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So I have read, inside various threads, where folks were restoring/repainting their badges, but I haven’t seen any specific techniques nor model paint codes for matching the stock colors used.

I have a set of Cherokee badges that I want to restore, along with some various “jeep” spears and such thatone day will adorn the Wagoneer (after the wide-tracking and body/paint work). I would really appreciate any info folks have on correct colors and methods used to revive these old chromed pot metal jewels.
Figured I would ask and see if we could collect some tribal knowledge on the topic for everyone’s reference.

These are the Cherokee badges. One is in finer shape than the other (which I find curious considering they came off of the same rig). I also have the glovebox badge still on the old door.




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Clean it with some acetone and a toothbrush, get a syringe and carefully fill in correct areas with paint, clear coat?

Any idea what paint codes are correct?
(dang Tapatalk always multiple-posts on me. I will try deleting the many others.. sorrry about that)

You're not going to find paint codes on emblems because they were never intended to be restored.

The black is a no brainer, SEM satin trim black . the red will be a simple " red " such as IH red. nothing fancy just red.

The red you might get away with using a brush if you thin it good. the black will have to be sprayed or it will look like crap.

Mask off what you can. spray it with SEM and then use a Scott's blue shop towel stapled down tight to a board soaked with thinner to carefully wipe the black off the high points. you can only wipe it once or twice because the shop towel will come apart due to the thinner. use another towel if needed.

You can use a Q-Tip with thinner to clean up missed spots.

It's time consuming and it takes a little practice but it works. I've done dozens of emblems but admittedly your emblems look tougher than most.

After repainting tons of Mopar and Jeep emblems over the rears I learned to use thinned paint of an approximate hue and use tight cell sponges to wipe away the excess, switching sponges often once saturated. The downside is thinned paint doesn't weather as well so for a longer lasting job, nothing beats a good thick enamel.
Having said that, you have the option of going to an advanced automotive paint supplier who can scan the emblem, alter the hue for age and come very close to the color of the original. Often, the 'S' badge on the dash is not sun-faded and will get you close to the original color.

I restored some JEEP V8 360 badges that they used on older 60's Jeeps. I put them on the side of my wagoneers fenders. What i did was use some black and white paint in rattle cans and sprayed them into the caps. Then used some very very fine paint brushes i got from a hobby store. Dip the brush in the paint and then dip the brush on the emblem and repeat. You dont brush the paint you just dip the brush to transfer the paint. I found the paint will move itself into the crevices and so forth and it will basically paint itself.

Here are pics of when i did it. I used an enamel based paint it came out pretty thick so some spots i had to scrap off gently but it came out really good. I used a toothbrush and toothpaste to polish the emblems and clean them first, then I used rubbing alcohol to clean the oils and stuff off the emblems before i painted.. I used 3ms emblem adhesive tape, been holding on fine.


I disagree with the spraying on black comment 2 posts up. Look at the emblem, its got ripples in it where the black paint will go. Get a very fine super small paint brush they use for painting hobby stuff for and dip the brush into some black enamel and just dip the brush onto the emblem. The black will spread itself easily and stay on the rippled parts. Just keep dipping into the paint and dipping on the emblem to fill it in and it will be fine. Same with the red.. Easy.. Thats how i did mine and it ended up just fine, sometimes the paint will go over the edge like in my first pic.. just get a small knife or something to scrape those off which i did later. The cherokee cheif badge will be a little trickier but i wouldnt spray anything

https://imgur.com/a/sS2QK


https://imgur.com/a/tCSNP

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Prolly spent most of its life parked with one side facing south.

Kaiserjeeps thread on the other site has some posts on his refurb of various badges including his search for the right colors. Would be toward the more recent end of his thread.

Thanks for the responses and direction.
I have a set of those spears with 350 on them from the Buick era. They go well with the LT1. They turned out well. I am on the road and don’t have them in front of me, but I think originally they had other colors.

I will go back through K-jeep’s thread. I have spent way too many hours reading his and Franks build threads!

Pushing this back out there to see if anyone has color-matched the jeep spears, V8 and Cherokee badges.


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check ebay.. ive seen badges like yours fully painted for like 40$ probly have other badges too

The last time I looked eBay, a few nights ago, all I found were $45 ones that were in worse shape. The nice chief head badges were $100+ each and a NOS set listed for something like $570. I aint saying they are not worth it, I am just saying I don't feel I can pay it. 8^) I will keep my eyes out.

I don't mind cleaning and repainting, but I do want them to look right when done. I know I will not be satisfied (and will not put on the rig) if I end up doing a crappy job of it.

If it has raised edges you can use a syringe to drip paint in the valleys and it dries even make sure it's warm. Its tedious but neat and clean.

I painted the "s" the same color as the red body.

will e wrote:I painted the "s" the same color as the red body.

I bet that looks great on a red rig!


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So I finally acquired a set of the fender reflectors from a 69 Wagoneer. They were only used on some models 69-70 from what I can discern.

So the big surprise for me: they are PLASTIC! None of the other badges or exterior trim on the rig are plastic, but these things are.

I will also acknowledge that I thought they were marker lights, but had never actually held one. They are reflectors...but these will most likely become marker lights, if I can store them.

The chrome coating is bubbling and flaking and there are some cracks...so we will see.

Does anyone have a set of these? Can you confirm they are plastic? I can’t imagine there would be plastic replacements if the originals were metal for something that had such a short production run.










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Oh, and I now have the 2 variants of rear fender scripts prior to the plastic ones.

I think the center of the top one is supposed to be painted black..

Always open to ideas and seeing what others have done to recover these things.




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jpswapmohn wrote:Oh, and I now have the 2 variants of rear fender scripts prior to the plastic ones.

I think the center of the top one is supposed to be painted black..

Always open to ideas and seeing what others have done to recover these things.




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I have a 1970 1414x with those same fender reflectors and yes they are plastic AND INCREDIBLY HARD TO FIND. I will need to figure out what do do along side you to refinish them because mine are in about the same shape. I have the same wagoneer emblems which are painted black (rough texture). I enameled the wagoneer emblem with testors. Unfortunately no photo because the truck is being painted at the moment. I believe the smooth wagoneer emblem was from an earlier model. What type of rig are you working on?


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The smooth chrome script is early Wags, 63-65 I think. The newer script did not have paint on them from factory. The front side reflectors were used on 69-70 models and are hard to find. Dare I say rare?

redinwolfe, My GW is an 88, but may not look much like one when complete. It is getting widetrack rear flares and J20 axles. I am trying to get the dash from the same 69 1414x to see if i can rework it to the 88 (I think the steering column moved a little between the years). I also have a 70’s dash to play with, so we will see how it ultimately turns out.

I always liked those reflectors and have searched for a set for a LONG time. I am not sure if i will be able to restore them for use on the GW or not, but my intent was to turn them into LED marker lights.

Not sure which scripts I will decide on, or if I use them at all on the GW. They will get polished up and may become jeep art on my wall. I acquired the older style almost 10 years ago and have them stored away. The 69 badges will go with them until I get to that stage on the GW.

I bought this GW in ‘04, drivetrain redone a couple of times, plans laid out for it a long time but other life priorities always seem to get in the way (lots of deployments, kids’ college, reliable vehicles for everyone, weddings, you get the idea..). My signature line is truer than i ever imagined when i coined it so many years ago. It is in process of installation of the new axles, so maybe..

jpswapmohn wrote:redinwolfe, My GW is an 88, but may not look much like one when complete. It is getting widetrack rear flares and J20 axles. I am trying to get the dash from the same 69 1414x to see if i can rework it to the 88 (I think the steering column moved a little between the years). I also have a 70’s dash to play with, so we will see how it ultimately turns out.

I always liked those reflectors and have searched for a set for a LONG time. I am not sure if i will be able to restore them for use on the GW or not, but my intent was to turn them into LED marker lights.

Not sure which scripts I will decide on, or if I use them at all on the GW. They will get polished up and may become jeep art on my wall. I acquired the older style almost 10 years ago and have them stored away. The 69 badges will go with them until I get to that stage on the GW.

I bought this GW in ‘04, drivetrain redone a couple of times, plans laid out for it a long time but other life priorities always seem to get in the way (lots of deployments, kids’ college, reliable vehicles for everyone, weddings, you get the idea..). My signature line is truer than i ever imagined when i coined it so many years ago. It is in process of installation of the new axles, so maybe..

Wow sounds like it’s gonna be satisfying and sweet once done. It is certainly a long process and I know what you mean by life getting in the way. I recently came across someone with a complete center console out of a super/custom wagoneer. Defiantly needs some work but if your interested in can set you up with his contact.


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