What are you guys doing for hood ornaments these days?

[PGBuick]

64's are the same hood with no hood ornament.  The Center grille emblem had the front tri-shield in 64.  Maybe it's an early 65 car?

I have one of those Poston repro's and it was so poor of a repro that I never put it on a car.  None of mine are perfect.  I think the trick in a repro would be the foil repro and coloration.  It appeared to be anodized aluminum in three colors.   If that part were repro'd properly, we could rechrome all the pitted ones we have laying around and stick the foil piece on.
Pat

[Loren At 65GS]

64's are the same hood with no hood ornament.  The Center grille emblem had the front tri-shield in 64.  Maybe it's an early 65 car?

I have one of those Poston repro's and it was so poor of a repro that I never put it on a car.  None of mine are perfect.  I think the trick in a repro would be the foil repro and coloration.  It appeared to be anodized aluminum in three colors.   If that part were repro'd properly, we could rechrome all the pitted ones we have laying around and stick the foil piece on.
Pat

That's a topic that I have been bending some ones ear with.

So... what would a good pair of inserts be worth ?

Good to see you on the board Pat.

Loren

[elagache]

Dear fans of the 1965 Buick A-bodies,

Just to "finish up the story" associated with this thread.  The hood ornament on eBay mentioned on this thread ended up being sold to a single bidder for $300.  The fellow on V-8 Buick who was desperately searching for one didn't buy it.  Here are his own word as you'll find on the V-8 Buick thread:

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?295920-WTD-1965-Sportwagoon-hood-ornament&p=2452768#post2452768

Oh no, I was gonna bid on that ebay emblem but I just repainted the one on my car and couldn't justify spending $300+. Now I'm having second thoughts. Someone tell me I did the right thing by not bidding on it. Maybe another will come along before I die.......

. . . . . .

You should have bid on it. Good luck finding another at that price. What did you use to repaint yours? I have a nice one that needs paint. 

. . . . . .

I know I know, but mine didn't come out so bad. Walmart had these small plastic tubs of paint in their craft section. I got some detail brushes and put on 2 coats and then sprayed some clear over it. Looks great from 5 feet. The paint is a little off but unless an original one is right next to it, you wouldn't know. It sure looks better with paint on it, makes all the difference.

I put in a lot of effort trying to identify the best colors available from the model paint resources available to a model railroader.  Even with a lot of experience and the appropriate tools from my model railroading workshop, I had a very difficult time repainting my damaged hood ornament.  I fear that this creation probably doesn't look good even at 5 feet away and that's not going to reflect well on the whole 1965 Buick community.

So if someone could come up with a really smart way to reproduce at least the painted Tri-Shield portion of the hood ornament, I'm sure the buyers are out there.

Cheers, Edouard

[Robk]

Was this the NOS one mentioned in the V8 thread?   Wish I had known about that one.

Rob

[tsollazo]

Hi Guys,

As Mark mentioned, I restored mine. It was a pita and would definitely spring for a repro. The process involved very carefully and meticulously removing the embossed trishield from the base. Whatever they used for adhesive back then worked. No matter what you do or try, this thin metal of the trishield will get bent, blemished, etc. Mine eventually came off with a series of permatex adhesive remover applications, heat and gentle maneuvering with plastic pry tools.

I then straightened it, meticulously masked it in a series and sprayed a pearl "base coat" over the colored areas. I hit the white shield twice more. Then took a candy blue and candy red for the other shields I bought from a hobby store that matched very close in two coats. Then I shot the whole painted area with clear a couple times.

I was happy with the result. Hind sight I would have hand painted as it would have given the same result in much much less time.

I then tacked the base and the back of the painted shield with RTV and carefully clamped the whole thing together to set. Those shield aren't going anywhere.

I will do yours for $1M 

This is work for a Jeweler!

Tony

[elagache]

Dear Tony and mid-60s Buick "jewelers," . . . . .

As Mark mentioned, I restored mine. It was a pita and would definitely spring for a repro.

. . . .

This is work for a Jeweler!

Point well taken.  Being a model railroader I have the experience creating things with very small details, but even so, painting the hood ornament is really at the limit of what you can do by hand.  More importantly, I think we both made a mistake in using hobby paints.  This sort of paint isn't intended to be exposed to the ultraviolet of sunshine, so I doubt the colors will last very long.

So we all definitely need another run of reproduction hood ornaments.  The only question is whether or not we should try to nudge a restoration parts company to make that batch or if we should as a community create this part for ourselves.

Cheers, Edouard

[telriv]

Has anyone tried to contact Trim Parts about this??? It seems to me anyway that what they produce is a quality, sopt on product from my experience.


Tom T.

[elagache]

Dear Tom and fans of mid-60s Buicks,

Has anyone tried to contact Trim Parts about this??? It seems to me anyway that what they produce is a quality, sopt on product from my experience.

I haven't because I don't much about the company.  The only reason I tried to nudge OPGI is that I knew a guy there so I knew of a way to give them a nudge!   What I've seen of Trim Parts is that they seem focused on the parts that can be produced in great volume (i.e. mostly Chevy.)  I don't know if they would be interested in a niche market like Buick.

However, if somebody has a contact at Trim Parts, . . . by all means try!

Cheers, Edouard

[tsollazo]

Trim parts reproduces the coupe arm rest pads...pretty niche as those are one model, one year only..

[dsags]

Trim parts reproduces the coupe arm rest pads...pretty niche as those are one model, one year only..

Did not find them at their site. Do you have a part number or link ?  Thanks,

Dan