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Defective Engine Decals?


Guest shadetree77

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Guest shadetree77

So I ordered a few engine decals for my '52 straight eight from a certain infamous vendor that we are all familar with. Two of them are extremely yellowed. They are the round F263 decal and the rectangular "This Engine Is Equipped With Hydraulic Lifters" decal. I've looked at a LOT of pictures of straight eight engines and I have NEVER seen these stickers in anything other than red and white. The ones I received are red and yellowed. The white parts sort of look like the color that really old paper gets. Am I wrong about this? Are these decals supposed to be red and yellow/off-white? Because I contacted this vendor and was told that they were red and yellow from the factory originally and that all of their current stock is the same color. Here are some reference pictures of the stickers in question. These ARE NOT the yellowed ones I received. I just pulled these off the internet for reference as I haven't taken any of mine yet. Can anybody with a 263 straight eight tell me what color these are supposed to be?

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ROFLMAO

Sounds like those obnoxious New Jersey boys again??

Perhaps, if they used an aged, NOS decal for their reference in the first place, some MIGHT presume the "yellowed-white" was accurate. Therefore, they'll probably have a full batch of "yellowed/white" ones and claim they are "factory correct", rather than understand that some white colors will change to another hue of white with age.

The OTHER thing might be that they didn't bother to get a license to produce the "factory correct" items, from GM, so the ones they sell HAVE to be different to get away from copyright infringement issues? First time I ran across that was when a parts customer bought a full interior kit from "a known high-quality interior parts vendor in the middle 1980s" for his '55 Nomad. Everything was "as promised", quality of materials, workmanship, etc. . . . except the headliner had stars embossed in it rather than Chevy Bow-Ties. The customer pointed that out to me, and relayed the information he got from the vendor, that they did that due to copyright issues with Chevy/GM . . . well before restoration parts were licensed by outside vendors.

One other thought might be that if the backing (aged paper, possibly) is peeled off, would the yellowish hue be in the backing paper rather than the base decal itself? Not trying to defend ANYBODY, just some possible considerations. Willie does have some friends I might defend, though.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

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Guest shadetree77

My 1950 Super is red and white. I have a picture of an original '53 in Ames. The valve lifter one is red and white.

That's what I thought Ben. I've looked at what seems like a million pictures on the internet and they always show up red and white. I might have bought into their story if the decals were a light cream color or an off-white or something but these things are YELLOW. They look just like the page of an extremely old book. I would say that they might have been white at one time. Maybe 40 years ago when the place opened!

Willis, I suppose that those are viable theories but I think it more likely that the things have been on a shelf somewhere for far too long. Unfortunately, the way these decals are made, peeling off the backing paper(it is just as yellowed by the way)wouldn't help. The white parts are actually made onto the sticker. Guess I'll stick these on my toolbox or something and go order some from Bob's like I should have in the first place.

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At least it was a low dollar lesson. It'd cost more in time and postage to send it back than just order one from Bob the next time. Though Bob has a minimum order requirement so you might want to wait until you need something else.

I have leftover engine stickers on my toolboxes too.

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Robert, they probably get them from the same supplier. Perhaps a local sign shop could make them. Set up might be pricey, though.

Ben

Ben

True, but with Bob you can call and talk to a normal person that will enjoy the conversation. With the other firm, you might get put on hold for 5 minutes or more only to have someone yell at you for wasting his time. Bob will gladly go check one of his in stock emblems if he has them and tell you whether it's yellowed or not.

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( Key thing in any duplication situation would be a "good pattern", which is where the new hand-held hi-res scanners can come in, hehe. Perhaps, you might use some of the magnet material to essentially make some "refrigerator magnets" for your valve covers? Printing you "good pattern" scan on the magnetic material. Other key thing might be some higher-temp compatible ink for your printer . . . ut oh. )

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