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I cleaned up the best ones (3) and touched up the paint. I bought one new one. One day I’ll buy 3 more new ones.
Just Saying…
If you are referring to the ones in the link...not for me. I mean...folks can take whatever approach they want. I am doing something seemingly very rare anymore which is restoring my corvette. Kit/catalog cars are gross and blasphemous as far as I am concerned.
I restore my own, at the time I couldn’t find anyone that restored center caps.I used a company that specializes in polishing stainless steel polish them. Then a local restoration shop paint them. The center caps that I started out with were in good condition.
Bob
I really don't want to DIY these but might have no other option. Assuming I can find a shop to restore the chrome parts....do any of you have a recommendation for black paint that most closely matches the original? color and gloss level?
The "Chevrolet Motor Division," embossed on the caps, appears different on the repro caps I've purchased. The repro caps have a more bold font style and the embossed letters are not as crisp.
I think you need a specialty black primer style paint to adhere to the smooth chrome surface. I've seen it advertised, I've never bought a can. The black paint GM paints over chrome can be difficult to remove....I know that. I tried to remove all of the black primer paint from my 70 front quarter panel egg crate louvers and it was difficult. I removed the color paint the car was painted with, only to expose the black primer underneath. Since it was so tough to remove, on second thought I should have left it since I will need to reapply it.
I sprayed some John Deere Blitz Black paint into the cap and used a flat artist's brush to paint the flat areas on the 'snout'. Then use some lacquer thinner of a clean piece of cloth to wipe off any over-dos on the raised areas. You can either use a fine brush to put paint in the letters and wipe excess of with cleaner, or you can spray the lettered area and quickly wipe OVER the surface with cloth/lacquer thinner to leave blackened letters. Looks like new.
P.S. You need a good polisher wheel and compound to polish up old caps. Then clean them well with detergent and a toothbrush to get rid of all compound before doing the black-work.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Center Cap Restoration Source?
