Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

This is the world champion car constructors badge on the right rear of my newly acquired '69 FHC. The badge appears to have a clear coat that has aged and flaked off much of it. Fortunately the printing/graphic is intact. 2 questions then, how do I remove the rest of the clear coat without damaging the graphic and secondly what is appropriate to reapply for clear coat and maybe last another 50 years, not for me, the next custodian. I'm impressed by the strength of whatever was used for the graphics, it did not seem to be impacted by my scraping!

I?m hoping the answer is ?buy a new one, they?re cheap as chips and here?s where you get them? as mine is intact but faded almost to the point of invisibility.

69S4 wrote:I?m hoping the answer is ?buy a new one, they?re cheap as chips and here?s where you get them? as mine is intact but faded almost to the point of invisibility.

https://paulmattysportscars.co.uk/produ ... dy/badges/

https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and- ... rchresults

jabingb wrote:This is the world champion car constructors badge on the right rear of my newly acquired '69 FHC. The badge appears to have a clear coat that has aged and flaked off much of it. Fortunately the printing/graphic is intact. 2 questions then, how do I remove the rest of the clear coat without damaging the graphic and secondly what is appropriate to reapply for clear coat and maybe last another 50 years, not for me, the next custodian.

IMG_2310.JPG

Beautiful original badge, one can tell from the font, the alignements, the texture of horizontal lines (probably anodized) - colors are very nice, too (esp. the green which tend to be more fragile and is not right either on repros - the laurels clearly has the thin details like the holes at the bottom or the proper leaves width). I understand your concern as I would be very cautious in cleaning it, if indeed it is a coat of clear, letting lacquer thinner on the original colors risking to wash or fade them out... maybe trying mechanically (lifting the film with a razor blade, possibly blunted, used almost parallel to the surface so as not to scratch it)? or use it as is, waiting for the clear to fall off from the air speed at which you'll be enjoying your car...

keep it on the road

nmauduit wrote:Beautiful original badge, one can tell from the font, the alignments,

I appreciate your understanding of the originality and my desire to retain that.

Thanks to some strong thumbnails I have managed to get most of the clear coat off but not quite all the residue. I'm stopping there to avoid any potential injury of the graphic/text.

Now the question is what to cover it with, would think something UV resistant? One friend suggested nail polish but not sure about the UV protection plus I don't want to use anything that might react with what remains. I'm in the US so I'd like to use something readily available over here and preferably in small quantity.

fwiw I've let my original badge (paid dearly after a long search) just as was installed originally (no coating - I suspect your may have been coated during a quick respray), but made sure it was securely taped to the holder.

I park my car in the shade when I can (must admit it stays inside a closed garage most of the time). I'm not sure it these badges would fade just from the sun light or how fast, or rather from harsh cleaning,