Tank and side cover emblem refinishing

[baldpuki]

Has anyone tried to refinish the emblems that are gold in color? Mine are in great shape but with the finish rubbed off. Any ideas besides ebay?

[trbig]

I tried using some gold paint for model cars. It looks alright as long as you are a few feet away... lol. I would like to try something like a gold chrome... then a clear-coat over that to protect it. I tried to put a clear-coat over the gold paint I used.. and it just reactivated the paint...

Tod

[randy]

Tod,

Laquer clear over enamel paint will do that. try enamel clear over laquer paint.

[Ljay40]

Hi Tod

Just like Randy says I used Metallic Gold exterior acrylic enamel from my local hardware store (Well should I say my wife did I hope she dont read that ) Then sprayed with laquer clear.
Somewere on here I remember seeing a thread bye someone I think was Ken Talbot on redoing your emblems but I have yet to find again.
Good luck
LjaY

[Ljay40]

Woops just reread that sorry Randy, Todd wasn't Laquer clear I sprayed over top it was acryllic enamel clear made my DupliColor from napa
sorry for any confusion
LjaY

[skids]

I tried gold paint and it didn't look too good. Then I tried the gold foil where you paint on the adhesive and lif off the metal from the foil...I looked OK where the adhesive was smooth, but there was no way to fix the mistakes. I also tried the paint pens and I am most impressed with that. It is not a mirror finish but is more of a satin-metallic look. It is the most consistent and the easiest to apply.

[oseaghdha]

I know there are places that will refinish chromed plastic interior car parts like A/C vents.
Don't know if they do gold or not.
Some of the old car boards will have info.

[John]

Originally posted by skids
I tried gold paint and it didn't look too good. Then I tried the gold foil where you paint on the adhesive and lif off the metal from the foil...I looked OK where the adhesive was smooth, but there was no way to fix the mistakes. I also tried the paint pens and I am most impressed with that. It is not a mirror finish but is more of a satin-metallic look. It is the most consistent and the easiest to apply.

I have been thinking of using some silver leaf, I already have the kit, and instead of painting the glue on the emblem, use spray adhesive and spray it on the back of the leaf material, instead of on the emblem, and stick it down that way. That way the leaf wont stick into the recessed areas inside the the lettering. I tried the conventional method of brushing the glue down, on an old tank emblem, but I didn't like the brush marks that were in the glue.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by Ljay40
Somewere on here I remember seeing a thread bye someone I think was Ken Talbot on redoing your emblems but I have yet to find again.
Good luck
LjaY

Yes, I do have a page on refinishing emblems, but my ISP is having trouble again, and all of my posted pages have been nuked again. This is getting to be a bit of a bother.

The text of the article is available here on the forum tech pages at this link. Unfortunately, the article is still trying to point to images stored on my ISPs dead server. Sorry about that.

[JWSanders]

I haven't tried it yet, but I've been considering using conductive paint and then electroplating them myself. I have several small parts I want to replate anyway, so buying a plating kit is in my future. A small Copy Chrome or Nickel kit would be less than the cost of one of those nice metal emblems you can get on Ebay. The Silvraspray isn't much more. They also have a new copper conductive spray that is a whole lot cheaper then the silver spray.

I think the end result would be beautiful. You could even be able to plate a gold (or brass) tone to them after the nickel and make them look like the originals, if not better. They would be a lot stronger than just plastic afterwards, too.

All of the processes I'm talking about are for sale at Caswell Plating.

So many things to try, so little time.

[trbig]

While looking for high-temp paint today, I noticed a couple cans of gold chrome paint. Anyone actually tried these? Wondering how it would look with a clear over the top of that.

Tod

[TADracer]

About 7 years ago I redid my tank emblems with gold leaf from the hobby shop. I wanted that bright gold look similar to the original gold plating because my side cover emblems were fine and I wanted everything to match. I sanded all the gold areas until they were smooth, trying to leave as much of the black background on as possible. Then I painstakingly brushed on the base adhesive taking care not to get any onto the black areas. Then I spread on the gold leaf. Let it dry over night and then gave it a few coats of clear enamel. They have lasted good all this time and are just now starting to show some wear from rubbing with rags, etc. while polishing the tank.

But, any way you do it, expect several hours of time because the work is just tedious. Good Winter project for a sunday afternoon while watching Football.

I dont think you will find anywhere that will re-plate plastic parts since it is usually a 'secret' process the manufacturer's use to plate plastic.

[webbcraft2150]

Timely thread. I have recently been in contact with a "plastic plater" in Ohio. He goes around to car dealers and gold/chrome plates plastic emblems and trim on cars. I explained to him what I needed done and he figure it would be no problem to refinsh tank and side emblems. Cost was estimated to be around $100 for all four pieces. I also looked into the equipment to do this process and it runs well over a grand plus supplies. This may be a viable option for me. My son-in-law runs a stereo/tint/accessory shop and he has had inquiries from his dealers and customers about this plating process. If our negotiations work out, I may soon be in the plastic plating business.

[LoserShoes]

Originally posted by TADracer


I dont think you will find anywhere that will re-plate plastic parts since it is usually a 'secret' process the manufacturer's use to plate plastic.

You need to look at "Electroless Copper Plating Solution" used in making thru hole plated double sided printed circuit boards. Plates a thin coat of copper on any nonconductive material so the the next step can be electro plated. Quite expensive stuff.

Steve

[Pat Kelly]

Can't be that big a secret. Look at all the plastic model kits that have chrome parts.

look at www.caswellplating.com