I am looking for an instruction sheet to locate the door decals on my 69 indy pace car.I have tryed calling all oover Canada and the US with no luck thus far,please help??!!?

There are no instructions for installing them, and when I bought my decals (1990) I found out the hard way that they are not located on the backing material such that the 3 major groups of text are parallel. The lower 2 lines of text were not parallel to the large "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" line of text, and the Chevrolet Camaro wasn't parallel to anything. This resulted in one of my door decals being installed noticeably crooked. I had to cut the decal into 3 separate strips so that everything would be straight. To Classic Industries credit they replaced that decal when I told them about it.

Seems to be a lot of differences in the position on the cars today. I tried to use the pictures of the original pace cars as a guide when I installed mine.

Mark C.
I am about ready to put the decals on my car.So,are you saying the decal needs to be cut into three strips to be applied correctly ? Could you post some pics of the doors of your car and some measurements ?
Thanks,David

They did in 1991, don't know about the current versions of them. Make sure you measure them to make sure they are (or aren't) parrallel before you try to install them.

I can measure mine, but I'm not saying mine are correct or not, just that they are straight on the door.

I would certainly like to see some pics and even some dimensions as to where your decals are placed.
In reply to the earlier response that "Ricks sells these decals with a template."This may be true since I have heard this twice now,but I already checked it out, and Ricks showed no interest in helping my cause at all,to bad for them i do a lot of restoring.

OK you made me measure mine and I find it's off level by 1/8". Oh well good enough for a GM product. Heres the image with the measurements:

http://home.townisp.com/~markcanning/camaro/door_decal_dims.jpg


I had to lower the resolution so it wasn't quite as big as when I started out so if you cant read anything let me know.

Since these were all dealer installed, I suspect there is no one "correct" way.

Look at Mark's photo and compare that to the actual pace car in the inset. (I say "actual", but it may have been the backup.) Notice the location of the "R" in relation to the door lock. Also note that the top of the lower case letters in Chevrolet Camaro are at the same elevation as the door handle.

The location of the script chvrolet Camaro is a compromise because of the one on the passenger door which has the large C in Chevrolet Camaro is back by the door handle (has to be able to be read porperly). If you get the decal to high it ends up almost touching the top of the door. Plus I don't think the current reproductions are exactly like the originals. The lettering seems heavier on the repros than the originals, notice the spaces between the letters in the official pace car line of test on the original, and how they touch on mine.

Obviously the "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" line of text is going to be the controlling feature on the door. You need to get that in the proper position, and that in turn drives where the rest of the decal goes.

[ 07-04-2004, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: Mark C ]

I agree, Mark. You can only do what you can with the available decals. I wasn't picking on your car, just noting differences. Also note the left-to-right location of the "C" in Chevrolet and Camaro. No one would notice, if the two pics were not right next to each other.

I'm having the same problem getting the "correct" Yenko stripes for my car. Every manufacturer has stripes that are just a little different from each other.

One of the other decisions you'll need to make is whether to continue your pin striping into the decal. I have a color picture of the #46 Festive car and the pin striping goes into the decal.

Also note that the Script "Chevrolet Camaro" line is centered justified on the decal as is the rest of the lines of text. It should not be that way.

When you flip the decal around to put it on the passenger door and line up the "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" line of text so that it looks like the drivers side you end up with the script line of text much further forward on the passenger door. On my car the second "F" in OFFICIAL is under the front edge of the door handle which places the "Chevrolet Camaro" line of text so that it starts probably 2" forward of the doorhandle instead of the 7/8" that it does on the drivers side. As a result they look a lot more like the one in the original picture.

I believe the repro decals (at least the ones from the early 90's) were made from a passenger side original and the manufacturer just sends you two of the same decal. Just another reason to cut the upper line of text off the decal and install that one by itself after the rest of the decal is installed. At least on the drivers side.

The door pinstripes (RPO D96) were supposed to be buffed off by the dealer it you wanted the door decals installed. All well and good in the days of single stage paint, but if you apply a BC/CC paint and your pinstripes are under the clear coat, I guess your screwed.

The door pinstripes (RPO D96) were supposed to be buffed off by the dealer it you wanted the door decals installed. All well and good in the days of single stage paint, but if you apply a BC/CC paint and your pinstripes are under the clear coat, I guess your screwed. [/QB]You said it! This is the exact situation I am facing. I'm finally ready to install my decals but the darned pinstripes are under the clear. I've seen a few cars where the decals have been placed over the pinstripes but that looks bad. I'm going to have to take the car to a paint shop and tell them to buff through the clear to get at the pinstripes then reclear the doors. This is going to be expensive. :mad:

By the way, I have the original set of decals that came with my car back in 69. If anyone wants measurements just let me know. No, I'm not installing these on my car. I'm buying some repros. I'm saving the originals for the day when I can afford to have a full resto done on my car. smile.gif

I'd like to see the difference between the repros and the originals, especially the location of the Script line of text as it relates to the OFFICIAL PACE CAR line of text to see if the decals are identical side to side, or if there is a difference between the two. The passenger side upper line should start over the first I in OFFICIAL (As my driver side incorrectly does - since it's the same decal), but the drivers side should start over the leading edge of the Second F in OFFICIAL (As the original picture shows).

I'll get them out and take some pics and measurements then post them in this thread. Hopefully I will be able to get some decent pics without removing the rice paper. Give me a couple days.

Mark, I'm now questioning whether or not my decals are original. When I look at the letter spacing and font, they appear to look more like yours than the original ones in the black and white pic you posted above. I carefully layed one on top of the other and determined that both sides have identical layout and spacing so I only took a pic of one. I was told by the previous owner of my car (who bought it from the 1st owner) that they were original but that doesn't mean a whole lot. They are still in what appears to be an original cardboard tube (see pics). One of the metal ends of the can has been cut off. What do repros come in? I guess it's possible that they are very old repros. The tube appears very old and the edges of the decal backing paper are quite yellowed. What's your opinion? I really can't make a determiniation one way or the other.

Here are some measurements:

The "C" starts over the first "I" in OFFICIAL. The spacing between Chevrolet and Camaro is one inch like yours. It appears much greater in the original pic above. Here's a few other measurements.

Space between bottom edge of "Chevrolet Camaro" and top edge of "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" is 2-3/8.

Space between bottom edge of "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" and top edge of "53rd Annual Indianapolis..." is 1-5/8.

Space between bottom edge of "53rd Annual Indianapolis..." and top edge of "May 30, 1969" is 3/4.

How do we know if the person who applied the letters in the original photo above did or didn't cut the decal into sections before applying it?

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/lgwright-pacedecal3.JPG
http://server6.uploadit.org/files/lgwright-HPIM0313.JPG
http://server6.uploadit.org/files/lgwright-HPIM0314.JPG
http://server6.uploadit.org/files/lgwright-HPIM0315.JPG

[ 07-06-2004, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: Indy Z11 ]

.

I'm pretty sure my repros came in a mailing tube as well, becasue that's the only way they would survive shipping.

Just by looking at them I would guess they are the same repros as mine are. Look at the gap on the original picture between the words Chevrolet and Camaro. The "T" in Chevrolet is above the right edge of the last L in OFFICIAL and the C in Camaro starts above the middle of the P in PACECAR, and there looks like there was about a 3" gap between the words. In mine (and yours) both of those letters are over the P in PACECAR, and the gap only looks to be about an inch to an inch and a half.

So now not only do you need to cut the upper line of text off on the drivers side to push it forward and inch or so, you need to do a vertical cut between the words Chevrolet and Camaro to space them out properly.

I'll take a picture of my passenger side, and post it, which I beleive is put on closer to the original cars decal.

[ 07-08-2004, 08:13 PM: Message edited by: Mark C ]

Mark, at least now I don't have to buy repros since it's pretty safe to assume that I already have them. That would be great if you could post some pics of your passenger door when you have the time. I still have to get the pinstripes removed from my doors anyway so no big hurry.

I think you are right about our decals being the same. Look at the zero in "30". The bottom edge of the zero is slightly higher than the bottom edge of the three. Almost like our decals have been cut from the same template.

There are no instructions with my decals so how do I know if they go on wet or dry? I assume I can peel back a small portion of the backing paper to feel if it's sticky? If so, then no water, else use water?

Heres my passenger side, less any marked dimensions since they should be the same as the drivers side (I think my passenger side is high by about 1/2"). See how this side has the lines of text postioned much more like the original picture as far as the distance between the door handle and the C in Chevrolet.

http://home.townisp.com/~markcanning/camaro/door_decal_pass.jpg

Thanks for the pics. My car is not perfect so I am not going to worry a whole lot about getting the exact factory position of the letters. My only real concern is just getting them on straight with no air bubbles or creases. I peeled back the edge of the backing paper on my decals and the letters are sticky. Does this mean they go on dry? I'm assuming that the ones that go on wet would not be sticky since they need water to activate the glue. I bet the wet decals would be much easier to put on. I think I remember you saying in a previous post that yours went on dry. What special tools are needed? Will a squeegee work on dry decals or would some kind of hard roller be better to get out the air bubbles? By the way, do you know if the originals back in 1969 were applied wet or dry?

Mine went on dry, and getting the rice paper off was a major pain in the butt. It kept tearing and wouldn't come off in one sheet. I positioned the decals as best I could, taped the whole thing along the top edge then flipped the decal up and took off as much of the rice paper as I could get at (I think I left the upper line covered) then swung the whole decal down onto the door. As soon as the adhesive starts to touch your done so make sure you get enough tape on the backing paper that you can pull it tight without the tape pulling off. Two (or three)people would work better than one one to hold each lower corner and another to squeegie the letters down as you go. Once you get the lower three rows of text on just take the tape off, flip the upper row back and remove the rest of the rice paper and stick it to the door just like before. Then remove the backing paper all at once.

I used one of those plastic Bondo squeegies that you get 3 in a blister pack about a dollar to press my letters on with.

If I had to do it again, knowing what I know now, I would have cut the Chevrolet Camaro line off and installed that separately so that they would be even. Plus the mirrors get in the way so they have to come off. If I had done that it would have been much easier to tape the remaining decal to the door, plus it would give you a nice straight line on the door skin to align the whole thing with.

The most critical line to get straight is the 53rd Indianapolis 500 mile race, as it it the longest line of text and it's closest to the only visible horizontal line on the door, the bottom edge. Because the OFFICIAL PACE CAR line has slanted letters and the shadow lines on the door are not horizontal it's harder to tell if it's put on crooked. You should probably put a horizontal grease pencil line about 6 1/2" to 6 3/4 up from the bottom edge of the door and align the "53rd Indianapolis..." row of text to that line.

thanks for the info guys,my decals go on tomorrow.

I put a set of decals on a 78 Z/28 last year and I put them on wet. I used a solution of 1/2oz soap to 1 gallon of water. Those decals I put on went on so smooth, and I was able to position it in place wet. After a couple of days any residual bubbles if there were any, dissipated in about 48 hours. I also used a bondo squeegee, worked out excellent. I believe the adhesive layer is the same with what you have. Just my 2cents

I've put the strobe stickers down the side of an AAR Cuda and those went on wet. You could slide them around pretty easily wet, sort of like model decals. They stuck down pretty well as soon as you squeegied the water out from under them. They were real 3M automotive type decals that had a solid wax paper like backing on them. The adhesive on the repro Pace Car stickers I had were different and it had a rice paper type backing on it.. I tried doing piece of it wet because mine also came with no instructions of any kind, and they would not stick at all to the door, no matter how much squeegieing (if thats a word) I did. I had to wait for the door and the decal to completely dry before it would stick. Maybe other decals are different, mine was done over 10 years ago.

Like I said you only get one chance to do it when it's going on dry so take your time and be careful.