Painting the 35 waterfall
 

I had the waterfall plated in my 35, now for the hard part. How do I paint the area between the plated ribs. I can mask off the ribs, then spray but that will be a lot of work. There has to be any eaiser way. I'm sure henry did not have a worker spend an hour or more masking and painting. Any ideas.

Re: Painting the 35 waterfall
 

On our 35 Convertible sedan, I spray painted the water fall. Before the water fall panel was dry, I took a lint free rag with a spot of thinner on it and wipped the ribs clean where they should be. Still looks great. I did it in 1975.

Re: Painting the 35 waterfall
 

In the industry they had permanent metal masks-hand made, very delicate-that could be placed over parts like your waterfall. There would have been many masks for a given part to facilitate mass production and the need for frequent cleaning.

Re: Painting the 35 waterfall
 

Good answers, all; but be sure not to use water based paint on the "waterfall" as it will wash right off. (Couldn't resist it.) LOL

Re: Painting the 35 waterfall
 

I have tried several different ways of doing this but the fastest and neatest way I have found was with 3/4" pressure sensitive tape. Basically, this stuff is like common pinstripe tape only wider.

I stretched out what I needed (still had the backing on it), lightly scuffed it, primed it, lightly scuffed it again and then spray painted it taupe. I put it on the waterfall and used an exacto knife and a magnifying glass to trim the edges around the center opening. Surprisingly, the stuff looked neat and held like iron. It was still there years later when I sold the car.

Now the "bad" news. I don't remember where I got the tape! Sorry.

Tom