Horn Emblem Refurbishment

[Carl Swirsding]

I'm restoring the horns on my'64 Karman C Coupe following Edwin Schweitzer's cartoon style restoration directions from Volume 34, Number 1, of the Registry Magazine. I've cleaned up the emblems but they have some aluminum corrosion and poor paint. See photo. Any suggestions on how to refresh the black paint and bring shine back to the lettering?

Doing my best to KTF,

Carl

[Doug McDonnell]

If you want them perfect send them to Julian and wait a few months but Stoddard sells them. https://www.stoddard.com/porsche-356/po ... /horn.html Right and left of course are different.

[Jim Liberty]

After I restore my horns, I just can't put the old tags back on. The reproductions are perfect and fit the re-do. ..........Jim.

[Mike Wilson]

I agree with you, Jim. If the horns are restored, use the new repros.

Mike

[Bruce Smith]

Perfect reproduction emblems are available from Stoddard for $29, or in a hardware kit for $45. Not worth the bother of restoring the old emblems. Here are mine for the '60 cabriolet.

[Joris Koning]

Carl, the earlier tags can be soaked in lacquer thinner. This removes the black paint. Carefully wet sand, start with 1000 and go up. After this appply black paint and sand again to knock the black paint of the higher areas. Much preferred to new tags which, in my eyes do not look quite right (font). Key caveat is that your tags are in decent shape to start with.

[Ken Tuvman]

After I restore my horns, I just can't put the old tags back on. The reproductions are perfect and fit the re-do. ..........Jim.

Hi Jim - assuming you're also replacing the paper gaskets (2) per horn?

[Carl Swirsding]

Thanks everyone, especially Joris who answered my question. I bought the horn restoration kit from Stoddard for $45. The included emblems are incorrect, plus being flat (not shaped to fit the front of the horn). Rather than spend another $29 I'm going to give Joris's restoration tips a try.

[Tom Wavrin]

+1 for Joris' comments and recommendations. Go really slow and easy on the aluminum font as it sands away quickly and then the emblems are trash. Since the emblems are convex it helps to use a flexible wet sanding pad to hold the 1000 or 2000 grit paper. Don't go aggressively after paint left in the pitted areas of font. Instead use soaked tooth picks in lacquer thinner and let dry enough so that the lacquer thinner stays in the wood and doesn't squeeze out onto the newly painted areas of the emblem.
Use only enough black paint to get a good finish - you will need to sand less.

[Jim Liberty]

I achieve the convex shape on the new emblems by placing them on a piece of pipe just smaller than the diameter. Place a small ball-penne hammer ball down on the emblem and pap VERY lightly. They can be made so they look and fit correctly. ...........Jim.

[Joris Koning]

Jim,

The issues with most of the tags is that the font is not exact and they are a photo etch I. No issue for 99,9% of the cars and people out there. For those who want authenticity or just enjoy playing around with little details the restoration technique I detailed is the way to go if. Another issue is those cute brass chrome plated screws holding the plates on. These are NLA so be very careful when you remove your originals.

[Jim Liberty]

Joris, you are, and always be one of my heroes. I can NEVER find anything to argue with you about. ..........Jim.

[Alan Hall]

If anyone is interested on how this style of horn looked new, I bought a couple of new in the box 12 volt (Mercedes?) Bosch horns at a rummage sale about 20 years ago in case I ever wanted to convert to 12 volts. Photos attached.

[Carl Swirsding]

Just a follow up on what I actually did with my horn emblems. After careful inspection it was clear they had enough corrosion that if repainted would create lots of black pits. So I took a different route. I carefully sanded the tops of all the raised letters and perimeter with 1200 wet paper. The original black paint held up surprisingly well, but became very matte. So to return the black to being glossy I sprayed the emblems with a clear coat. The gloss is back, not perfect by any stretch, but they are original, presentable and protected. See before and after photos.

[James Davies]

Great work Carl. Bravo on preserving the originals. They look great, being original and 50 years old. That's perfect in my book.