Grille emblem Quick project

[Wallington]

It rained over night so my plans to mow on xmas morning were cancelled. Instead, when cleaning up the day before I'd found my original Pontiac 1978 grille emblem. About 18 years ago I had stripped this back to bare chrome and then painted around all the letters by hand using model paints, as was the restoration tool of the time. While this held up well, I had left the emblem border in chrome rather than black. The letter sides were also left chrome, which I think looked neater, but black was the official finish.

I decided to scrub it up and give a good clean, some of the previous black came off, and some of the casting was pitted so a good emblem to play with. There are now a few reproduction emblems, some seem very good and a close representation. Others have chunky lettering and incorrect font, while another almost looks too thin, I think the letter sides are less tapered giving less bold look. I bet that half the time the stock photos aren't even the type you get.

1978 Firebird Pontiac grille emblem 549367 repaint Before 12-23 (2) by Ben, on Flickr

1978 Firebird Pontiac grille emblem 549367 repaint Before 12-23 (6) by Ben, on Flickr

I then gave it 2 light coats of a satin black with built-in etch. I wanted to paint the sides but not the rear or the pins. I used a small card tray so I could also slip it into the oven on low for 10 minutes.

1978 Firebird Pontiac grille emblem 549367 satin black repaint (2) by Ben, on Flickr

A few hours later, well after drying time and hardening I was still bored at home so decided to finish it off. I used a small contact file to lightly take the top off the black paint on the letters, not enough to scratch the chrome. Then when a thin film left I used a fine wet n dry sandpaper to buff the rest off, using window cleaner spray for lube, mainly because it was hanging next to me.

Done. Not amazing, not really good enough to go on car, but better than it was and more accurate in the black being on sides of border and letters. I also cleaned up the original helmet nuts and blackened them in treatment like new.

It's not worse anyway, but gave me something do briefly. Enjoy.

1978 Firebird Pontiac grille emblem 549367 after repaint (3) by Ben, on Flickr

1978 Firebird Pontiac grille emblem 549367 after repaint (4) by Ben, on Flickr

1978 Firebird grille emblem restored blackened helmet nuts 549367 (1) by Ben, on Flickr

1978 Firebird grille emblem restored blackened helmet nuts 549367 (2) by Ben, on Flickr

[SSChevy]

Wow Nice work on the emblem and the SE Gold grill looks NEW.
Are they for sale, I am Interested.

[FormTA]

Mice little project and a great guideline to go by. Spraying everything and then wet sanding.

FYI, those grills really do look awesome.

[Wallington]

Thanks. Figured if it fails then there's now reproduction emblems. I thought I also had a NOS one somewhere but until it appears, keep working away on used parts. If you have similar emblems that have good chrome but the rest is rough, they can be saved, somewhat.

No, those are my original genuine grilles, albeit repainted a long time ago. It was a custom Gold I had mixed up a long time ago based on pics, decals and tiny paint chips. And years later when I had large paint sample sheets and YO snowflakes, with their idea of the gold, they still match very well. Looks quite yellow in those pics due to flash and lighting indoors. As well as being for SE Trans Am models, they are also original to my W50 Formula.

[b_hill_86]

Looks good!I like the sanding idea. I would’ve been afraid to scratch the chrome. I actually taped mine and cut the letters out with a razor blade to cover them while I sprayed the rest. I think yours looks better overall though.

[Wallington]

Found another one, same same. This is a 76-77 #498834 emblem.
Rough condition, worth nothing to anyone. It had a coat of silver paint and casting pitted.

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge unrestored 498834 (1) by Ben, on Flickr

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge unrestored 498834 (4) by Ben, on Flickr

I stripped it back to remaining original paint, soaked it in some rust converter, no rust here but helps stabilise open casting pores. Then got the bench grinder buffing machine out to polish letter faces.

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge stripped polished 498834 (1) by Ben, on Flickr

Then a light bake in the oven, a coat of satin black on all 4 sides then back into the oven briefly.

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge painted Satin Black 498834 (2) by Ben, on Flickr

Finally, tops of lettering again carefully filed and sanded off, then polished again.

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge restored 498834 (4) by Ben, on Flickr

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge restored 498834 (6) by Ben, on Flickr

76-77 Pontiac Firebird grille badge restored 498834 (9) by Ben, on Flickr

[5th T/A]

Ben, you really do nice work 😊

[wheels78ta]

Pitting or not you make those emblems look brand new.

Great job.

[b_hill_86]

I wouldn’t have guessed what you started with would’ve turned out so well.

[Wallington]

Just quick n easy projects, still can't sell them to cover the cost of paint!
Some good reproductions out there now too, but also some bad ones with font that is not like the originals.

[kentucky yeti]

I'd take that over a repop any day.  Nice work.