick his brain.

 

You'd have to remove the paint and get most of the panel around the letters where your body work will be done and use fiberglass and resin. Quite messy stuff but it does the trick. Very hard also, use a DA for the big stuff, then a decent sanding block that is longer than the length of the letters. You may want to slightly decrease the depth of the indentation by the letters, or slightly feather it to make filling easier. The fiberglass is just a step, don't try and get it straight or perfect with it, this is just to fill in the letters with something that will hold. After you're done filling the letters, the area around the letters will be warped, uneven, have pits and inconsistencies. Find a body filler that goes over fiberglass and start spreading. Sand until you think it's close, then primer. Now use a powdered guide coat over the primer after it has dried (check directions of primer for blocking time) and sand it with 150 to highlight the highs and lows, re-apply spot putty and get it just right and primer again. If necessary (for beginners), repeat previous step then primer again. Now guide coat again and wet sand your guide coat with 400 wet until you see now guide coat and it is completely smooth and free of imperfections and pinholes. Depending on your choice of paint brands, you may or may not want to go over the area you just sanded with 600 wet for an even better finish. There's tons more to know but that should get you started.

Alternatively, you can try plastic bumper repair (usually black stuff) which mixes up like epoxy which we use on bumpers. But fiberglass is easier to find if you don't have an autobody outlet near you.

That's just the fast typing version off the top of my head.

 

thanks. i was hoping i didn't have to go the fiberglass route just out of simplicity. I really want to do it so i'll post pics once its done.

 

I did mine myself.

I took some gloss black model car paint and painted them in permanently.

It turned out fantastic and I love the look.

 

how many coats of model paint did it take to completely fill in the letters to the point you could no longer tell they were there?

 

Actually I think Pandamonkey has also misunderstood your post and also just means that he painted in the letters himself?

Here is what I think you're wanting to do, correct me if I'm wrong


I think you should definitely go for it it looks super sick

 

thats it! thats exactly it. I don't want to copy the guy but man that looks good. I've come to the conclusion that the car is going to be flat black(black base w/ semi flat clear) and I want to smooth out everything. Its getting the VFN sunoco hood and ZR28 LG spoiler

 

Oh.......I see!

Whoops - my mistake, I did misunderstand!