A trunk badge conundrum

[adam912]

Below you see two badges I have in my goodie box.

The one on the right came off the front of my '66 maybe 25 years ago--the pins were sheared off when I got backed into. It's what you'd expect in a later badge--deep red enamel, nice plating. Not, I imagine, what came with my '66 originally.

The one on the left was attached to a used hood I just purchased. Note a few things:
--the gorgeous orange-y color
--It's flat
--Amazing patina
--simplified part number on the rear

I love the one on the left! This is not a show car, it's my daily driver and has 480, 000 miles on her, a well used car. If the orange enamel was complete, I would not hesitate about using this one, it's a great match to the car.

What would you do, of the following?
-- Strip all of the remaining enamel and leave it bare bones
--Have an enamel artist attempt to match the orange color and restore it
--just buy a new repro badge and use this one as a keepsake

thanks!

Adam912.Out

[BBausser]

Just mount it as it is. It's the proper badge and patina (imho) always beats repro's.

[John Straub]

I agree with Bill.

John

[Mycar]

Bill and John do have a point, but should you choose to restore, Heywood Enamels in Australia are recommended.

http://enamel-auto-badge-repair.com....n_process.html

More info here,

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/vie...ighlight=badge

Mike.

[gruen911]

Repro badges are a dime a dozen. Stick with the original badge, unless your car is a show car. Then you can either have the original restored properly or buy a good used (original) badge and put the original in a box for any future owner.
Living in Germany, I notice that many Germans who buy cars from the US and ship them over for "re-restoration" are so proud of their cars after they have handed out 30.000 euros + for a proper "German" restoration. But they don't even notice that the original hood badge with its usual enamel cracks etc. has been replaced with a new $30 badge. It's a dead giveaway of an over-restored car. It's screams of being nouveau Porsche rich but not having a clue about originality.

[Bullethead]

Second that about Heywood Enamels, have seen their work, beautiful perfect color... but nothing is like an original.