47-59 57 truck hood emblems?

[TonyMann]

Has anyone seen these kind of57 truck hood birds? they aren't like cameo birds, I've looked at about 75 or more 57 s on the internet, and I haven't seen any. are they that rare? and I assume that they are made out of die cast, so can they be heli arc welded? I would like to Chrome them and put them back on my truck. Thankyou.

[mr48chev]

You may not find a set in Washington at all. Washington at least eastern Washington Didn't normally junk the trucks they sold up with fru fru like mid west dealers did.

Truthfully I don't ever seeing a set on a truck in Washington and don't remember a set in Texas when I lived there in the 70's. If it wasn't functional farmers here wouldn't pay extra for it.

[Foot Stomper]

Looks like 1958 Caddy to me.

Yes, they can be re chromed.

[mr48chev]

I went searching for "original" 57 Chevy truck hood ornaments and out of the hundred or so trucks on this page https://www.google.com/search?source...&bih=969&dpr=1 two have original on the end of the raised ribs ornaments and they just don't add anything attractive to the trucks. The Caddy fins at least are fairly presentable and look a lot better.

I'm not sure the cost of having diecast repaired and replated is worth having decoration on the otherwise clean hood bumps though.

Thinking back to when I had my 57 Panel I was planning on putting a 56 hood and grill on it if I had kept it.

[G&R's57GMC]

Yours are made of pot metal they can be repaired and rechromed BUT it will cost major Bucks because of all the labor and filling and copper plating needed to fill all the pits , then there’s the nickel plating and polishing and then the chrome plating.

If yours fit the profile of your hood and you really want to spend the bucks they can most likely be saved . But if they don’t fit the profile of your hood you either have to do sheet metal work or modify the part before it’s finished.

Good luck on this project, it will have to be a labor of love .

And to think back in the mid sixties I removed them from my 57 Cadillac and tossed them .

[TonyMann]

Thanks for all the replies, my truck came with those hood birds, and they do look good on a 57. ( I think ). I saw them advertised several years ago in a reproduction parts magazine for 270 dollars, but can't remember what magazine that was, OOH WELL, it's only money! PS Nice 57 Pickup!

[mick53]

I bought a hood ornament for my 53 that doesn't belong I'm sure. My truck has a lot of bling on it so maybe I'll put it on or maybe I wont. It took a long time to find a really nice restored one and I don't remember the exact price but I know it was several hundred dollars. I'm thinking $350ish. If you like it put it on. I do think continuity I my build is important. I can't find any pictures but it's bird jet looking thing if I remember right. It's been a few years. To each his own.

[mr48chev]

I'm from the 60's when the first thing we did when we got a rig was take the extraneous chrome fru fru off and toss it in the trash and fill the holes.

As I said before though, the farmers in this area were pretty frugal back in those days and the dealers didn't stick many if any extras on trucks around here. Most of the trucks with Add on frufru came from the Ozarks with fruit pickers over the years or with other migrant workers.

Those Caddy pieces on Tony's truck look a lot better than the original rockets or what ever they were at any rate.