GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

[Donald O.]

I went to Chicago Corvette today to get a pair of the correct door decals in blue "GM Mark of Excellence". All they had was one blue-blue and one blue-green (I thought). When I compared them to the used ones I had and the new blue-green ones I purchased I find I now have two different blue-blue and two different blue-green door decals. I am now more confused than before. Just what is the correct color?

Don

[Robert C.]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Color calls are to hard to make! The only way to tell is to find a couple of "Bowtie" original cars and compare.

[Reba 8804]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Isn't it possible that the blue has faded/changed to a blue-green tint over the years? I have seen faded blue upholstery and carpet that has a green hue.

[Donald O.]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

The blue-green pieces are brand new, two different vendors (different makers maybe?) and very close in hue. The blue-blue pieces are brand new and one older, lighter from fading/aging maybe. All pieces are of an embossed metal foil design as original.

Don

[Reba 8804]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Do you know who made the decals? Some makers of reproduction pieces don't do adequate research before beginning production. Perhaps they used a slightly faded one to copy.

[Harmon C.]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Don

I have found with most decals sold today when compared to known originals the color,typing,or spacing is usually not perfect. Even when vendors get new stock their product may change. To find a perfct repo. may be a real challange or their may be none. Just my 2 cents!

[Donald O.]

I think I'm looking for a Unicorn *NM*

[George C.]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Blue forget the green and the best bet is to check an original car, not a restored one that someone put a repo sticker on. Like I said before I Have The Original that I took off my fathers 67 Caprice in 67 it came off pefect and it is still Brand New. Good Luck.>George

[John C. Woods]

Re: GM Door Decal Revisited & Confused

Don:

To my knowledge there is only one color for Door Certification Label you are looking for, regardless of the model year. They do fade, but not to the extent that I would consider to be significant. I'm not sure why a supplier would be selling reproduction labels with two distinct colors? I know you want the label to be as close to the original labels as possible, so you will need to not only do the best job you can in matching the color, but you will also want to verify that the other aspects of the label match the original labels as well.

Here are some areas that judges look for on these lables:

1. Overall size (height and width)
2. Thickness of the surrounding line (that surrounds the text)
3. Distance between the surrounding line and the outside color band
4. Radius of the bend in the surrounding line (how sharp is the 90 degree bend)
5. Font of the pre-printed script
6. Font of the added information (VIN, date, etc.)
7. Location of the added information
8. Formating of the added information (dashes, slashes, etc.)
9. Size of the "GM" box and lettering inside, size and length of the underline
10. Flush-right and centered script in the body of the pre-printed text
11. Off center of the text on the "Mfg. By General Motors Corp." line
12. Size/texture/thickness of the clear protecting cover
13. Location of the installation of the label on the door
14. Color of the label
15. The information is correct (date and VIN corresponded to what is expected)

Most reproduction door certification labels have originality problems in more than just one of these areas, with the background color being just one of the them. My suggestion is that you compare your reproduction labels to known original labels in each of these areas and go with the one that is the closest match considering all the factors. I doubt that ANY reproduction label on the market is going to pass 100%. If you have a good label that can be used as a template and want the reproduction to to match perfectly (or close enough to be considered perfect), you can get a print shop to make one for you. Frankly, with PhotoShop 6 (or similar PC program) and a good printer, you can probably make a better label than you will most likely be able to buy.

I hope this helps you. Good luck on your project!