I'm interested, too, for my '85. I bought a decal (full decal, not just the letter outlines) several years back form a guy on eBay but it had the wrong dimensions - the print was too small - squashed - vertically, so I never applied it.
When I get around to it, I can still see the outline of my old one where I scraped it off after a hatch repair, and I need to measure the letters - because I'm fixing to paint my car - already bought the paint. I'm wondering - does anyone know - should the decal be applied when the paint is fresh, or should it be allowed to harden for a month or two? And I'm using the original stock-type single-stage acrylic enamel (no clear coat).
P.S. I've had to buy my DuPont Nason Ful-Cryl "Super Deep Red" 3F2 color code paint here in Louisiana and will be driving it crosscountry because it's been banned in L.A. County, where my guy's painting the car... go figure!
I have a buddy who's parents own a vinyl print shop. If you could send me the vector file, maybe I can talk them into providing some for the community if we can get enough people together who would want one.
I think I have three new ones rolled up in a box, I think white and black versions... I'll trade one for your 5mge alternator if you find yourself in Edmonton or know someone who is making the trip back to Calgary.
The Canadian one LOOKS good in the auction pictures. He/she seems to have measured it. Also, his auction says that it has a 6-year "exterior durability." This makes me wonder .... my original one looked great for about 20 years, before the clear parts started looking chalky. If these new ones maybe last a lot less time, maybe we should be looking for the ones that have only the letter outlines (without the clear "filling" inside the letters)? I am concerned about putting a new sticker over a brand-new paint-job and having it go bad quickly. And to answer my own question above, maybe I should wait quite awahile before applying the sticker to new paint? I'm thinking that the fresher the paint, the more the sticker will bond to it, and may be hard to remove later?
Too bad for me that George at Raptor Racing is out of stock - I communicated with George a couple months ago about comparing our measurements, but didn't get around to it, and he had some stickers left at that time.
I really do need to measure my own remnants. Does anyone know whether the billboard sticker ever changed sizes - maybe Toyota made some different batches?
I need a black one, by the way. I'm definitely interested - but again I do wonder whether we would be better served by trying to find the ones that are outline only?
Also, his auction says that it has a 6-year "exterior durability." This makes me wonder .... my original one looked great for about 20 years, before the clear parts started looking chalky. If these new ones maybe last a lot less time, maybe we should be looking for the ones that have only the letter outlines (without the clear "filling" inside the letters)?
The vinyls you are looking at on ebay, at least the ones Dave linked above, are all die cut vinyls which means they ARE the type without the clear filling as you refer to it. So with the type of material that particular seller is using, he estimates it will hold up well for at least 6 years.
I believe the banners George was selling, and may sell again at some point were die cut as well. Though I'm pretty sure Georges had better attention to detail. I'll elaborate on that in another post.
The TOR Parts ones I linked, which are considerably more expensive, have the colors printed over a clear vinyl backing like the OE sticker. Maybe it would hold up 20 years depending on conditions, maybe not. There's no way it's the exact same material as Toyota was using in the 80's. You could email them if you are concerned about lifespan I'm sure they'll answer what they can.
The clear backing makes for a lot less edges, nooks and crannies to clean when detailing so that might be a selling point too.
Personally I will be going for the clear backed sticker after painting, and that's coming from someone with a die cut banner currently.
-DISCLAIMER- I have never seen a picture of the TOR Parts banner on a car, so I can't confirm the accuracy of it, though I have faith in those guys. They take Toyota restoration seriously. If anyone has one please chime in I would love to hear a review.
Those ebay sellers may be members here, so let it be known if so I'm not trying to piss in your cheerios. As someone who has spent a lot of time staring at these 5 letters I'm compelled to point out what I see.
On the US listing, the tell is the middle bar on the S. In the product picture it looks just about perfectly flat. On the factory banner there is a slight downward angle to it from left to right, which you will see on all of the cars pictured.
I did the same thing on my initial trace when making a font out of the letters. Didn't realize it until later when I got more serious about making a faithful repro and put a lidless scanner up against my hatch and scanned 1 letter at a time.
Here's a comparison:
The Canadian listing is harder to tell because it doesn't have an eagle eye view of the whole sticker, but in the close ups some of the angles don't seem to come together quite right. It might just be the angles it's pictured though. Take a look at the inner curve of the P compared to a factory style banner.
If you look at the product pictures of the stickers themselves and compare them to all of the pictures on an actual car, I don't think any of the cars pictured have the actual product being sold except the reflective one, and in that picture you can see the issue mentioned above.
I have spent so much time with these letters doing this and making this that I think they are burned into my brain.
I just purchased a TOR Parts hatch sticker about a month ago and while I haven't applied it yet, a quick comparison shows that it's a very close match.
The inside semi circles of the S are a little rounder than the OEM Toyota part. The TOR part looks to be half of a circle while the OEM one is a more oval shape. The shape of the clear cut out is not identical. On the right side of the S where the top leg ends and turns back to the left there is a gentle indent on the TOR while it indents a little more sharply on the OEM.
Having said that, it's pretty darn close. Unless you compared them side by side I don't think that you would notice. The overall dimensions seem to be identical. I'm extremely happy with the quality of the part.
The TOR Parts owner really seems to know what he's talking about too. He has these decals in silver, white, and black. I have a white 84 and I read on this forum that the actual colour for the hatches on white was gray. I asked for a custom colour and he said sure, but that the correct colour for white is actually silver. I went outside and checked, and he was correct. The decal I thought was gray was actually silver.
In terms of lifetime, who knows? The quality of inks and how UV resistant they are is an open question and one won't be able to tell for a few years.
I don't think you will find a more accurate looking decal anywhere for now.
I just purchased a TOR Parts hatch sticker about a month ago and while I haven't applied it yet, a quick comparison shows that it's a very close match.
I would love to see a picture of that if possible. Even though I cut a solid repro vinyl myself I would ultimately like to go with a clear backed. It's good to hear a positive review of the TOR banner.
I will (eventually) post it for everyone and just make it open source so to speak. It was a couple years back that I made the vector and used it to make a banner so I am going to dig up the files and Gamble is going to use his OE hatch to help me verify some measurements before I release it. For a preview, the banner replacement link in my sig will show you how it comes out when die cut.
TFphoenix, I just reviewed your prior threads, and wow, great work! Looks like you really applied yourself to getting it right!! :salute:
I saw gamble's offer to measure his letters off his hatch. If you need any back-up measurements, please let me know, as I can still see the outline of my originals.
Dang, I wish I had known about the pinstriping removal wheel you used in the other thread .... . I ended up using a razor blade and made quite a few gouges At least I'm repainting it, but that wheel would have saved a LOT of elbow grease!
My new 86 got her first present last night thanks to revvhappy from the forum ?
A little rusty, but I haven't had an OEM tie down in any of my cars for years, so I was glad for the challenge, especially since I just ordered a small bottle of Krud Kutter through Amazon after watching a review...
GO TO POST # 75 ON PAGE 8 TO SEE WHAT PARTS ARE IN THE PROCESS OR BEING MANUFACTURED THE PARTS LISTED ON THIS FIRST POST WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER.
UPDATED ON 2/10/08
go to post 225 pg 23 to see pictures in fiberglass
Well I have some good news .
I talked with the maker of carbon fiber...
Hey all,
Haven't been on here in a little over a year, so there hasn't been a hyper-verbose tfphoenix thread for some time. Lets do this thing.
TL;DR: Here is a vector graphic you can take to a vinyl shop and have them make you a new 84-86 "SUPRA" hatch banner with, or you could use a...
I don't know how many of you have gone to this extent, but I've got the grill out and I'm trying to refresh it since the black plastic is a little faded. I've been using Meguiars PlastX with decent results, but getting inside these stupid hexagons is really hard.
I've tried everything I can...
I have a super deep red supra, it has the factory black front bumper piece, but I'm curious what it would look like if it were colour matched to the rest of the super deep red body. Does anyone have any pics, preferably of a super deep red supra, with the front bumper colour matched, rather than...
A forum community dedicated to Toyota Celica Supra owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Tanya · updated 
tfphoenix · updated 
Speedrye · updated 
