pwsusi

A few months back i bought a replacement hood emblem for my '71...having the car painted so just getting around to looking at it now. I had bought a set of speed nuts from one of the major vendors (52 piece kit which should be a set for the whole car). Setting things aside to bring to the painter i quickly realized none of the speed nuts fit. I took (what is left) of the original emblem off the car and it looks like the shaft on the original has a wide base that gets narrow towards the tip...but the new one's shaft is the one thickness. I measured with calipers and the new one is .133 inches. Anyway, long winded of asking what to do here...what's the best way to secure the emblem on the hood. Bringing the car in to the shop for paint tomorrow. i guess i can ask if he has anything to make it work..or perhaps buy another emblem. Just frustrating to buy stuff that isn't right.

pwsusi

P.S. not sure if it helps but here's a picture of the shaft of both emblems, and two different size nuts from the new pack of 52 as well as one of the original ones. The bent post is the original emblem, straight is the new one.

Hammerhead Fred

Not 100% positive about the hood emblems but; the side emblems (Stingray script) was attached with a black self adhesive material. When installed the paper backing was removed from the adhesive and the emblem was pressed into place using the pins to ensure the emblem was installed in the exact same place on all fenders.
Suspect the hood emblems were installed using the same method. That is, the pins are there simply to ensure the emblems are installed in the same place and aligned correctly.
That said; I installed mine using push on speed clips/fasteners as it's nice to be able to remove the emblems from time to time for waxing purposes.
If yours are not tapered you could entertain lightly threading them for your acorn fasteners. OR You could sand/file them into the proper taper.

62corvette

Nose emblem 70-72 came factory with speed nuts like you have pictured. I have tapped the speed nuts down the shaft of a tapered drift to open them up to make them usable.

gbvette62

Below are pictures of an NOS 68-72 nose emblem, and the US made Trim Parts reproduction emblem. The Trim Parts piece lacks the chamfered end, and doesn't have quite as much taper to the stud, that the NOS parts has, but the thickness is nearly the same. The Trim Part emblem comes with two speed nuts, while GM never supplied speed nuts. I would think the larger of the two new speed nuts you showed, should work with the nose emblem. Speed nuts are designed to cut into the soft white metal that emblems are made from, creating their own thread.

The comment above about the Stingray fender emblem is correct for 74-76 Corvettes, but not 69-73's. The 69-73 Stingray script had four long studs, that got speed nuts on them, while the 74-76 script only had three short locating pins, and double sided tape. Later service replacement Stingray emblems, and the reproductions of both the 69-73 and 74-76 Stingray emblem, all come with tape now, which makes them much easier to install.

I didn't want to pull the new emblem completely out of it's package (it has to go back in stock), but the paint, chrome and casting, are much nicer than the NOS GM part.

theandies

The speed nuts will cut their own thread as stated. I think the originals came with more taper to make it easy for the factory workers to install them. Just take your time and go slow and you should be fine.

Hammerhead Fred

The use of the double sided adhesive for the script on the 71 comes straight from the 71 AIM.

I responded per OPs topic line which was for Hood Emblem (so thinking the 454 numbers) and didn't know he was actually talking about the nose emblem.