general ike

All right all, lets try this again,I would love your opinions. I know there is a varied opinion on this and everyone has a right to theirs, so no pissing match!!!!

So I just cleaned up the engine bay, painted the engine and just overall freshen things up all around. I am trying to get the car back to original as possible but on a budget. (yeah right).




So onto my original "Keep your GM car all GM" sticker on the air cleaner. It is slightly mangled, should I keep it or replace with a repro? Am I lessening its originality or am I making it look better? So what say you all?? I would love your opinions, so here is a poll!!!!!

Thanks Ike

71 Green 454

If my sticker was mangled/torn, I would probably replace it. Every time I opened the hood my eyes would go right to it. Good luck.

Here's my original '71 sticker:

corvgreg

The sticker on there is not too bad a shape, are you sure it's the original and not a worn repro? If original, keep it, you can read most of it and the code is still readable.

Greg

The13Bats

My car would fit a mangled sticker..lol,

If you want survivor looking keep it, if you want nicer looking which sounds like you went that way, replace sticker or dont run one,

Bikespace

I s'pose if it's a GM-licensed copy (FWIW), that would be okay? I have a nice original sticker that fell off of a '78. I'll probably put it on my '80 if I keep the L82 air cleaner on my L48 engine.

So, wrong year, wrong intake, but still GM parts!

oldgto

Looking at the picture, the first thing that comes to my mind is..... WHY would you refresh the paint,
but not the stickers?
Seems to me the idea of fresh paint is to get it to look better. So how does a worn, torn sticker look on fresh paint? Looks half done to me.

Alan 71

Hi Ike,
"Am I lessening its originality or am I making it look better?"

For me...yes to both questions.

I think 71 Green talked about this once before…. notice the difference in alignment (or lack of it) on the Delco "split-ring" on your sticker and his.
???
Regards,
Alan

crawfish333

Things that make you go "Hmmm." That is odd.

Are they both original?

71 Green 454

Mine is. Here are 2 examples of reproduction labels:

L-46man

Thanks Ike....I shot coffee out of my nose! Even more ironic if the sticker is made in China!

Take photos, (you did already)..print them out and put them in the build book. Replace with non -ratty stickers.

general ike

Sorry guys working late and just saw all the conversations. Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions.
Alan boy do you have "good eyes". I never noticed that before. Interesting!!!!!!! Well if its a repro then conversation is over.

But I have done some looking around on the web and I can only find aligned split rings for a 1972 that claim to be original. So I am not sure what the discrepancy when compared to 71Green version. I guess it is possible but it looks too old to be a newer repro, but one never knows what could have been done to these cars over the years.

So who else has correct original "keep your GM car all GM" stickers that we can compare to?? Please post some pics!!! Thanks again all Ike


P.S.: here is a pic that I saved from a survivor barn find I have it marked as a 1972 but cannot verify that, notice it has a different style of sticker. The rings are aligned but, more confusion?????

Priya

Sure, its original, but it looks like hell. I can't imagine many people would prefer that beat up sticker just because its original.

7T1vette

The labels in pics #1, #2, and #10 are real labels (at least, most of them). The "give-away" is the font shape of the letters. GM was totally **** about ALL GM materials having unique (and copyright) fonts which could not be reproduced without authorization. The "round" letters (like the G in GM) are NOT round...they are slightly flat on the sides. Now look at the repros....they are rounded--not flats.

GM sold the rights to reprint the lables...but they did NOT sell the rights to the fonts! You can spot the fakes a mile away. (Of course, that won't stop some of the 'pirated' materials printed off-shore, if they are sharp enough to pick out that difference. ).

But I have yet to see a repro GM tag//sticker/pamphlet that is done with the correct fonts. There are a lot of very deep software packages with hundreds of fonts. But none of them have the self-designed GM fonts.

ignatz

I have to agree. Yet it does have a certain authenticity. I would take a picture of it with a long lens to minimize distortion, and play with it on my computer. Fill in the torn areas, enhance the lettering a little bit, print it out and see what that looks like. Make it look like it belongs. The repros, all bright, shiny and new are so obviously just that, repros.

Priya

It may be obvious to someone like you, but to me and virtually everyone else out there we couldn't tell the difference and would look at a repro sticker and think "Isn't that cool? Just like it came from the factory!".

Alan 71

Hi g ike,
I believe the sticker in your last photo (post #11) is from a 72 car.
I believe the sticker style changed during early 72 production from the one you first posted to the one in that photo. That later sticker also has the air filter requirements as part of the printed information.
Regards,
Alan



A329C

general ike

What a incredible wealth of knowledge and great insight. Exactly what I was looking for !!!! Alan to add to your info my car has a December build date. So it fits with your change over explanation. 7T1 vette thank you for that great info. It’s so obvious but only after you pointed it out. I am not sure why I don’t pick up on those details!!!

So know now since the repros are not that great, hmmm back to the original question I think I can remove it intact. I may do so and save it and put on a repro?????
Again greatly appreciated for the great Info you all share on this site!!! Ike

Big2Bird

Keep it. I have had 2 repos fall off, and not look that good.

PainfullySlow

The irony of replacing a 'Keep your GM...' sticker with a non-GM reproduction...

general ike

Good point Painful!!!!!