Tank Lettering Restoration?

[Mark_E]

Good Eavening

The cheap plastic gold chrome on the YAMAHA lettering on the side of my tank is slowly chipping off and I was wondering if there was any way to restore it. It is plasic so I cannot chrome it but what do the restoration guys do? Do they just find some other non-damaged piece at a wreckers and use that? Yamaha cannot sell me an original part to replace it.

Any ideas? Right now I was going to make a project of it an cut the letters out of steel, weld them to a backing, shape them so they fit the (sexy) curve of my XJ tank and have them chromed.

Thanks

Mark
E

[newmaac]

Once upon a time, there was a tech tip for restoring the emblems. Try doing a search. (top right hand tab, above this post)

With mine, I sanded and washed them thouroughly, and primed them with a good primer. I then painted them with a few coats of gloss black. (rattle can)
I then painted the tops of the lettering with an artist brush, in metalic gold, finally sealing everything with a couple coats of clear.

It was a time consuming process, but one that I fully enjoy. Infact, I even painted some extras and sold them to someone else here in the site.
While you are at it, go ahead and do the side cover emblems at the same time.

[Mark_E]

Tank Emblem

Mike
Thanks for the tip and procedure. I'll definitly consider it. Do you think silver chrome paint would look cooler? This is on a black tanked XJ with no other color.

Mark

[newmaac]

Mark,
What was the stock look of the XJ emblems?
In my case, it was an XS Special, so the black/gold was original.
Some of the aftermarket emblems are available in black/silver tho.

[Jeff]

I would assume that gold leaf could be used to restore the original emblems. If you prefer a silver or chrome look, you would be best to purchase the newer chrome emblems for the Yamaha golf carts that still fit the XS and can be had for around $4 each at the dealer.

Does anyone know exactly how the process of plating model car parts is done? Plastic CAN be chromed... but I wonder if it would be even remotely cost effective.

[Jeff]

Just out of curiousity I did a search on rechroming plastic model parts and came up with a company who does just that for a pretty reasonable fee. They rechrome or do initial chroming on model car bumpers and HO scale racers. It appears that they only charge a few bucks for the process plus about $7.50 shipping and handling.

Chrome Tech USA

They use a vacuum type process and claim to be able to exceed the original quality of the part. I did not see if they are capable of doing gold.

[Mark_E]

Jeff
As for the golf carts, my XJ tank emblem curves to fit around the tank. Everyone says that the cart emblems fit but they also only mention XS's and mine's an XJ. Are XS and XJ emblems the same? The Yamaha USA site shows that from my '82 XJ to say, an '81 XS, the part numbers are different. Not only that but on the XJ, either side has it's own number whereas the XS has the same emblem on either side; ie: it's flat, not curved. So I'm concluding the golf cart idea cannot apply. Many on this forum report positive reactions to the golf cart match and that's good. I think I'll have to restore my own as per the steps outlined elsewhere in this forum. Thanks for everything.

Mark

[ARRON]

does any one have part numbers for the golf cart emblems?

[tommystinson]

Does everyone remember the gold badge craze on cars in the early 90's? A body shop in rochester (where I used to live) advertised plating of your own emblems. So if you can find it: New golf cart emblems>gold plating>better than new emblems?

[nashville_bill]

I emailed Chrome Tech USA to ask if they can do the gold color, but they haven't answered yet.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Mark_E,

I just tried one of my XS emblems on a spare XJ tank that I have, and the mounting holes line up perfectly. But, like you said, the XJ tank seems to be a bit more curved near the front end so the fitment of the curvature may not be as close as an OEM XJ emblem vs. the golf cart type. I, too, had OEM gold trim on my XS emblems, but I sanded them off and repainted them with a silver color instead, and I think they look good, however I used some cheap model paint, and it didn't adhere very well, will have to redo them with some higher grade bumper chrome paint next time. SO....to ensure that they mount properly and conform to your tank shape, you may want to redo the OEM's vs. getting the golf cart ones! Good Luck.

T.C.

[srq68]

Just ordered 2 emblems from Boswell Golf Cart in Nashville: $2.83 each. Part number is JN6-F4161-01-00. Call them at (615) 242-6067, ext. 2