Clear coat on emblems?

[rebelgregory]

So I started a little resto on my emblems before I put them back on my (newly painted) truck. I used model paint, but I'm wondering if I can preserve it with clearcoat. If viable, I want to do the Silverado q-panel emblems, and the K-5 fender emblems. Anybody tried this? Worth a shot?

Progress pics. I think it came out pretty nice.

 

[Slade001]

I did the same thing. I just used a Krylon clear coat rattle can. Gives it a nice shine.

 

[rebelgregory]

I did the same thing. I just used a Krylon clear coat rattle can. Gives it a nice shine.

Cool, Thanks. I'm no paint expert. Just wanted to make sure the clear wouldn't make the chrome look junky or bubble up the model paint, etc.

 

[sheepdog_tx]

How do you get the emblems off the body anyway? How are they attached?

 

[Slade001]

It depends, if they are the original emblems they may have studs attaching them to the fender. If they are newer, they are most likely on there with double sided tape. If thats the case get some BRAIDED fishing line and use it as a saw and just cut them off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DLpyZO4hYZw

 

[rebelgregory]

^correct. Look for tape behind them. Both the fender and quarter badges have 2 pins on the back to put the back for mounting. The fender emblems are plasticso odds are the pins are gone if anyone ever tried removing them. 3M double-side foam tape works great for remounting them. The bedside 'Silverado' badges are cast metal. The pins on the back push into 2 clips in the bedside...which brings up another question:

My clips are gone. Is double-sided tape still the best way to mount them, considering the recessed area behind the emblem and their weight relative to plastic emblems?

 

[Slade001]

I think that we covered this question not too long ago and the consensus was yes. I'm pretty sure that even Ryoken said it was the best way.
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[rebelgregory]

In case anyone wants to know in the future, model paint + clear coat works pretty good. I'm very happy with the results. Also, yes, 3M tape is plenty strong.

 

[Slade001]

SWEET!!! Thanx, I'm getting my Blazer painted this weekend. Can't wait to see it with all the emblems on it.

Do you have a pic of the rear Silverado badge on the truck?

 

[CGT80]

I painted the emblems on my C20, but didn't clear coat them. They didn't last all that long, so be sure to use the clear coat.

 

[rebelgregory]

This is the only one I have on my phone. It's hard to get a good picture. Flash makes it too shiny and garage light doesn't make it look very good. But it looks really nice in person. I tried to put a touch of red in the emblems just to tie it to the paint color.

 

[Highpsi]

What's you guys thoughts on the long term durability of the clear coat? My only worry would be using the clear coat and having it fail eventually, and then you've got a horrible mess on your hands to try to strip the clear AND the paint out from under too in order to re-finish them.

While that's no problem to do on metal, trying it with plastic is pretty dicey to consider I'd guess. Normally we'd all probably just consider new emblems, but those are probably going to be harder and harder to find in the future (or maybe easier?)

 

[rebelgregory]

I thought about that. In my case, the truck is garaged and not a daily driver, so UV deterioration isn't a huge concern. Also, I had clearcoated my taillights about a decade ago because they were faded and hazy and I was too broke to buy new ones. They still look good. I'm kind of figuring that based on that, they'll be ok. If not i will probably look for new ones. LMC still sells them and they're still pretty common on ebay. At least for now.

 

[Slade001]

Looks good man, thanx.