'66 Bonneville - Trunk Deck Lid Lettering Template?

[LaJa]

Ladies & Gents:


(Originally posted on the wrong forum - sorry)

Might anyone know where I can get a hold of a lettering template for the deck lid of my '66 Bonneville?

I have the set of individual letters already (reproductions from Ames), but there are no original drill holes on the trunk lid itself.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


Thanks - LG

[Larry]

Wow, that's a lot of letters to try to get straight and properly spaced. Unless you can find a Bonneville lid that has the letters already off, this seems like a tall order.

Did you think of asking Ames if they have ever run into this situation? Perhaps they have some advice.

As last resort, I would look for a trunk on someone's car that you could measure carefully on... using a cloth tape like the sewing people use. Establish a baseline, maximun left and right, and the individual letter spaces. Carefully note where you measured on each letter. Transfer these measurements to a clean strip of heavy paper. Then touch the studs onto an ink stamp pad. Eyeball the letter for straightness and alignment with the bottom baseline and touch to the paper.

Put a couple of pieces of paper on top of each other and punch through with an awl or thin nail (so you have a couple of extra templates). Then use one of them to actually push your letter studs through. See how it turns out. Lay a straight edge at the bottom, check for straightness, note any adjusting you need to do and do it on one of the other templates you saved. Maybe you'll gert lucky the first time.

Obviously you will eventually need to get up the courage to drill your deck lid, but with a good template it shouldn't be too scary. Some letters have a bit of a putty on the back side before the clip is put on. Probably helps keep them from vibrating loose.

Let us know what you do and how it turns out.

Many years ago we swirched the "F" and "D" on the front of my mother's '57 Ford around. She never noticed and my dad finally ask her after washing it when she had bought the "Dorf."