Ever try fixing faded "GMC" logo on body trim?

[shifty]

Applies to our era of trucks.

My truck appears to have the original body trim. The red in the GMC is completely gone under the plastic cover. That red is part of what makes the body trim "pop" like it does on the grille and tailgate. Plastic cover doesn't seem to come off.

Anyone ever try restoring the color back into it? Replacement for both driver and passenger side is $120. Way too spendy when $2 in touch up paint and half an hour could fix if you could get access.

[shifty]

Actually, after hunting on Amazon, I found someone selling used trim and ... It would appear they were thinking like me and tried to pop off the plastic to get to the letters and damaged the trim.

Maybe this isn't possible. Sucks, all the ones at the junkyard I've seen are in same condition - no "life blood" left in them.

I wonder if someone makes a replacement "GMC" insert for the trim here? Would solve the problem and probably cost a hell of a lot less.

[geezer#99]

Have you searched for decals in the right size?
Sometimes you can find individual letters that work.
A few years ago I bought some rally wheel cap decals and the vendor claimed he could make letters in any size.
Some examples on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ecals&_sacat=0

Vinyl will likely last longer too.

[speedygonzales]

https://www.classicparts.com/1988-98...nfo/59%2D7281/

LMC has them but they want your first born as payment

[shifty]

Originally Posted by speedygonzales

LMC has them but they want your first born as payment

I didn't want to call them out directly in case there were any hardcore LMC fans on here, but that's I meant by "way too spendy". Best price I could find on eBay is $124 and free shipping which is about $10-20 cheaper than LMC

Link to that: https://www.ebay.com/itm/201904265229

But, let's be real. I'm not going full resto on my truck. It's a work truck. I am trying to make it look a little less weathered though.

Surprised someone doesn't make a glue-in insert! You can clearly pop out the GMC logo (albeit in pieces) and there's a nice little tray left behind to drop a new logo into.

Someone could probably get those fabbed up for $15-20/unit and sell on eBay for twice the fab cost, make a good chunk of change. But do them in alloy with no plastic cover so people can re-touch them after!

Next time I hit the JY, I may pop one off and see if I can't make a mold of it, or use it for a template. If nobody else will do it, could be a fun side project to work on...

[Jeepwm69]

They do look like crap when they fade. Looks like someone could maybe 3d print the emblem where it could be glued in place.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by Jeepwm69

They do look like crap when they fade. Looks like someone could maybe 3d print the emblem where it could be glued in place.

You know, this just made me realize, I'm thinking about this too hard.

It would be pretty easy and 10ft-stare acceptable to take the GM logo, measure, take to a place that does vinyl sticker cutouts and have them knock a couple of them out in something close to GMC red. Then just stick them on top of the plastic. Doubt it would cost more than $20. I'll try to see what I can find out and report back eventually.

[speedygonzales]

Nice idea with the stickers

You could pour this stuff in the trough where the letters are to fill it in

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathan...1543/205443113

[special-K]

I bought a pair of 2500 emblems off of Ebay for my Suburban and they were very inexpensive. A fraction of what Brothers sells them for. Are there's N.O.S.? I'm not sure what mine are, but might be GM. Doesn't matter, GM ones look like crap in a few years so probably no better than replacements.

I replaced all the lenses all around with cheap replacements and went ahead with the emblems, too, for a refresh on aged plastic crap.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by special-K

I bought a pair of 2500 emblems off of Ebay for my Suburban and they were very inexpensive. A fraction of what Brothers sells them for. Are there's N.O.S.? I'm not sure what mine are, but might be GM. Doesn't matter, GM ones look like crap in a few years so probably no better than replacements.

It looks like GM is still making the body emblems for the side trim. Part is still listed in their catalogs. I think that's what everyone is selling for $60-100/ea logo. Seems steep as can be to me! Especially when it appears it only takes a few years for the signature red on the "GMC" part to fade and start looking old and gnarly.

That said... my badge itself is fine, it's just the darn insert that's fading out. I wanted to have something I could hand off to a capable person so I went to the JY yesterday to get some EVAP parts to tinker with, score misc trim pieces and hardware I lack, and I grabbed a couple of emblems.

Posting pics for reference in case someone stumbles across this thread later.

You can see how the GMC logo fits into the molding. In a nutshell, it's a clear lens that's embossed on the back side with the GMC outline, which is filled with chrome, painted red in the lettering, looks as if the letter interior is sprayed with silver which is dyed red (when the red dye fades all you see is silver), then all surrounding letters is painted black. Then they use a silicone adhesive to glue it into the slot on the larger "1500" portion of the badge. Rear of the larger badge pic attached below - they're holding that in with a 1x1 square of adhesive and the ovular stubs fit into provisions on the body trim.

GM could've maybe prevented this by fully sealing the rear of the GMC emblem or using proper paint, or a better plastic/poly lens.

I'm going to explore a couple avenues this year as time permits. I'll see what a vinyl shop can do, then reach out to a friend who CNCs billet to see what he thinks, then try to find someone who is familiar with molding and casting to see what they think. I'm sure vinyl will probably be cheapest, CNC most expensive and robust, mold/cast somewhere in between.