So I want to stick with the stock ST 165 IC, but it's turning out to be a bitch to restore. I had no problem with the gray housing.... I sanded it down and refinished it with Cast Iron color engine paint, and it looks like new. But the aluminum top plate seems to be unrestorable. I stripped the paint off of it, but I haven't found a way to repaint the stripes and lettering.
If Toyota had stamped the plate the opposite way, so that the lettering was recessed rather than raised, it would have been easy to spray the whole thing, and then polish out the field. But with the letters raised, I haven't found a way to do it. Especially since they're only slighty raised, so that the corners tend to round off and blend into the rest of the plate. I tried masking them off, but they're just too small.
So does anyone have any ideas on how to redo the stripes and lettering?
I would like to have it look original... My next-best idea is to sand them off completely, polish out the plate, and then come up with a combo of stick-on emblems or decals. Maybe something like a Toyota emblem and the 'turbo' lettering from the 93-98 Supra? It wouldn't be original, but it could turn out good.
If Toyota had stamped the plate the opposite way, so that the lettering was recessed rather than raised, it would have been easy to spray the whole thing, and then polish out the field. But with the letters raised, I haven't found a way to do it. Especially since they're only slighty raised, so that the corners tend to round off and blend into the rest of the plate. I tried masking them off, but they're just too small.
So does anyone have any ideas on how to redo the stripes and lettering?
I would like to have it look original... My next-best idea is to sand them off completely, polish out the plate, and then come up with a combo of stick-on emblems or decals. Maybe something like a Toyota emblem and the 'turbo' lettering from the 93-98 Supra? It wouldn't be original, but it could turn out good.