paint and numbers

[swiftdrivr]

I was a day late to sign up for the 50th FF at Road Atlanta, and lost my number. Now the Stars and Stripes Swift will not be the "Spirit of 76," but must become the "Spirit of --6". It took enormous grief to get the new paint on the car, and I am not eager to mess it up, as it won't be any easier to repair it. Does anyone know a good way of covering a decal that will [1] stay on at speed, and [2] be removable after 5 days without removing the decal or damaging the paint?
Thanks,

[Garey Guzman]

Make the 7 a 9? Should be easy with vinyl.
Or use tape to make the 7 a 1.

Or ask whoever had 76 if they would mind changing.

[Lotus7]

How about using gaffer tape of the same color as the background to simply cover the 7?

[swiftdrivr]

I have actually never used Gaffer's tape, but I'll look into it.
Unfortunately, I don't know who has my number for the ARRC / 50th, or I'd offer them beer and pizza to change with me!

[E1pix]

Is the number background a circle, or??? It's hard to be precise here without a reference photo.

I used to be a sign painter and did over 500 race cars by 1991 -- and since did a fair amount of design that was then output to vinyl.

If my car, I'd have bought a complete set of your 76 numbers, with backgrounds, as backup for potential later use. Everything's easier and cheaper the first time.

If you don't want the look of kluging fonts to change numbers, nor would I. Personally, I'd output a background and numbers panel (printed in process colors on one sheet) that covers your numbers and has a smaller background to attempt hair-drying and peeling later. If peeling fails, you have a new set to apply, and a good shop should have solutions -- if not a lower-tack vinyl for easy peeling.

Matching the background color will be hard, if important enough I'd print out a square foot with "color chip" variations of the background color, and one chip will be very close and become your background color. Regardless, the shape of the repair panel needs to look unobtrusive should colors not match.

[Steve Davis]

Jim,
It appears that Mark Carberry has "your" number for the Formula F feature. I'll PM you his email address if you want to contact him.
Steve

[swiftdrivr]

Jim,
It appears that Mark Carberry has "your" number for the Formula F feature. I'll PM you his email address if you want to contact him.
Steve

Thanks Steve

[EricP]

[EricP]

... sorry, paint AND numbers...

[TimH]

Contact paper.

[swiftdrivr]

No background circle to the numbers. Low-tack vinyl or contact paper might work, [or not].

[MotorCade]

SCCA will allow you to run a 3 digit number, so long as the first digit is either a 0 or 1. I'd say add a 1 in matching vinyl for the event. It'll peel right off afterwards without issue.

[Ian Lenhart]

Repositional vinyl (fathead material) works well. Material can be printed to match. Save the backing paper and reuse if needed.

Ian

[TimH]

I don't see room on the nose for a third digit, even a "1". The "6" could be made into and ugly "8" pretty easily, or maybe an "A" below the number would be accepted.

Alternatively, cover up your current numbers with a white contact paper circle that contains any numbers you choose.

[J Leonard]

We have been using stuff called Track Armour from Amazon to protect our sports racers nose and wheel wells. Stays on for a weekend and then peels off with no damage. Used it to protect a nose that had been painted about a week earlier with no problem. It's clear but maybe use it under a temporary number. Gaffer tape adhesive may be to aggressive.

[Earley Motorsports]

Colored duct tape available at Hobby Lobby will work. I have used their black duct tape as a base to put event decals on so I could take them off later. My car is black. Didn’t hurt the paint at all.

[dc]

buy a couple of feet of vinyl from a sign shop in red, and cut strips to put in front of the number, and be #176 for a weekend. low stress, low cost, and removable when you are done.

[GBugg]

I face the same issue from time to time. (Not sure why I waste the money to "reserve" a number, but that's not for this thread... )

When I last painted my car, I put clear vinyl over the numbers. It protects them from chipping and makes it easier to clean the scuffs off. It also allows me to put "color matching" tape on to cover/modify "my" number without risk of damage to the paint or number underneath. I also put clear in the area where the tech stickers go, so they'll come off without damaging the paint.

I'll be number 88 for the ARRC instead of "my" 86. It looks like a 3rd grader did it, but I can pull it off as soon as we finish the race.

Please don't mess up that beautiful paint!!
See y'all in a few weeks.

[swiftdrivr]

Tons of good ideas here, but I got lucky. Turns out, Mark Carberry is a really nice guy, and he agreed to swap numbers with me, so the problem is solved. This will be a good reference thread for the future for myself or others when this problem comes up again. Many thanks for the suggestions, everyone!