Flames, NO NOT FROM A FIRE, decals on the Hood.

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

Those that have met me can attest that I am just an old gimped up kid, never going to grow up, just don't see a future in doing so.  With that in mind I have been wanting to do a flame job on the Hood of the Pete, I have searched the net for such things and have not had any luck finding what I want or like, however I came across this company, "East Coast Vinyl Werkz", I sent them an email asking if they could make decals other then those posted on their web site. 

I just received an email from Melisa, asking me to send them some photos of my truck, the paint code of the factory colors and a sketch of what I had in mind, they would then use my photos to mock up some different ideas of flames so that I could see what they would look like on my truck before they were actually made.  This sounds like it may work out, I answered her email said I would send photos as soon as it stopped raining and asked that BEFORE she put a lot of effort into this project to give an estimated price based on my sketch and desired color combinations. 

So has anyone ever done such a project, if so how did it turn out, were you happy with the results?  Thanks for any information, suggestions or advise you can offer.  Oh my idea is to have the flames in different shades of purple and contrasting colors to compliment the metallic purple fenders and fuel tanks now on the truck, as this project progresses "IF" the cost is semi reasonable I'll post up the mock up  photos they send and ask you folks to comment on them good or bad I am interested in what others think it will look like when its done.

Dave 

 

[spindrift]

I'm a kid too.  Sounds awesome!  Have you tried looking on Pinterest for your flames?

[Jack Mayer]

If you want blended color and a fade-out is that not going to be difficult to do with vinyl? I would think you would want to paint it on. Good idea, and it will look great if done right!

[Quickthrotl]

I have been drawing since I was kid and love to draw flames, i would be happy to help with some sketches if you like

[spindrift]

Now that I've thought about this project a bit more, I have to ask what kind of power is under that long hood?  Flames aren't always appropriate.  😁😉

[Striper]

Dave,

 

Just my .02 but I think that painted on Ghost Flames would be your best bet.

 

Joe

[mr. cob]

6 hours ago, spindrift said:

I'm a kid too.  Sounds awesome!  Have you tried looking on Pinterest for your flames?

Howdy spindrift,

No I haven’t, I will google that and see what they have, thanks for the tip.

Dave

[mr. cob]

3 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

If you want blended color and a fade-out is that not going to be difficult to do with vinyl? I would think you would want to paint it on. Good idea, and it will look great if done right!

Howdy Jack,

Yes custom paint would be the best way to go but two things keep me from doing that, One cost way more money then I can afford for none essential bling, Two when it comes time to sell the truck a potential buyer may not like the flames and getting them removed can be costly.

On my Freightliner, I had “Semi-Sane” custom painted on the truck and when I was in the process of selling the truck a couple of people were turned off by the cost of removing the paint so I don’t want to make that mistake again.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Dave

[mr. cob]

3 hours ago, Quickthrotl said:

I have been drawing since I was kid and love to draw flames, i would be happy to help with some sketches if you like

Howdy Quickthrotl,

An artist, “I” am NOT.  I have a good idea of what I want but getting it from my head on to paper ain’t happening.

 If you want to make some suggestions please send me a PM, I will then PM the photos I will be taking of the truck to you so you have something to work with.

Thanks

Dave

Edited July 18, 2019 by mr. cob

[mr. cob]

7 hours ago, spindrift said:

Now that I've thought about this project a bit more, I have to ask what kind of power is under that long hood?  Flames aren't always appropriate.  😁😉

Howdy spindrift,

550 horses corralled in a big yeller kitty C-15 Caterpillar, she doesn’t shoot flames from the stacks but this ole girl can darn sure pickem them up and puttem down. Racing to the top of the hill is going to get me in trouble one of these days.

Dave

Edited July 18, 2019 by mr. cob

[mr. cob]

57 minutes ago, Striper said:

Dave,

 

Just my .02 but I think that painted on Ghost Flames would be your best bet.

 

Joe

Howdy Joe,

 I agree with paint but I have covered that in my reply to Jack, ghost flames are being considered nothing has been done yet.  It’s not raining here today maybe I can get those photos taken and sent off.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Dave

[Exile]

Yeah baby, Flames.

i want some too, so please keep us up to date.

[mr. cob]

9 minutes ago, Exile said:

Yeah baby, Flames.

i want some too, so please keep us up to date.

Howdy Exile,

I sent the photos this morning, I told Melissa, not to rush but to take her time as I am interested in what she comes up with and don't just want the first thing that comes to mind.  She seems to really be into doing this, talked about how the 379 Pete, is her favorite truck and that she has worked with a lot of drivers to come up with custom designs just for them.  So as this project progresses I'll be sure to up-date this thread to keep everyone in the loop.

Dave

[BlueFlame]

There is a reason we call our RV the Blue Flame.  We have a 2004 Freightliner Showhauler with flames on the fiberglass hood.  After 15 years, the decals on our hood were crazing.  Even though the RV was inside 50% of the time, the sun finally got to it.  The rest of the RV's decals looked great.  So that's one caution, decals don't last forever.

We had a hard time finding someone to finding someone to redo the flames.  The first issue was the original decals were printed via an inkjet type printer to get a color gradient across the length of the flames.  No one wanted to try recreating that.  Second, I had someone tell me they didn't want to work with the curves of the hood.

We finally found a guy in Phoenix that was willing to tackle the job.  The solution was to use vinyl used to detail cars.  We matched the blue that was at the front of the cab doors.  Cost was $850 dollars.  It looks SO MUCH better now!

I wrote a whole blogpost on the process.  You can find it at https://rv.cjsquare.com/2019/05/the-blue-flame-gets-a-nose-job/  Usually the blog is private, but I opened it up so you can see what we had to do to get our graphics replaced.  Feel free to check it out.

[mr. cob]

Howdy BlueFlame,

Thanks for your reply and for the link to your blog covering the replacement of your hood flame.

Working on my ole Pete, should be simpler when it comes to applying the decal as I don't have any compound curves to make it difficult, just flat surfaces except for the gentle curve that transitions from the side to the top of the Hood.  The hardest part of installing a decal on my truck will be getting it to fit down tight on all the rivets it may cross over.  If the vinyl shop comes up with something I like I think I'll find a local body shop or vinyl shop to do the install, if it were just the flat surfaces after watching the videos that show and describe the "wet" method I think I could handle that, its getting it down and over the rivets that give me pause.

Dave

[Steve from SoCal]

Dave,

 

A few years ago a company that does full semi trailer wraps used my shop to do a few overflow trailers.    They wrapped trailers with rivets or more correctly hucks, anyway they used a small heat gun and it looked like it was painted on.     The guys told me the life of vinyl is estimated to be 7 years.    

Steve 

[mr. cob]

11 minutes ago, Steve from SoCal said:

Dave,

 

A few years ago a company that does full semi trailer wraps used my shop to do a few overflow trailers.    They wrapped trailers with rivets or more correctly hucks, anyway they used a small heat gun and it looked like it was painted on.     The guys told me the life of vinyl is estimated to be 7 years.    

Steve 

Howdy Steve,

I have been using the wrong word, "hucks" is the proper term to be used when talking about how the Hood is put together on my Pete.  The lady I am working with at the vinyl shop talked about a special tool and the use of a heat gun to form the decal over the hucks, so if I go through with this I'll find someone who is qualified to do the installation properly.

The material used in making the decal I am interested in is advertised as being good for 7 years, I am 71 years old, chances are pretty good that the decal will last as long as I will be driving the truck so the 7 year thing really dosen't worry me, if I were 20 years younger I would more inclined to have it painted on.

Dave

[jkoenig24]

Forget the drawings. Have a camera ready, wait until the sun is going down, splash a cupful of gasoline on the hood and light that sucker up! Be ready to snap that photo...........     😉

 

Goodness, gracious..........(you know the rest).

[mr. cob]

1 hour ago, jkoenig24 said:

Forget the drawings. Have a camera ready, wait until the sun is going down, splash a cupful of gasoline on the hood and light that sucker up! Be ready to snap that photo...........     😉

 

Goodness, gracious..........(you know the rest).

Howdy jk24,

Yup, that would work.  At least on the Pete, I would not have to worry about a plastic hood and cab catching fire and melting but I would have to make sure no gas got on the fenders which are made of fiberglass.

Dave

[Striper]

Dave,

There is a shop in Burlington called "Image 360" you could talk to about installing the flames for you.  I've talked to them about work before and liked the fact that they were up front with me about things.  I didn't use them but then my job was for removal of the clear "Invisible Bra" on the front of my Motor Home.

Joe

[mr. cob]

2 hours ago, Striper said:

Dave,

There is a shop in Burlington called "Image 360" you could talk to about installing the flames for you.  I've talked to them about work before and liked the fact that they were up front with me about things.  I didn't use them but then my job was for removal of the clear "Invisible Bra" on the front of my Motor Home.

Joe

Howdy Joe,

Thanks for the tip.

Dave

[rdickinson]

Vinyl will work just fine, my whole trailer is wrapped as is the car and a good part of the truck.  They can do compound curves and it sticks over lumps fine.

If you damage a section you're down 1 day, 2 tops rather than a week or more for paint.

There are sites you can browse for flames of all types.

The hood of the truck is an eagle with wings outstretched.  We cut the wings off at the shoulder and reversed them to the other side of the truck so they were horizontal rather than pointing to the ground when we came around the side.

No peeling, no problems, lots of comments and pics taken.

My rig was done in 2012 and still no issues, 7 yrs later to the month.

[mr. cob]

27 minutes ago, rdickinson said:

Vinyl will work just fine, my whole trailer is wrapped as is the car and a good part of the truck.  They can do compound curves and it sticks over lumps fine.

If you damage a section you're down 1 day, 2 tops rather than a week or more for paint.

There are sites you can browse for flames of all types.

The hood of the truck is an eagle with wings outstretched.  We cut the wings off at the shoulder and reversed them to the other side of the truck so they were horizontal rather than pointing to the ground when we came around the side.

No peeling, no problems, lots of comments and pics taken.

My rig was done in 2012 and still no issues, 7 yrs later to the month.

Howdy rdickinson,

Thanks for your post, I am now waiting on the vinyl folks to get back to me with their suggestions.

Dave

[jenandjon]

My Uncle was sign guy. He did a few hood decals in vinyl on semi trucks. They did not like the heat and only lasted a few years. They started to curl up on the edges so he quit doing them.

Maybe now they have a better product than they did 10 years ago when he was doing it.

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

The folks at Vinyl Works, just sent me this mock up based on the sketch I sent them, I really like the yellow-orange-purple, in the bottom right.  I have sent some suggestion based on this mock up and am waiting on their next suggestion.   They used the photos I sent to them to lay the mock up out on, Before the flames are applied the pin stripe graphics now on the Hood and the matching ones on the side of the sleeper will be removed.  What do you think?

Dave

Edited July 23, 2019 by mr. cob