D4 Pony Air cleaner Instruction badge

How this should be finished ? I assume it was not painted originally . Saying that it looks soldiered on ?? over and above the paint work ??
My thought was to clean it up , then tape it off and paint the rest.

Also was the lower pot ( oil holder ) of the cleaner painted originally ? Not shown in pic. Mine has some paint marks on it, but is mostly back to clean tin.

Thank you

David

Badges are not meant to be painted in my opinion. Why would a manufacturer install one, then paint it so its illegible? As far as the lower cup, it should be painted. Most are not due to cleaning solvents and leaking oil, rubbing on the guys pants.
My 2 cents

From what I've seen of those brass badges (there's also one on the pony air cleaner), they had a black finish with the raised portion of the letters polished so they showed the brass finish. I think there was a clear lacquer applied over that. What the black finish was I don't know but over the years the lacquer and black disappears leaving just the plain brass.

Has anyone figured out a way or had sucess at restoring the black background on these badges? Dale

If you're patient and careful enough you can paint it black, then lightly scrape the paint off the lettering with a razor blade. Sometimes a wetsand with fine (600 or finer) sandpaper on a flat block of hardwood works too. A little rubbing compound on a cloth will help bring out the lettering, use your finger and do one small spot at a time. Use light pressure so you don't go through the paint between the lettering. You could also try a bit of rubbing compound on a block of wood, less chance of going through the paint between the lettering. Be careful to not let the paint build up too thick because the paint could be higher than the lettering. Also, make sure the paint has completely dried, the longer it sits the better (I'd wait a couple months, if you can smell the paint it's still curing). L A Queer (lacquer) paint seems to work best, don't use Krylon, you'll end up starting over (way too soft and doesn't stick well).

I did this once (after several attempts) and it turned out nice. Now I cheat and just polish the tags, clearcoat, mask and paint around them. I'm lazy, what can I say?😆

[quote="auscuscus"]

Also was the lower pot ( oil holder ) of the cleaner painted originally ? Not shown in pic. Mine has some paint marks on it, but is mostly back to clean tin.

Thank you

David[/quote]

The Cup (lower pot, oil holder) was painted the same as the rest.

Use an old rubber ink eraser. Cuts the paint right off and mises the paint. It is much faster than trying to razor blade it off.