Another Speedster question

[5brown1]

Was the gold hood ornament plated or painted?
Thanks

[TX Rebel]

gold anodized

[M15 Trucker]

Was the center hood ornament always anodized metal? IIRC back in the very early eightys at the La Palma meet, one of the venders had an NOS set of the fender and hood ornaments and all the inserts were that amber colored plastic resine. do any other "old timers" remember them that way.
Mike

[5brown1]

Mine is metal. Is it aluminum or pot metal, anyone know. I just saw a plastic one sell on ebay.

[mmagic]

Mine is plastic or acrylic and I believe that SI has new ones.

[5brown1]

I have seen the fender acrylic ornaments but not the hood one. I'll look again. Great catalog by the way.

[mmagic]

You're right... I confused the crest with the acrylic.

[5brown1]

Where can one have something anodized? I've searched online but didn't find anything other than some DIY kits.

[mmagic]

Call SI... they have some stuff not in the book and may have the answer for you.

[riversidevw]

As I recall, the center insert was metal during the initial months of Speedster production, switching to the clear acrylic midyear. I had planned to remove the insert in mine to have plated (or replace with the repro acrylic piece). Haven't done it yet... removal of that insert on mine turned out to be a gnarly job, corroded screws and retaining hardware. Fearing I might damage the chromed casting, I cleaned it up a bit and put it back on with a new crest emblem.

Gil

[mbstude]

I have a Speedster hood ornament. The main strip is stainless, and the insert is gold anodized pot metal.

[riversidevw]

I have a Speedster hood ornament. The main strip is stainless, and the insert is gold anodized pot metal.

As usual, Matthew is correct. The main center strip is indeed a big hunk of stainless. I had forgotten, it's been at least three years since I removed and reinstalled mine. Chromed pot-metal casting would have pitted just as promptly as the other '55 hood ornaments.

Gil

[55studeman]

Yep, made of pot-metal....the same "metal" mix that was used for all of the plated parts Stude and other car makers of that vintage used (i.e. any and all left over metal from more important castings, even if different metal types are not chemically stable with each other over time).

Don't let the "anodized" part trip you up....not important, nor do I think that what was done. Anodizing is both a dull finish and porous. If you want to sell cars, you want flashy, flashy plated gold. Secondly, anodized needs to be sealed or else the porous finish will quicken the rate at which the pot metal will come through and be exposed. Studebaker wasn't in the game to do multi-step, extra cost plating....i.e. they would need to seal anodized gold to make it shinier and for it to last.

It was simply gold plated. There are different levels of gold plating, some better, harder, and longer lasting then others. But back then, they more than likely stuck to whatever was easier and cheaper to do. When restoring these cars you can decide to get a better gold plating so it shines better and lasts longer if you want, however a basic gold plating looks great too -just be sure to keep it waxed, and be sure to wax gently, no deep rubbing or you'll go through the gold plating.

i figure a majority of chrome shops also do gold-plating, just need to ask them....Why? because so many people (not CASOs) have money to burn now days that they gold plate lots of stuff on their cars, especially if you find a chrome shop in a latino community! Seriously, not kidding about that.

The mid-grade chrome shop that did my chrome also gold plated my speedster hood spear insert, as well as the "S" on the floating V in the middle of the front grille. Been happy with the results.

Good luck. And let us know if you have more questions or concerns, we'll be happy to take a stab at them.

[5brown1]

Thanks Eric,
I spoke with the chrome shop and found that the gold plating is the best way to go. So that is the what I intend to do. Actually, they told me the anodizing would probably be more expensive.

[mmagic]

Studebaker Parts has the Acrylic repro flair.

http://www.studebakerparts.com/studebakerparts/store/s/agora.cgi?page=speedster.html