Different size Motion bages??

camarojoe · #1 10-25-2005, 04:18 AM

Just measured every pair of these I have... all are the same, and measure just under 4" from one inner edge of the recess to the other. The letters on the larger emblems are nocitibly bigger than the smaller ones... no question there are 2 different sizes of emblems, and they are both pictured below, WITH tape measure for verification...

camarojoe · #2 10-25-2005, 04:23 AM

here's the other one...

camarojoe · #3 10-25-2005, 04:28 AM

Here's both sizes, side by side... you can see that the MOTION wording on one emblem is obviously bigger than the other.

Pantera · #4 10-26-2005, 03:00 AM

OK I just measured my origional hood emblems that came on my 70 BM Vette and they are 4 1/2" long.

Perhaps Joel made up some that were shorter so they would fit into the valve cover centers????

I feel postive that the ones off my hood were the original ones. I removed them to keep them from weathering when I had to keep it out in the back yard for a year or three.

Pantera

**COPO** · #5 10-26-2005, 03:03 AM

It seems like the larger ones might be older. The larger ones I have are from 1970 and Pantera's from 1970 are also the larger ones.

camarojoe, can you date any of yours?

**Born30YrsLate** · #6 10-26-2005, 05:59 AM

I have a friend that bought a set of MOTION badges (just the badges) back in the early 1970's (have to confirm the date) and they were the larger ones...

camarojoe · #7 10-26-2005, 08:03 AM

None of 'em are any older than 70, thats when they first were produced at all from what i have found. The idea of the bigger ones being the "first run" of them sorta makes sense to me, as does the idea of having them made smaller to fit in the valve covers in the second batch...I never really gave it much thought until now to be honest... From my experiences in tracking this stuff down it seems the smaller ones are much more plentiful. (although there are also fake small ones out there) My guess is there was possibly only one batch on the large ones made, probably the very first ones in 1970. After paying someone to sit and file the edges off of 2 of 'em for every pair of valve covers, the smaller ones probably were phased in with the second order. (no pun indended

) Yenko did similar things with his emblems, using the stick-on style in 70, likely to make installation quicker/easier. I know Rayburn's 1973 vette has the smaller ones on it, both on the body and the valve covers...I don't know if the emblems are the originals to the car or not though, as I believe its been restored. Speaking of valve covers, I'm curious about the chrome plated ones vs. the polished ones... I once thought the plated ones came out later, but if the theory that the "big" emblems were a 70-only thing is true, and you have a pair of original chromed covers with the big emblems in them, it would tell me that both plated and non plated were available from the beginning. (Either that, or the whole theory of the big emblems being early is wrong) The only pair I have with the big emblems are polished (not plated) All the chrome ones I have use the smaller emblems. Born30Yearslate... when you say your friend bought the larger emblems in the early 70s, do you mean around 1970, or much later than that? See if you can get a more firm timeframe, it may or may not help in determining when these bigger emblems were produced, installed, and sold. -JB

55chevy · #8 10-26-2005, 08:15 AM

Why not just ask Joel? He did it and he's still around....

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