Silk screen for old Sun Master Motor Tester

[bctexas]

I'm working on an old Sun Master Motor Tester that I have had for almost 50 years. My goal is to make it look reasonably presentable - making it all work is probably not in the cards. Anyway, three of the four units cleaned up pretty well. The tach/dwell unit was powered by batteries that leaked long ago and the face is rusty (I got it that way) . I can strip and paint the housing - but what is involved in generating the pattern and silk screening the original lettering? Is this something practical/economically feasible for DIY? I suspect the cost of a one-off like this from a commercial screen printer would be pretty high. Any guidance gleefully accepted - my search of GJ found nothing....

Thanks!

 

[bmwrd0]

Outside that one spot, it looks to be in great shape. And, you will never match the original paint. I would put that one spot in evaporust, checking it every 15 minutes or so that what is left of the paint is still good, and look for another to put in that place.

Just my two centavos.

 

[Chris Stapley]

Look in to having a sign shop print it for you on vinyl,they can do a quick setup and dont need screens for one application..

 

[bctexas]

Hi bmwrd0 - Hmmm - good point about matching the paint. Hadn't thought of just dunking that one area - may give that a try.

Given that the unit is from the late 1940's to very early 1950's (so I am told) it is in pretty good shape. I thought the plastic bezels on the meters were flat black. Well, it turns out they are brown Bakelite with a kind of burl pattern. I cleaned many years of grunge off of them and then polished them with Novus plastic polish and they shined up nicely. The pic shows before and after the polish job. I've become a real fan of Novus plastic polish. I bought it to resurrect the rear turn signal lenses on my '86 MR2 and it did a great job on them too.

Hi Chris - interesting idea. There is a sign shop just a couple miles away. I'll haul that unit down to them and see what they say.

Thanks all, and Happy Motoring!

 

[jayoldschool]

To make it even better, don't print the letters in vinyl. Have the vinyl cut as a mask, and spray the letters, then remove the mask.

 

[mikegt4]

Watching this thread with interest. I have a Sun distributor tester, vintage 1958, that needs a restoration. What stopped me from doing that years ago is the lettering. My bezels are pretty good but I think I will try Novus plastic polish to make them even better. My battery unit is corroded like almost all Sun testers. Somewhere I saw a modern upgrade for much of the electronics, don't remember were.

 

[jayoldschool]

Take a good photo of the text. Open in Photoshop (or pixlr online). Clean it up, trace it, export as a vector file, whatever the vinyl place wants. Use that for your masks. You use multiple masks for drop shadows.

 

[bctexas]

To make it even better, don't print the letters in vinyl. Have the vinyl cut as a mask, and spray the letters, then remove the mask.

That sounds promising - thanks Jay!

Somewhere I saw a modern upgrade for much of the electronics, don't remember were.

Mike - Was it this:

http://paramountd.com/

I also have a Sun 600 distributor machine from about 1962. That one is next on the list for a refurb. It is pretty toasty from old age....

Thanks all!

 

[bctexas]

Take a good photo of the text. Open in Photoshop (or pixlr online). Clean it up, trace it, export as a vector file, whatever the vinyl place wants. Use that for your masks. You use multiple masks for drop shadows.

Unfortunately, some of the text is gone from my machine due to corrosion from the batteries. I might be able to find someone with a clean one though, and perhaps get a photo from them. It's pretty simple - no shadows to deal with just text and arrows. Thanks for the info!

 

[mikegt4]

That sounds promising - thanks Jay!



Mike - Was it this:

http://paramountd.com/

I also have a Sun 600 distributor machine from about 1962. That one is next on the list for a refurb. It is pretty toasty from old age....

Thanks all!

It wasn't Paramount, it was a project by an individual.

 

[Chris Stapley]

Take a good photo of the text. Open in Photoshop (or pixlr online). Clean it up, trace it, export as a vector file, whatever the vinyl place wants. Use that for your masks. You use multiple masks for drop shadows.

This is exactly how I reproduce the artwork on vintage motorcycles so I don't have to rely on subpar waterslide decals produced by some hobbyist..