Body '78 CJ7 Tailgate 'Jeep' Embossing

[70Shark]

Hi.
My Jeep project came with an aftermarket tailgate without the 'Jeep' embossing. I like the original look, but have a hard time replacing good tailgate for $$$. Since I have a lot more time than money, I asked my neighbor who is an armature 3D printer if he could print me off the letters. I did a quick Google search and found the logo (.stl) on a 3D printing site (not sure I I can post a link here.), I guessed the letter thickness at 1.10" (2.75 mm). Width 2,5", Height of 'P' 3.5", with a 0.125" fillet. He stated that the .stl file needed a little bit of tweeking and he needed to anneal the parts on a baking sheet so the remained flat. I know nothing about 3D printing but that is his only comments. Anyway, I was happy with anything he gave me. I drew out letter location. I sanded the letters to break the edges. I had to guess letter spacing from looking at images online.


I fixed the letters using body filler allowing the filler to squeeze out and fill the gap between letters and tailgate.



Next, I tried spot puddy but failure because too much to fill. Body filler applied with finger worked well.



Then lots of hand sanding...



Could someone please take a measurement of an original embossing for the height of the letters? I cannot guess from images online. I can cut them down using a long board and 120 grit.


Btw, a person could probably add logo on side of tub using this same method.
Thank you. -Dan

 

[Belizean]

Looking good. I don’t have anything I could measure with and my eyes aren’t very great anymore. Someone will get that for you. What you did looks good to me.

 

[70Shark]

Thank you. Also anyone, could I please ask for a close-up picture of the Logo so I can determine the amount of radius to sand the corners of the letters?

 

[KRUPP]

Looks good.

I measured the tailgate on my Daughter’s wall at less than a tenth, or 0.07”+/-. Don’t know the year - it was from our boneyard.
On my ‘86 it was about the same.

 

[70Shark]

Perfect! Thank you very much.

 

[70Shark]

Knocked down to ~.075. Sanding block gave me more control for each letter.

Yikes! Not even close. Good thing this CJ project is a resto-mod. I have what I have so I will clean up the edges and put no more love into it (I was thinking of filling in the letters with filler).
Lessons learned. 1. Obtain and study a good image of original. I did this backwards. Utilize the forum. 2. Tweak the image with the designer will eliminate a lot of the sanding by getting the height. width and especially the thickness in my case, close to final expectations. This mod would be easy and more accurate if I started with above suggestions.

 

[TSB8C]

This looks great and quite ingenious. Wondering - are the raised letters on the Grand Cherokee the same size? Those raised letters are readily available in pick-a-part lots and brand new online.