EMBLEMS

[Dave the Wave]

how do you replace the "bel air" emblem in the panel on the rear quarter? thanx

[BamaNomad]

The BelAir emblem (and the crest) were both attached only to the aluminum panel itself, and not thru the quarter panel. Both emblems have little 'brad studs' on the rear which are peened/bradded over after insertion onto the alum panel. The crests and the BelAir emblem are available in the aftermarket (Danchuk and ?) for replacement, but you do have to remove the aluminum panel to install them, and the quarter trim has to be removed to allow removal of the aluminum panel.

The GOOD thing about removing the panel and replacing the emblems/crest is that it gives you an opportunity to RESTORE your aluminum panel. Assuming it's original, it's probably aged with some color change and tiny nicks/scratches. I used the process described by Mikey (other site) to do my originals and I think they turned out great (and lots better than spending the many hundreds for new panels!).

11733 as removed from the car.
11735 after cleaning and clear coating.
11734 after installation of new emblems and re-installation.

[Dave the Wave]

thank you!,,,,,,,and they look great!

[BamaNomad]

Dave,

Mikey's suggestions that I followed was to remove old emblems, then clean the panels with an SOS pad - and lots of water, always scrubbing in the direction of the aluminum ribs (I did that twice, with rinse afterwards), then rinse well, dry and clear coat with a SATIN CLEAR. After that you can install the new emblems. The best thing about using your original aluminum panels is that they have the proper shape at the rear, allowing them to follow the curvature of the lower rear quarter back towards the bumper. The repro ones don't always do that from what I'm told.

[210Chevy]

Wow!!! they look good thats what I need to do also.

[210Chevy]

Hey; bama, what do you mean here when you say always scrubbing in the direction of the aluminum ribs are yyou saying in the direction of the smaller end or larger end I need to do the same thing.

[BamaNomad]

The area between the ribs have very fine lines running with the ribs. To clean use long strokes with the #0000 steel wool and scrubbing powder; do not scrub across the ribs or the lines...

Dave: I bought new emblems from Danchuk (for the '57 stainless panels) - they have tiny screws that insert from the rear, so the aluminum panels have to be OFF the car to replace them correctly. IIRC I used a drill or small grinder to grind down the back side of the pins on the old emblems/crest a little bit down flush to the aluminum, then used a punch to punch them thru. I bought new Danchuk BA emblems (#2341) and crests (#2342). I think one had short pins that had to be 'peened' to hold them in and the other used the tiny screws but I didn't take any photos.. (sorry)..

Here's a photo showing the backside of the original crests/emblems after removal from the aluminum side panel.
12489