beige79

Ok, may be a dumb question, but has anyone had luck "restoring" the like new look to painted body emblems? All four crossed flag emblems on my 79 are faded, but otherwise in good condition. Has anyone repainted these and is there any "correct" color for the red that is used? No big deal with the black and white - I don't think. These things sell for around $100 each and it would sure be nice to not have to pay almost $500 for the four crossed flag emblems (and the rear bumper emblem).

earthquake68

Yeah, I do this all the time. I did the gas door emblem on my '82. It came out nice. I used Testors model paint. It held up just fine. Enamel paint is enamel paint. Years later, they looked the same as the day I did them. I just used the red paint in the basic kit you can buy. If it doesn't cover on the first coat, go over it again and it'll look great.

Easy Mike

Same here. Flag red, black, white, and gold are about all you need.

beige79

Ok, thanks. Looks easy enough. I will give it a shot.

oldsarge

I have done quite a few myself. Just take your time and use good paint and good brushes, don't go cheap, it makes a world of difference, good luck.

C3 4ME

Agreed, Testors model paint for all 3 colors. I did all of mine, but my problem was the chrome still didn't look new, so I have replaced every one of mine. I willl caution you that the red straight out of the bottle is a little too red. You need to dull it a little with maroon to match exactly the factory color if that is your preference, or just paint them with straight red if that works for you.

Jacobs81

There is an article in car craft's how-to section about making your own molds and casting new emblems and they use a mirra chrome paint they say has 95% the reflectivity of real chrome. I've been looking at repainting mine too.

1969RAY

How about a little powder coat and twenty minutes in the oven?

GS977

i painted my emblems on my 82

Jacobs81

Very nice!

jnb5101

the "insignia red" color that the hobby stores sell is an exact match.

earthquake68

Was that a CE? Why are your emblems chrome and mine were black? Mine looked like they were painted from the factory. Was that an option?

Easy Mike

CE emblems might be different. Stock 82 emblems are the standard Corvette crossed flags trimmed with black. If memory serves, didn't GM take the fleur de lis out of the flag for the 82 model year?

Ironman Motorsports

I painted mine that way and has held up to plenty of washins

beige79

Well, not perfect, but definitely looks a little better...

• Before...



• After...



I used Testors #1104 Dark Red. Looks pretty close.

This is the fuel door emblem. Of course, the darn thing broke when I tried to unscrew the nut on the other side. I didn't really apply any significant force and one of the posts just snapped off. I will have to get some double sided tape to better secure it.

Ed Campbell

I have got great success using a toothpick in lieu of a brush. Have to use plenty of paint. Ed

blckslvr79

I was just going to suggest this.

Drip the paint onto the emblem with the toothpick and let it flow out smooth. No brush marks or overlapping this way.

To get the original paint off, I used a can of spray stripper from the local parts store. Testors enamel has held up great for 2 years now.

GS977

after i stripped the paint off i buffed them with my buffer and wool pad and compound and they look like chrome but after @ 2 weeks they turned a grey color i figured the chrome look wouldn't last but it was worth a shot i want to strip them and go back to black this time.

Ret.Horsecop13

It came out great! I took the easy way out and bought an NOS one on ebay (Christmas present to myself) Just put it on today in fact. Looks great!

GS977

i also painted my CORVETTE emblem on the rear cover.
i went from this

to this