C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

[Donald T.]

Found a real nice '66 fuel door on ebay. The chrome was near mint as was the backing plate. The emblem was cracked and faded, but still a nice core. Carefully pryed up the posts and replaced the emblem with the 65 version. Carefully peened the posts back down and presto - A 65 fuel door with the correct numbers on the hinge!

Just havin' fun on a Sunday afternoon!

[Rob M.]

Re: C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

Nice work!

[Joe R.]

Re: C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

Hi Don:

Nice work. It is very difficult to re-use the original studs. Be sure to replace the screw in the latch with a correct Fillister head screw. The one that is presently installed is characteristic of later service replacement 66 lids.

As shown in the photo below, two versions of the Filister head screw were used in C2 gas lids (the incorrect oval head screw on the right is what you have right now).

Some judges believe that for certain years such as 1967, *only* the fully threaded Filister head was used, but I have seen examples of both types in 1967 lids. For your 1965 lid, I think the unthreaded shank screw was predominant. Fortunately, that version is available from Long Island Corvette.

[Louis T.]

Re: C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

Hi all,



I instead applied a thin line of Gorilla Glue around the perimeter of the inside of the backing plate, applied a little moisture to the mating (frame) side with a wet Q-tip, and held the assembly together with clothes pins (my favorite form of clamp!). When the glue dried, I carefully trimmed away the excess dried glue that was visible with an X-Acto knife


Louis

[Donald T.]

Re: C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

Hi Don:

Nice work. It is very difficult to re-use the original studs. Be sure to replace the screw in the latch with a correct Fillister head screw. The one that is presently installed is characteristic of later service replacement 66 lids.

As shown in the photo below, two versions of the Filister head screw were used in C2 gas lids (the incorrect oval head screw on the right is what you have right now).

Some judges believe that for certain years such as 1967, *only* the fully threaded Filister head was used, but I have seen examples of both types in 1967 lids. For your 1965 lid, I think the unthreaded shank screw was predominant. Fortunately, that version is available from Long Island Corvette.

Good catch Joe! I checked some other originals, and they have the partially threaded screw like the first one in your pic. I will get that changed out.

Thanks!

[Joe R.]

Re: C2 Fuel Door Emblem Replacement

One thing to watch out for, whether you are using glue, original studs re-peened, or restored studs, is what I consider to be a design flaw in the original GM design.

The spring in the latch mechanism generates a lot of pressure on the latch slider, so that you have to exert quite a bit of force to open the lid.

About 2/3 of the original lids I have examined have the heads on the studs on either side of the latch pulled off. If you look at the forces that are exerted when opening the lid, you can see that lifting the lid has the effect of trying to rip the backing plate off the chrome frame.

I have restored a few lids by reconstructing the six studs (a very time consuming procedure), and even with new studs I typically shorten the latch spring by about 1/10 inch to reduce the pressure on the slider. The clipped end of the spring is concealed up inside the latch mechanism, so it can't be seen.

The result is a lid that still latches in place quite nicely, but with a significant decrease in the force required to open the lid. When you consider that every time you open the lid you are trying to pull the backing plate off, having a reduced force means that your restored lid will probably stay together longer.