Emblem Repaint
 

Anyone repaint there cross flags emblems or are they not worth attempting?

I painted mine with testors model paint and a tooth pick...
sorry no picture

Ditto, but I used a small brush.

:thumbs:

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...ePhotos007.jpg

Here's what mine look like. Baked-on porcelain paint that isn't affected by weather and UV. If folks have an interest, I will provide details.

:iagree:

http://imageshack.us/a/img197/7095/emblems.jpg

Yes, I would like to know the process that you used.

Donnie

The chrome needs to be in 'decent' condition. You should strip all existing paint with chemical stripper, then wash/rinse/dry the emblem completely.

Go to Michael's Craft store (or the internet) and purchase three small bottles of Porcelain [brand name] model paint; this is paint that is normally used for putting on glass, plates, metal, etc. Get 'Anthracite Black', Crimson Red', and a bright white (I can't find my bottle of white to give you the actual color title {"Hey, Sherri. What did you do with my bottle of Porcelain white?} [got no response, sorry] Also buy a small artist's brush with round shape that comes to a point.

Position the emblem on a hunk of clay, Play Doh, or in a modeling fixture so that the area you will be painting is level and so that when you need to do another area you can adjust it to level easily. This is VERY important, as you don't want the paint to run onto areas you don't want to receive paint.

Now, the strategy for painting is a bit different. You DO NOT want to 'stroke' the paint onto the emblem. You want to 'wick' the paint into the areas to be painted and let it flow out to fill the surface. So, get some paint into the end of that artist's brush, then touch an spot in the middle of the area you want to paint and allow it to just adhere to the surface an wick down/flow out. Doing this will allow the paint to achieve an even thickness and not have brush strokes. You will likely need to do this just ONE time for each checkered square; but you will do this several times for the red flag. This is why you need to be able to re-adjust the position of the emblem as you are painting, because the red flag is 'wavy' and you will be putting several daubs of paint on it. You need to keep moving and lay down a new paint daub right next to the last one so that it has no time to set up/dry. If some paint wick's up too far on a raised surface, just let it dry. After an hour or so, use a sharp X-Acto knife blade to shave off any unwanted paint. DO NOT BRUSH THE SHAVINGS OFF...blow them off. If they won't come off completely, wait until the paint is completely dry to use a brush and clean all excess off.

Do one color at a time and do all areas of that color. Wait about an hour between colors. {Put brush in cleaner between colors. I think Porcelain is water-soluable, but I can't remember for sure. The bottle will tell you what to use.} When all of the flag is done, let it dry completely overnight. Then, bake the emblem in a kitchen oven or in a toaster oven, according to the instructions on the Porcelain bottle. Do not overheat and do not leave it in too long at baking temperature. When the time is up, LEAVE THE PART IN THE OVEN but turn OFF the heat. Allow the piece(s) to cool slowly so that you don't get any crazing of the paint. The toaster oven cools more quickly but still will not craze, so I prefer to use that.

When cooled, check your work. If you don't think the job is good enough, just strip all the paint again and retry it. You have only lost a bit of your time. The first one I did took three tries. But, that was primarily to find what worked best and provided me with the 'process' that I just gave to you. You may need one attempt to get your hands and mind in-sync with the painting process.

Good luck! I have been very happy with the results. The emblems have lasted 7 years (so far), with 5 of them in AZ summer sun. So, they are durable. And, I get lots of comments on how good they look at car shows. Can you imagine? Comments about your emblems? Makes me grin.... :D

7T1vette,
Thank you for your instructions. I will try this on my original gas tank
emblem. I didn't want to have to get a replacement one.
Again, thanks very much.

Donnie

Thanks for the info. I may try the porcelain paint. It looks really good

That looks awesome, nice work.
I was thinking of putting an old emblem - like from a C1 - on the gas lid of my 1980. Would that look silly?

:iagree:

I used essentially the same method as 7T1vette but I used touch up paint from the parts store and I didn't bake mine in the oven. I did lay it out in the hot sun for a few hours. Mine has held up well. I'll remember the Porcelain paint/bake trick if I ever need to do it again.

Note: The parts store touch up paint had to be thinned a little bit to get it to flow.

DC

Nice work. I like to refresh my inner door handles also.

I think that's the best looking emblem repaint I've ever seen.
Great job, 7T1, and great rundown on your process. Had I seen this a while back, I wouldn't have sprung for the NOS emblems I got. Te NOS'rs are real nice though...
Carter

Hey Snoopysvet, I have a 78 also and am about to do my emblems. Is the writing on the nose and fuel door pieces suppose to be red or black? Not a big deal, I kind of like the red on yours but mine are black.
Thanks!

thanks 7t1- you saved us some dough!

Hey 71Tvette you be able to start a side business restoring emblems:thumbs:

You are right! I made them red just to be different

Looks really nice

The Punisher....

No. I had thought about it at one time; but I just do that and carb rebuilds/upgrades for friends. That and "retirement" keeps me plenty busy. Having a backlog of actual WORK that has to be done isn't really 'in the cards' for me anymore. :lol:

But, thanks for thinking my emblem work might be good enough to purchase! :D

Used paint on mine as well, but I really like the way 7T1's turned out. I may end up stripping mine and trying again.

Before (nose emblem)

http://mehlhaff.info/images/77_vette...lem_before.jpg

After (before I cleaned up the edges)

http://mehlhaff.info/images/77_vette...blem_after.jpg

Adam