7/1/00 330 America Badge

For a few months I’ve been trying to get access to a 330 America badge. Being that there were only 50 cars made with this designation, and many were void of the actual badge, finding one was not so easy. Luckily I belong to Len Miller’s 250 GTE Registry, and received my annual update of all GTE and America owners. There weren’t a lot of confirmed owners of Americas on the list, but one owner was located in California.

I decided to drop him a friendly letter explaining my desires to re-create the 330 America Script for my car. A week later, I received a response from Henry, the America owner, telling me he would take some pictures of his badge as soon as he got a chance. I waited patiently for a few weeks, and soon found out he was also sending me molds of his badge with a model making putty. This made me even more excited in getting mail from California!

Today in the mail, all the photos and molds arrived safely, and I can now go to the next step. I’m not sure if I will be able to make direct casts off of these molds because on close inspection, I think the mold making material has shrunk! Look at the photograph taken by Henry of his badge. The length of the badge looks to be 7-1/2 inches, but with ruler next to the molds I got, they measure at least a half an inch shorter.Nonetheless, these molds certainly give me a better idea how thick the original badge was, and the profile shape of the lettering, so it’s a great help to have made them. I’m also glad I asked Henry to photograph his badge with ruler for reference, or else I would have never known of the mold shrinkage!

I’ve contacted the person who owns a foundry that can help me cast this badge and am waiting to see how to proceed. He can have his company create a badge from the photograph and molds for reference, so I’ll keep you informed!

Previous Restoration Day
Next Restoration Day
Ferrari Home Page
www.tomyang.net