So, this may be an epic fail, but it may work, we shall see. When I bought my L69, it had been repainted. I notice that the "5.0. LITER H.O." emblem was coming off. Apparently, when it was repainted, the person that did it, took the badge off, being as old as it was, it looked as if they took it off in pieces. I took the emblem off and glued it back together. Since they are not being remade, I didn't want to put it back onto the car, and risk losing it. I figured I would try to make a mold, redo the emblem, and keep the mold so that I can remake another if something happens, yet still keep the original. Here is the process so far.... I ordered the products off of Amazon, made the mold, and got it poured. Below are the photos of where I am so far. The emblem is not 100% perfect, but once painted, I think it will look ok unless you get onto your hands and knees to look at it. Picture one is the OEM emblem, #2 is the product I am using and #3 is the mold and the first pour outcome. Plan is to use a razor blade to clean up the newly made emblem, paint it black, then use a model brush to paint the lettering red......I'll keep pictures posted as I progress.....

 

Way easier to just take a good level picture of it. Trace over it in CAD. Get it 3d printed. I would do it for you but my license for cad is expired.

 

Yeah the mold casting method is the old-skool way of doing that; works great, has for several millenia now. 3D printing is the 21st century way. Much faster, easier, more accurate, and more reliable. Not least because you can tweeeek it to get rid of any imperfections, like the way the "5" is twisted in your original, or the little chips in the "I" & "T". It would allow you to make it absolutely PERFECT, probably even more perfect than it was brand-new.

 

Or you could always just have the guy on eBay that makes custom ones create a duplicate for you:

 

Are you going this route? LMK how it works out. I messaged that guy, and once my swap is done, I hope to get one made. Right now I just need the good ole 5.7 TPI badge, nothing hard to come by. There are places that can make some nice custom emblems, but I've never found any that LOOK like the OEM emblem. This guy does apparently make OE looking badges. We shall see I suppose.

 

Thanks for the replies..... I may go the 3D route, but I wanted to try this way to see how it would turn out. I know it is archaic.....

 

Nah, keeping mine stock so I bought my replacement emblem from Hawks. But if the 305 ever throws a rod out the side of the block, I'll get one made that says "LT4 Direct Injection"...

 

Do you have a link to this site? Thank you in advance.....

 

Just go on eBay and type in "Custom tuned port emblem" in the search.

 

Great! Thank you sir!

 

I ended up ordering an emblem from the ebay site. I'll post a picture of it once it arrives....

 

Here is the emblem that was made next to the factory emblem.

Factory on the left

 

Do the printed ones have those tiny telltale lines in them? Not sure if that happens with all printed plastic, of just on entry lever machines.
I have noticed that on other printed parts that I saw up close. they also seem to sometimes have tiny flaws, or "pits" in the plastic. I am guessing the process is improving every year, bit I am curious.

 

There are some faint lines, but you have to be right up on it to notice.

 

That actually looks really good! -Maybe not quite OE stuff, but a lot better than many I've seen at the same price or more. Which "red" is that? I see he has a bright and a dark red, but the bright almost looks pink/orange ish, and the dark looks almost maroon. -But whatever you've got pictured there seems to match really well.

 

I chose the darker red, which is still a little lighter than the OEM red. I agree with you, the other red was more orange. The guy is in MI, super responsive to e-mail, and I had the emblem 3 days after I ordered it.

 

Is the color of the badge on the right “red” or “red2”? I see the seller has 2 options.

 

It is "Red".

 

Just got mine in.
It is by no means perfect, but damn its a good option for custom ones.

On top is my new 5.7 liter h.o. with a stock 5.0 liter h.o. on the bottom.

 

it looks like these are being 3D printed. I wonder why they can't get the font more accurate? it just needs to be skinnied up a bit.

 

Agreed.

 

Right? All that work, and stopped at 90% correct. Same as a lot of repro parts. Frustrating, but a better option than nothing.

 

Heres an OEM gold one on eBay. Sure looks like the gold is scuffed up a bit, but no mention of that in the description.
Unless its a shadow, but I don't think they are reflective?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/233795264461?ul_noapp=true

 

Most people do not know how to make Fonts, I have done it, years ago, I made the Font in my Avatar, I can use it on anything. The fact is the font is probably an off the shelf font and it is close enough, just not elongated enough... It takes time, and if this is your second job or just a hobby... If I made them I would spend my time making the font correct... Of course there might be legal ramifications if I did. GM gets bent on crap they no longer produce and if you try to sell things that they once made they want a cut...

 

between sketchup and / or photoshop, they could get the font perfect and then 3D print them. you'd need a font close what you want and then stretch / scale it to make a perfect match.

 

based on other projects I have done, If you have a canned Font, it probably takes about 10 min to make the layout... If you do it exact, it would take at least an hour...

 

To me that would be an hour (or two) well spent!
I guess having something close in reproduction is better than having nothing available but why go through all that work to be a couple hours shy of having a perfect product??

 

The guy making it probably does not care as long as he is getting paid...

John

 

I manage a sign shop, and I had the 5.7 LITER TUNED PORT INJECTION laid out perfectly for some decals I made. It started as a 90% matched font, and then I tweaked it with Adobe Illustrator. For me it was no biggie, but there was a little bit of time involved, and if I wasn't getting paid for the time, I would've had to leave it just the way the font was. ...and I certainly wouldn't have the time to change the font every time someone placed a custom order.

I'm sure his target customer isn't the guy doing a 100% resto, but rather those of us who can get away with really close being "good enough". I'm hoping to have him make me one when I get the LS swap done, and this will suit me just fine. ....that being said, If I had a 3D printer myself, and could make my own....I would make it perfect!

 

There are a few fonts I have found, off the top of my head "Aero" is really close, as is "Good Times" What Font did you find that was close? If you do not mind me asking...

John

 

I've used Empire Builder in the past, but to be honest, I think I just drew out the letter by hand (mouse) in Adobe Illustrator. Sometimes changing a font can take more time than just taking the time to draw it out. ...I have al the letters for most of CAMARO logos over the years, IROCZ, both on the door and fender, etc. etc., lotsa different word/logos etc. etc. ....logotypes.RU and Brands of the World are big helps too. I've been compiling cool vector/car graphic files for awhile, lol

 

I have found that to be the case too... I made the outline "Formula" Font Pontiac used from 87-90...

John

 

I think you just described about 90% of the reproduction parts industry

 

Probably true... Years ago I wanted a guy to make me a custom vinyl sticker for my old Riviera. I gave him a copy of the exact logo. He took 3 min, drew up the logo and it looked like garbage, I pointed out that was not what I asked for and I had him do it again. There does not seem to be much pride in workmanship any more. The company I run I make sure we do the best job we can, and we are rewarded for it. Our biggest competitor does not seem to care, and they are larger than us. However the end of the day I take pride in the parts we make. Mistakes happen, but there is always an attempt to do it right the first time.

 

As a graphic artist who has access to a lot of cool toys to make "stuff" like this for our cars, I can tell you there's a LOT of different variables that goes into how accurately something can be reproduced. -and yes, sometimes poor attention to detail is to blame. Other times is a matter of production methods, or maybe it's a matter of time and efficiency. Legal issues with a direct copy? Who knows?

Right off the bat, to ME....I think it looks like he intentionally fattened up the letters. Just my very experienced two cents. Possibly the 3D printer won't build up resin on shapes too thin. Maybe most will, but the one he could afford won't. Maybe it's cheap resin from China. Maybe the paint method won't cover properly without a little more surface area to stick to. -Or... maybe he's just lazy. I dunno. Just don't be TOO quick to throw him under the bus. I don't see anyone else offering this product, and it's pretty darn accurate, if admittedly, not quite perfect.

 

Great insight - some of which I hadn’t thought about