Re: IML: How to take apart '67 hood ornament?

[Christopher Hoffman <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tim,

I replaced the plastic insert in mine many years ago with a nicer one I
found in a junkyard (remarkably nice, actually)... I also took the plastic
insert apart (it originally came in two halves, too, taped together around
the outside) and restored the gold parts.

Anyway, the insert is held in place by a ring that's pressed into place into
the rear side of the ornament. It's probably easier to do this with the
ornament off the car, by the way, which is pretty easy to take care of.

If you look carefully at the back of the ornament, you should see this small
ring around the inside of the ornament. It just presses into place (both are
splined) and (ideally) stays there, so you should try to avoid distorting
its shape by prying too hard.

I'd try to press the ring out by pressing on the edges of the plastic insert
from the front. If the insert is truly not worth saving (ya never know!),
the maybe laying the ornament face-up on a hard surface and tapping around
the edges with a hammer will loosen the retaining ring.

I know I removed mine without damaging the original insert.

One final note: The insert is not symmetrical. It has a convex face and a
relatively flat face. The convex face should face forward (whereupon I'm
sure it helps reduce the boxcar's overall coefficient of drag to something
around 0.85...lol).

Good luck!

-- 
Chris in LA
67 Crown
78 NYB Salon




On 2/18/05 7:01 AM, Tim Klein (iml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:

> 
> I ordered a reproduction '67 Imperial hood ornament insert from
> Emblemagic, and after almost a year of waiting (as they predicted),
> it has finally arrived.  I'm not overly impressed with the
> workmanship, but it's still way better than my original one that
> looks as if it got run through a blender.
> 
> But Emblemagic only makes the plastic insert (actually a two-part
> insert).  Now I have to figure out how to get the old insert out of
> the hood ornament bezel and install the new one.  Have any of you
> ever done this before?  I can't see any way to pry it out, so should
> I just smash out the old insert with a hammer or something?  (Trust
> me, it's not worth preserving.)
> 
> Tim Klein
> '67 Crown 4DHT



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