Hi guys, Tried a couple of searches, but couldn't find anything on restoring the lucite badges that you found on 50's cars...front and rear. I've got a 52 Pontiac Chieftain and all the badge lucite is in usable condition, but the paint is pretty bad and flaking/faded. Anyone have any ideas on stripping the paint off the rear of the lucite without damaging the plastic? Thanks for any info.
i tried to find out the process too a little while back,,while there were some great ideas, nobody seemed to know the exact process the factories used....curious to see if there is any additional information,,,
Thanks guys...I'd thought of using the modelling Bare Metal Foil, but my main concern was getting all traces of old paint off the rear of the lucite badge without scratching up the suface. I figured I'd bare metal foil the inside of the letters, then spray paint the back of the badge with a close colour to original. Might end up having to use chrome paint for the letters.....I'll practice on some scrap perspex, I think.
I did this on mine. It turned out fairly good, not perfect but ok. First, get the old paint off the inside. Do NOT use citrus stripper or anything that will eat the lucite. I used a dremel tiny rotary bit and cleaned out the ridges. When clean and the paint is gone, I used red paint I got from Hobby Lobby that is used for crafts, and can be painted on plastic. I brushed it on in bright red and silver for the indian head. While not perfect, it turned out much better than it was.
For stripping the paint off, try soaking the plastic in Castrol super clean, (the purple stuff). It will remove all of the paint and metalizing from the plastic and not harm it. When you want to repaint try using hobby, (model car) enamel candies for color and then find some mylar to back ground the paint for shine. I did this on a trunk emblem on a '53 merc. for a buddy and you could'nt tell it from a repop.
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