[Verdoro 68]

Got the '70 400 and 455 adhesive decals in - they look really good! I have a post in the for sale section for anyone interested.

Also kicked out the '64-'67 fan guard decals. I saw a '66 at Cars and Coffee today with the existing repro that has the wrong arrow on it all buckled up because it's too big. It's appalling how bad those are! I was doing those on clear decal paper with two passes of white ink, but I may switch to white decal paper since it's slightly more opaque. The only reason for the clear decal paper is if folks want that little bit of clear edge the factory left on them. It takes a lot more time and effort on my part to do that and I'd honestly rather have a more opaque decal.

I got the '68 GTO A/C and big car tire pressure decals done too. It was nice to have a local reference for that one Pic of my prototype on next to my factory example below. I had a little issue with the cut registration on the first batch but got that fixed.

It's soooo nice just being able to produce this stuff on my own but I'm still tweaking with the printer settings to get the best results. The black emissions waterslides are the trickiest so far. I dusted off our Cricut and have been cutting the decals out with it. It saves a ton of time and the results are way cleaner than me with an x-acto knife.

The fan guard and core support on my '68 are no stranger to water slides and emissions decals at this point.

Everything except the new tire pressure decals are up on the Etsy store.

[nytrainer]

So there’s a different glove box tire decal for ‘68 convertible A bodies? Thanks

[Verdoro 68]

Good question. I only see one ‘68 tire pressure decal listed in the Ames catalog, which is the version I recreated and the one that’s on my car. Because it says A/C, I assumed there were other versions.

[Verdoro 68]

Anyone know the exact application for this one? Generally it looks to be for non-a/c V8 cars. It's the only other '68 Tempest tire pressure variant I can find.

[unruhjonny]

so are the A-body(?) glove box (tire pressure) labels generally a water slide?
(that’s what it looks like from here)

I know there has been discussion on the glove box/tire pressure labels for 70-73 Firebirds - and they are always a paper decal.

[OG68]

Here's one from a 68 for you.

[Verdoro 68]

As far as I can tell ’64-‘68 tire pressure decals were water slide/dry transfer. Looks like they moved to paper after that.

[unruhjonny]

ok - that makes sense. because I have a really nice 'KC' decal that I pulled off some car ages ago (488149) - it's NOT a Firebird decal, and the number would have me think it should be ealry 1970's at the latest;
I say all that becasue it too is paper.

The original paper one from my car was nearly gone when I got the car (but still present, on the original glove box door - which is cool, because the dash was changed(!).

[Verdoro 68]

A couple new projects I've been working on...

I'm getting close on a silkscreen for the '67 pancake air cleaner service instructions. This is the biggest screen I've made so far and it's proving to be a little bit tricker than the the smaller ones to get good coverage across. My finger seemed to be the best tool to apply the paint.

I've been tinkering with stickers to go on the TH400 ID tags as well. This was born out of my own need. Someone was selling these on eBay a while back and I bought one but wasn't super happy with the quality so I made my own. I printed these on clear so the stamped numbers can show through. I'll see how these do in the under car heat next to the exhaust pipes.









Here's the current repro decal for the pancake air cleaners...yikes!

[Verdoro 68]

My small batch of test transparent TH400 labels arrived. I think they'll work! Except I should've ordered the PQ version for my own use...d'oh. No one really asked for these, but they seem like a good detail item. I also had some little Judge-themed Gas, Tires and Oil stickers made to throw in with orders too.

If someone can verify I have the colors right for the TH400 tags, I'd appreciate it. As far as I can tell the colors are by year and carry across all codes. I gathered the info from some old threads I found in the Firebird section.

I've been chatting with GTO.PAUL who sent me tons of original examples to work from. Next on my list are the '71 455HO automatic and '70 PD code emissions labels. I've had a lot of requests for jack instructions, but I've been putting them off because the illustrations are so time consuming. I may start on '66 instructions soon since they're waterslides and no one makes them.

[Trevor78]

Since you mentioned Jack decals, this may have been mentioned. The 75ish - 81 jack and spare tyre transfer commonly sold for years but use 2 versions to cover 4 variations, being full size spare or space saver, and 79-81 jack adaptor or not. I always thought combining the two images and changing part number to suit would give far more accurate labels. Of course, many don't know, don't care, and never looked closely to even realise was not suited to their car, or care.

[johnta1]

If someone can verify I have the colors right for the TH400 tags

The 1974 PQ tag is light blue like the 68&71 pic. Maybe changed back every 3 years?

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by johnta1

The 1974 PQ tag is light blue like the 68&71 pic. Maybe changed back every 3 years?

Yes, as far as I can tell they rotated colors every few years.

Here's a work in progress of the '71 455HO automatic "PN" emissions decals. Existing repro is on the bottom, original in the middle. I thought I could just draft off the manual decal, but there were a bunch of little changes the font sizes and illustrations so I ended up redrawing it. I did apply the blur to the text like I did on the manual version to emulate the factory quality.

[GTO.PAUL]

Loos great but don't forget to make this one square corners!, Paul

[GTO.PAUL]

Looks great but don't forget to make this one square corners!, Paul

[unruhjonny]

I thought 1971 used rounded corners?
(this rad support has a tree that grew around it)

[Verdoro 68]

'70 are square, but I believe they are rounded in '71.

When I jumped into this work I expected more consistency from year to year, but there really isn't much. It was probably up to whomever the draftsman was. The fonts, sizes and materials change almost every year which makes each decal practically a one off which makes sense because that's probably how they were drawn. No copying and pasting back then!

[Verdoro 68]

My first experiment with the A/C compressor labels. So-so results. I like the thickness of the material, but the toner is too transparent. However, I still liked it better than the repro because the logos, fonts and size are more correct so I put it on anyway. I mimicked the stamping effect by getting creative in Illustrator.

I may have a small batch made on metallic material by the sticker company since their ink is more opaque and see how they come out.

Original:



Existing reproduction (too short, wrong logos and fonts)


My prototypes:

[GTO.PAUL]

Everyone you are correct, rounded corners for the '71. I was just looking at Ken's 2nd pic (of the original I sent him) and can see that there was a square corner underlayment he used for sizing. Looking real nice on the AC label as well! Paul

[Verdoro 68]

Should have the TH400 PX and PQ tags in all colors tomorrow and the 455HO automatic emissions next week. Test batch of A/C labels should be here next week or the following.

I had an ask for an engine code decal for a '66 GTO which sent me down the rabbit hole of the correct fonts to use for those. Most reproductions of this label use Helvetica which wasn't used on any GM decals or labels of the era. The photos I received of a low mile car showed a much heavier weight font with characteristics in line with Franklin Gothic which was used on labels of the era, so now I have engine code stickers for '65-'66 GTOs on the Etsy site in red and black. Not sure how common black is, but it clearly existed.





I've been thinking about doing a run of t-shirts with some of the more famous Pontiac labels on them and the SD-455 came to mind. I've seen enough labels now that I can tell when a reproduction is off. Has anyone else noticed that the fonts and dashes and directory of the brushed metal on the '73 455 SD valve cover labels are wrong on the repros? It's a small market, but I may put this one on my list. I see that the original is also embossed which will be tricky.

Original...


Reproduction