VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 48 hood ornament

The hood ornament on my 48 Fleetline is all chrome with no color painted on it. I recently bought another ornament to replace it. Interestingly, the new one has two red painted stripes on the tail of the ornament. Are the painted stripes supposed to be there? and is red correct for the 48? The hood side emblems have black painted background behind the word FLEETLINE. The red just seems a little strange. Supposedly the new hood ornament is NOS. What do you think?

I believe the red stripes are correct.

Red Stripes are correct for 48. It matches the RED letters in the word "CHEVROLET" on the top Grill bar. They also were red on 48s.

47s have black strips with Black letters.

Thanks for the info chevy b and FLEET47. I thought I read or heard somewhere that RED letters were correct on the top grill bar. Apparently a previous owner painted them black on my car, or the grill bar is from a 47. I guess I have some fancy red lettering to do this Spring. Again, thanks for the info.

what type of paint do you use to paint the letters on the grill bar. someone said to use Testor's bottle model car paint.

Good choice.

Thats Exactly what I used when I painted mine!!!

It works GREAT....

Chevs of the 40s has the correct paint for the job if you want to spend the money for a pint and shipping???Fleet47,got the springs,great!!!is the yellow color original??chef-

Again, thanks for the info. I,m off to the hobby store to look for red paint.......cost of the pint at chevs of the 40s is a little excessive.

Might want to check out the little touch-up bottles of paint at your local discount auto parts store also. There are a lot of different colors available, maybe one will match the color you need.

Plus the paint is made for use on the outside of a car, which may or may not make it better for your use.

Guys - I don't know HOW you would ever paint that CHEVROLET on the top grill bar by hand and hope to get a quality job. I used a red die cut transfer / decal from Chevs. It looks great. Unless you have a REALLY steady hand, or your a sign painter by trade, I know I wouldn't try it. The red stripes on the hood ornament are correct. Good luck which ever road you take. Bowtie

Bowtie,

You make one heckuva good point. I've used the Testor model paint mentioned earlier to paint lots of little lines and trim pieces etc. by hand over the years. Certainly takes a lot of attempts and goofs and wipe offs etc. until a satisfactory job is done. A good brush is a key point. The decal idea would likely prove a lot less frustrating. Altho a steady hand is necessary there also.

It may come down to being honest and admiting that I don't have a sign painter's skills. Or just be stubborn and say I'm not spending the money for the "decal."

Like anything, there's pluses and minuses to each method!!

Bill.

Bowtie,
Are those decals the old fashioned water transfer type, or the newer peel and stick type?

As I recall it was a peel and stick, but it's been a couple of years. The color's good, I think it's vinyl film. It has not seen a lot of UV exposure, but in my case has not faded yet. I know I could never get a nice straight line like the die cut decal gives you. Bowtie

Thanks Bowtie......I might give them a try.