Drunken Emblem Installs?
 

So I've been on the lookout for a 69 Lemans or GTO as of late and have come across two glaring emblem installs that are just...wildly awful. I'm not sure what is going on here. The Lemans logo isn't even centered on peak of the fender, and then the GTO emblems are crazy crooked. I didn't even know you could bend that pot metal on the trunk lid emblem without breaking it like that. The GTO even says it's "Fully Restored" whatever that means.

How could you not care enough to get it anywhere near right? Or am I just hitting that age where the world is straight and I'm the sideways one?

I've seen the 69 GTO fender emblem a bit off on a number of cars including 68s. So much so, I wonder if there was defective press at one of the Fisher Body plants.

Another shot of the LeMans.

That one is just pathetic

I put some new GTO badges on my front fenders years ago and they were crooked. I found the studs on the back of the badges were not in the correct position. End up using one stud only and removing the other and using double sided tape to hold in position, been over 10 years now and they haven't moved.

My Super Duty Formula came with a Formula 350 emblem on the passenger side. However it was installed in the correct location and level. It makes for a good confirmation with the "all original" crowd for what to do when the car is restored.

Most folks here get the emblem & decal install real good.

Something hit it.

I've read you mention this before:

That was a production line error which in theory was supposed to have been caught at either:
post-assembly inspection (prior to shipping)
dealer pre-delivery inspection (either before hand off to customer, or after receiving from carrier).
The fact that it wasn't caught, and was left is pretty darn funny to me.

My understanding is that when these cars were being built, the emblem holes were factory punched - so if a fender needed more than the standard number of holes, then that fender assembly was assigned a different part number;
This would not only eliminate human error with badge installation, but would also speed up production in not requiring a floor worker to do an additional job.
Any misalignment of fender emblems would be from a damaged emblem, or from a replacement emblem having the holes drilled in the wrong spot.

In my opinion, anyone not taking the time to put a badge on correctly after an costly paint job is inexcusable.

But back to my understanding of factory punched emblem holes, and Paul's cited factory goof up;
This factory punching of holes for emblems was (as I've understood it) why the 1970 vs 1971 "Formula 400" emblems were different;
PMD changed practice to eliminate extra fender sub(?) assemblies.

The 1971 "Formula 400" emblems used the same holes as a standard (revised and new for 1971) "Firebird" emblem - which was also the same as the "Formula 350" & "Formula 455" emblems;
Unlike 1970, only one emblem was used per fender - so there was only one (non-Trans Am) fender assembly from 1971 forward;
unlike 1970 where there were three fenders depedning on model or options:
1) base w/I-6 & Esprit w/350; stamped for "Firebird" script emblem.
2) base w/350 & Esprit w/400; stamped for both "Firebird" script and an engine callout.
3) Formula; stamped for both "Firebird" & "Formula 400" script emblems.

For 1970 through to at least 1975, a non-TA fender only had a single badge, and which ever badge it was, it had the precise same stud spacing to accommodate that badge;
I could be wrong, but I believe that after 1975, (again on non-TA's) the only fender badge installed was a "Firebird" script badge (other callouts became decals).

That damaged(?) LeMans badge is pretty funny.

my hunch is that either your fender was drilled for the wrong year badge, or it had the holes for the correct year badge, and the badge you used was for the wrong year.
I have understood that there are several GTO badges which look the same, but have a different application.

My grandfather bought a new 79 Catalina with a Bonneville emblem on the trunk lid. Mistakes happened.

In the truck plant we built vehicles that were a Chevy on one side and GMC on the other.

It's not super obvious when building up front end sheet metal in the remote areas of the plant. It doesn't become super obvious until they hit the final line.

K

Even before that, there is inspection:
At the end of each foreman's area
At the end of final line proper
At the end of short line repair or any stall repair

All of that is before it is shuttled to the shipping building.

K

My 67 GTO has original rear quarters. When I wanted to put rear quarter emblems on my "clone" that I'm building I measured the originals on my Real GTO, They are at different heights on each side. There happened to be another original quarter panel 67 at the body shop. The emblems on that car were also at different heights on each side. I'm thinking the quarters are stamped wrong on all of them. Maybe someday at a car show I'll take some measurements on others to see what I find.

I worked at a Pontiac/GMC dealer and several times we got GMC trucks with Chevrolet horn pads on the steering wheel.

My older brother had a 1979 Dodge St. Regis that the driver's side emblem said St. Regis and the passenger side said Newport, so it wasn't just GM that managed to make mistakes like this. I'm sure there were some Ford/Mercury mishaps too...

I installed diecast 455 (Lemans) callouts on my new rocker panels. I measured the distance between the pins and the overall height and width of the emblem and laid it out on the rocker trim to drill. You’d think the pins would logically be aligned on a horizontal centerline of the emblem right? Wrong. One pin above, one below.

After I mounted the emblems and put both rocker trims back on the car, I stepped back to admire my handiwork and the emblems were running downhill! I tried to offset the holes by slotting both holes slightly to rotate the emblem and by the time the emblem was leveled, the slot peaked out from behind the numbers.

Luckily I wasn’t drilling into a fender or trunk lid! I folded the trim up like cheap Venetian blinds, threw them out and ordered a new pair of moldings.

I made a template for the next go-round by pushing the pins through cardboard and cutting around the emblem.

When I bought my original paint '66 Corvette. The 427 emblem on the drivers fender was crooked from the factory. I have since adjusted it with a small file.

someone please correct me if I’m wrong but it’s been my understanding that Fisher did not stamp the fenders , those were done by the motor division.