Hi all,
As some of you know, I've slowly been making changes to my 991, to introduce heritage details and make the car my own (links to previous projects below).
Project 991 - Pepita Seat Inserts: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1066538
Project 991 - 901 Style Green Gauge Faces: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1066564
Once again, the latest project has taken time to get right but I'm pleased with the outcome and thought other members might be interested to see.
Concept
In the 1950’s, Porsche would offer any owner who had completed more than 100,000kms in their car, a badge to affix to the engine grille.
100,000km badge:
The ADAC (similar to our AA), also supplied their own members with badges:
Porsche have created limited edition badges at various times throughout their history, to commemorate events or cars. Most recently, a new badge was created for the heritage edition of the 992 Targa 4S:
The idea of a badge appealed to me but there was nothing suitable for my own car, so I took the decision to design & commission one myself.
Emblem Design
Having committed my initial thoughts to paper, I then spent a couple of weeks collecting the imagery and re-drawing artwork for the various design elements. The idea being to incorporate the unique parts of my own car, in order to create a bespoke badge for a bespoke car.
Getting the Spec Right
I take great pride in owning a Porsche and feel it's important that any changes I make, should be engineered to the same high standard as the factory. Consequently, the specification had to be right - especially in relation to durability. Thankfully, my time as an engineer, working in automotive manufacture, helped me get the basics right and I'm fortunate to still know quite a number of people, whom I can call upon for specialist advice.
A die was manufactured, ready to strike the badge:
To meet my requirements, I specified a brass alloy (with suitable metallurgy for this sort of working) with the final size to be 80mm diameter, with a thickness of 4mm. Various areas of the design would be filled with vitreous enamel and the remaining metal electroplated in a matt finish chrome.
By their very nature, tier 1 manufacturers tend to only make in large volumes but I was fortunate to find a helpful and experienced supplier, who was used to working with after-market tuning companies and therefore willing to work with me on a one-off project.
After just over a month, the finished badge arrived and I was over the moon with the result.
Mounting the Badge
Obviously I'd need to come up with a way of mounting the badge onto the rear grille but that necessitated the manufacture of a unique carrier.
Most early cars had mesh grilles, so it was easy to bolt on a badge however, my car has been fitted with the 50th Anniversary plastic grille - with no simple way of making a mechanical connection.
To begin with I had considered amending the badge, to attach angled mountings to the rear during manufacture but in the end I decided to create a machined carrier in 6082 aluminium, to mount onto the grille slats with 3M tape. Arriving at the final dimensions took some time and I made several wooden models - where I imagine the factory would now use a 3D laser scanner and CAD software...
Another helpful supplier, made a great job of the machining and finished the carrier with glass bead blasting, as requested:
A really top job!
Powder Coating
For the final finish, I selected a matt black powder coating (Polyester) at 100 microns, to match the appearance of the painted matt black on my 50th Anniversary wheels and the job was undertaken as a favour by a local coating company.
Final Fixing
With the help of a heat gun and pyrometer strips, I mounted the carrier to the car and the badge to the carrier (to ensure correct alignment with the slats), with high-bond 3M tape.
It probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I like it and am glad I made the effort to create something unique.
Thanks
For a job well done (and for being patient with a perfectionist), I'd like to thank: House of Logos, SICD Engineering and Diamond Metal Finishing.
Just to mention, I have no association with any of the companies involved in any of the projects undertaken on my car and get no kickback for mentioning names!
As some of you know, I've slowly been making changes to my 991, to introduce heritage details and make the car my own (links to previous projects below).
Project 991 - Pepita Seat Inserts: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1066538
Project 991 - 901 Style Green Gauge Faces: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1066564
Once again, the latest project has taken time to get right but I'm pleased with the outcome and thought other members might be interested to see.
Concept
In the 1950’s, Porsche would offer any owner who had completed more than 100,000kms in their car, a badge to affix to the engine grille.
100,000km badge:
The ADAC (similar to our AA), also supplied their own members with badges:
Porsche have created limited edition badges at various times throughout their history, to commemorate events or cars. Most recently, a new badge was created for the heritage edition of the 992 Targa 4S:
The idea of a badge appealed to me but there was nothing suitable for my own car, so I took the decision to design & commission one myself.
Emblem Design
Having committed my initial thoughts to paper, I then spent a couple of weeks collecting the imagery and re-drawing artwork for the various design elements. The idea being to incorporate the unique parts of my own car, in order to create a bespoke badge for a bespoke car.
Getting the Spec Right
I take great pride in owning a Porsche and feel it's important that any changes I make, should be engineered to the same high standard as the factory. Consequently, the specification had to be right - especially in relation to durability. Thankfully, my time as an engineer, working in automotive manufacture, helped me get the basics right and I'm fortunate to still know quite a number of people, whom I can call upon for specialist advice.
A die was manufactured, ready to strike the badge:
To meet my requirements, I specified a brass alloy (with suitable metallurgy for this sort of working) with the final size to be 80mm diameter, with a thickness of 4mm. Various areas of the design would be filled with vitreous enamel and the remaining metal electroplated in a matt finish chrome.
By their very nature, tier 1 manufacturers tend to only make in large volumes but I was fortunate to find a helpful and experienced supplier, who was used to working with after-market tuning companies and therefore willing to work with me on a one-off project.
After just over a month, the finished badge arrived and I was over the moon with the result.
Mounting the Badge
Obviously I'd need to come up with a way of mounting the badge onto the rear grille but that necessitated the manufacture of a unique carrier.
Most early cars had mesh grilles, so it was easy to bolt on a badge however, my car has been fitted with the 50th Anniversary plastic grille - with no simple way of making a mechanical connection.
To begin with I had considered amending the badge, to attach angled mountings to the rear during manufacture but in the end I decided to create a machined carrier in 6082 aluminium, to mount onto the grille slats with 3M tape. Arriving at the final dimensions took some time and I made several wooden models - where I imagine the factory would now use a 3D laser scanner and CAD software...
Another helpful supplier, made a great job of the machining and finished the carrier with glass bead blasting, as requested:
A really top job!
Powder Coating
For the final finish, I selected a matt black powder coating (Polyester) at 100 microns, to match the appearance of the painted matt black on my 50th Anniversary wheels and the job was undertaken as a favour by a local coating company.
Final Fixing
With the help of a heat gun and pyrometer strips, I mounted the carrier to the car and the badge to the carrier (to ensure correct alignment with the slats), with high-bond 3M tape.
It probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I like it and am glad I made the effort to create something unique.
Thanks
For a job well done (and for being patient with a perfectionist), I'd like to thank: House of Logos, SICD Engineering and Diamond Metal Finishing.
Just to mention, I have no association with any of the companies involved in any of the projects undertaken on my car and get no kickback for mentioning names!
