[SD455DJ]

Here's a picture (blurry...sorry) on the original PC emissions label from my '70 RAIII Formula 400. I can email this over to you Ken if you need it.

Dennis

[Verdoro 68]

New (old) toy arrived today - ALPS thermal printer for water slides. I just have to find a parallel to USB adapter (and then go from USB to USB-C) and the Mac driver.

Interesting setup with the tapes for each color. You can do full color with this printer and print spot colors too like metallics or white.

[dataway]

Are the tapes still available?

BTW, got my goodies today, thank you.

[Verdoro 68]

They are readily available. There’s quite a hobbyist community around these printers for decals. Someone even made a Mac OS X driver for them.

Let me know how the screen works out for you!

[Held for Ransom]

Ken, I got my decals too. Thanks.

Possible NOS decals...

Dennis, you should order the Ames "correct" decal and compare. I don't have any later '70 to compare to.

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

New (old) toy arrived today - ALPS thermal printer for water slides. I just have to find a parallel to USB adapter (and then go from USB to USB-C) and the Mac driver.

Interesting setup with the tapes for each color. You can do full color with this printer and print spot colors too like metallics or white.

Wow, printing white is a testament to old tech.

That should be a great addition to your tools. I'm amazed you can get a driver that works in a modern OS... another bonus! Nicely purchased!

[Trevor78]

[QUOTE=Verdoro 68;6415352]I paused on the '70 labels and picked back up on the '67 HO and '68 Ram Air air cleaner screens since I had a few requests for them. These were tricky to get the size and the text right! First pass came out pretty decent.

That's very neat. Are they on dry transfer paper?

[OG68]

Received my decals today also. Thank you Ken.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Wow, printing white is a testament to old tech.

That should be a great addition to your tools. I'm amazed you can get a driver that works in a modern OS... another bonus! Nicely purchased!

Modern is relative. I can't run the driver on my newer M1 MacBooks, but it does work on the older Intel machines. Fortunately, I have an old iMac that's slow as molasses but I think it will work perfect for this.

You can also do clear decals with an HP laser printer. There's a new company called Ghost that makes white toner but it isn't cheap. Another option to consider if this setup proves to cumbersome.

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Ken, I got my decals too. Thanks.

Possible NOS decals...

Dennis, you should order the Ames "correct" decal and compare. I don't have any later '70 to compare to.

I just ordered a bunch of '69-'72 decals from Ames for reference - including the ones they list as correct. Interesting that they list a correct '71 455HO automatic decal but not a manual.

Originally Posted by Trevor78

That's very neat. Are they on dry transfer paper?

Those are silkscreened like the other air cleaner service instructions. I haven't done any dry transfers yet.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

I just ordered a bunch of '69-'72 decals from Ames for reference - including the ones they list as correct. Interesting that they list a correct '71 455HO automatic decal but not a manual.

I only noticed that today when this thread popped up;
LINK

I'm not sure how HFR knew about them, but I sure didn't - and even after I knew of them, I had to look in a specific manner for them to show up.

I was curious about these, and was considering buying one - but if you are going to put work into this decal type, I don't want to take away from your dedication to this;
Please let us all know about the deficiencies observed, or if you are going to crap-can working on 1970 decals because these ones are that good...

[Held for Ransom]

Jonny,
We started posting about them in #168. I listed them in #169. I believe the "correct" part is referring to the squared off corners, more than the font, spacing and such. But, I can't compare as I have no later '70 vehicles. I am surprised that no early RAIV decals are out there.

Also, Classic Industries picture of the older PB decal (DT85 or DT0085 Osborn Reproduction number) shows squared corners, but I doubt they are.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

I was curious about these, and was considering buying one - but if you are going to put work into this decal type, I don't want to take away from your dedication to this;
Please let us all know about the deficiencies observed, or if you are going to crap-can working on 1970 decals because these ones are that good...

I'll make a call when I get the decals and we can compare. Sounds like there's a need for at least one correct '70 that's not being produced today though.

On a different note, I could use some help deciphering coolant decal usage. I purchased an NOS decal with the p/n 9781477.

Based on some internet research, it looks like the coolant part number was changed from 983743 to 1050030 in '68 so that's part of the puzzle.

The other part I'm trying to figure out is the sizes. When creating the black coolant decals, I got measurements off an original (2"x4.5"). I also have pics of a white decal that's the same size. However, the NOS decal I purchased is 2.25" x 5" - like the current reproduction. Anyone have any insight into the size usage? I can't find a reference to the part number of the NOS decal anywhere so I'm not sure what it was used on.

Interestingly, it also looks like the line art is thinner on the white version. Pic below has the black decal I created, the existing repro on the market and the NOS on the bottom.

[Shiny]

It's clear to me your design quality is 3 notches above GM.

Staring at the 3 you just posted, I had to wonder what kind of day the original designer was having when he or she layed out the text in the box "If hot water only...".

Any idea if there was a "graphics design" function or department? Maybe they had the cooling system engineers make their own decals? My guess is on the latter back then.

In my former life, something as seemingly simple as a label could require design input and approval by at least 3 different organizations and need to be tested/verified by 2 or more different orgs. It was even worse if the labeling had regulatory content. If the labeling was molded into a part, a major storm could erupt if a change was needed last minute.

[Verdoro 68]

Get ready for the $125 "concours correct" decal extravaganza!

Hot take: none of these are correct. I can tell by looking at the fonts. Quality and finish is variable on them. Ames part numbers follow the descriptions.

'69 Ram Air IV PD (X795JA)
Matte finish, 3-1/4"x 5-7/8", squared corners


'70 400 4BBL PC (X185BA)
Semi-gloss finish, 3-1/8" x 5-11/16"


Original PC decal


'70 455 4BBL PD (X239A)
Semi-gloss finish, 3-1/4" x 5-3/4"


'70 Ram Air IV PE (X350A)
Matte finish, 3-1/4"x6", squared corners


All the '70s together

[Verdoro 68]

'71 455 HO manual PM version I just made (top) vs. '71 455 HO manual PM (X181 - bottom)
Gloss finish, 2-1/2" x 6-3/4"


'71 455 HO automatic PN (X191A)
Matte finish, 2-5/8" x 6-5/8"


'72 400 PG (X202)
Gloss finish, 2-5/8" x 6-11/16"


'72 400 PE (X167)
Semi-gloss, 2-9/16" x 6-9/16"

[Verdoro 68]

Given the state of the concours decals, I picked back up on the '70s and I think I have the PC label in a pretty good state.

Alignment with the original....





The original Dennis provided above:


Comparison of my version and the Ames version.

[Held for Ransom]

I'd like to see a few lines fattened up and some lines shortened up and the degree sign after the 9 elongated. Compare to the supposed NOS decal post 185.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

I'd like to see a few lines fattened up and some lines shortened up and the degree sign after the 9 elongated. Compare to the supposed NOS decal post 185.

Fixed the degree sign, not sure how I missed that one. Could you elaborate on the lines? I see the bottom left two are a little shorter. Which ones do you think need to be thicker? It's hard to tell via the pic but maybe the left far left on the tune up specs and the line under Pontiac Motor Div.

[unruhjonny]

there should be a gap between the bottom line and the bottom of the sticker too - right?

[Verdoro 68]

Yes, although it looks like the width of that gap was variable.