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GRILLE BADGE Breaks - FT-033

On 11 October 2006 at 23:34:15 UK time, Kemper in West Virginia wrote:
>>"I just ordered a new badge for my MGA from VB. .... Unlike the original, the threaded piece is simply a soldered on machine screw. It broke off. They sent a new one, which arrived today. The solder on this one broke as well... while in the package! A third is on its way. .... The badge front looks fine, but that's more than offset by the fact that it can't be attached to the car."
MG grille badge front MG grille badge front
MG grille badge front MG grille badge front
This is obviously a very bad soldering job (cold solder joint). The problem may be endemic, as the relatively heavy badge would be hard to heat compared to the thin screw. Without getting into manufacturing or inspection techniques, I will only say it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to get it right, and the responsibility of the distributor to assure that no bad parts should ever get to the end customer. This is not an impossible task.

On 12 October 2006 at 00:27:02 UK time, LaVerne in Colorado wrote:
>>"Looks like the same badge that's on my TF. The two I got from Moss use a bolt. The problem then is that you have to grind the head down for it to fit in the round opening's on the grill and the spare tire knock off. Good news is that they haven't broken off."

On 12 October 2006 at 12:40:03 UK time, Kemper wrote:
>>"I did manage to solder one back together without damage to the enamel or discoloration to the chrome. To fix it, I laid the badge face down. I dipped the screw head in flux and positioned it as it should be on the badge. Then I used a propane torch to heat the threaded end of the screw. I held the solder at the other end (head end) and eventually the heat made it down and melted the solder. I believe this gradual/indirect heating prevented the enamel from cracking. Finally, I let it cool and fitted it to the car."

On 12 October 2006 at 22:05:19 UK time, Dominic Clancy in Switzerland wrote:
>>"My badge was lying on the garage floor a few weeks ago too .... I fixed it by removing the stud, laying the badge on its face, and propped the stud back in place so it stuck in the air. Two minutes work with a heat gun, and after a cooliing time, it was ready to refit."

On 13 October 2006 at 17:10:35 UK time, Kelvin Dodd of Moss Motors USA wrote:
    >>"Moss supplied MGA grille assemblies for many years from the only major manufacturer, as did other major suppliers. These grilles often had sub-standard bolt to emblem adhesion, causing a large number of failures. This problem was a continual agravation and despite many complaints to the manufacturer has continued to the present.
    >>Moss Motors did have the emblem only reproduced to our own specifications a number of years ago. The bolt to be silver soldered before plating. These badges will under test crush before the bolt adhesion fails."


On 8/12/2014, Brad Waugh in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada wrote:
MG grille badge broken "We've had 2 different grill MG badges just fall away from their attachment posts while the car has just been sitting in our temperature controlled garage. Both times I walked out to the garage to find the MG octogan portion lying on the floor with the nub of the mounting post protruding from the nosepiece. (Both were Moss replacement pieces)".

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