By Troyce Walls
(If this ruins your emblems completely, don't say I didn't say be careful!)
To correct the warping I heat them with a heat gun very carefully,
concentrating the heat into the thicker areas. The area where the
tip of the wing almost goes to the edge of the badge is very thin,
and they will heat up there first if you aren't careful and then bend
too much there later. Watch also for where the front part of the
wing and the "Honda" word come close to the edge. Take great care
here and test at different levels/times of heating until the badge
just barely becomes pliable. When it's right, it will almost burn
you. Too much heat will bubble the plastic, then you've probably
really honked them up.
Anyway, when it gets warm enough, I use a
cardboard tube from the center of a roll of masking tape, or
something similar that just barely catches the circumference of the
badge, and gently work the badge down face first into the roll,
pushing the badge from the back. This keeps it true.
After getting it as straight as possible, I then start work on the
face. If there are lots of the little cracks or "crazing" I
carefully brush acetone over the face of the badge. Here the badge
should be supported on a block of wood of smaller diameter so excess
acetone will drip directly from the edges, and not go between the
badge and the surface the way it would directly on a flat surface.
The acetone 'welds' the little cracks. If you don't have many cracks
skip this step. Just be aware that the polish in the next step will
get into cracks and show white later.
Then I start sanding with 320 grit wet or dry, using it wet. Sand
carefully, trying not to take plastice away from the circumference.
Then go to 600, then 1000. During each step you must be sure to get
all the scratches from the previous grit out before going to the
next.
Then polish with a polishing compound, or better yet, one of the
specific polishes sold in motorcycle shops used to take scratches out
windshields, faceshields. If the black paint is missing from the
back, spray several thin coats on with a good car enamel.
Mostly, try to put any impatience you might have away. Do everything slowly and carefully.
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