69 Camaro Fender Emblem Placement
 

NOS fenders were installed on my car back in the late 70's so they have no holes for the Camaro emblem. I've done some searching on this topic and found a lot of horror stories about crooked emblems, AIM inaccuracies, difference between original and repo emblems. What say the experts....what is the best way to locate the holes to avoid a glaring error? Should I source some NOS emblems or are the repos ok? AIM instructions give no reference to the location of the 5 & 15 reference lines that the holes are based on.

The reference stations in the AIM are based on a datum which (as far as I can deduce) is the firewall, however that doesn't make accurately measuring the part relative to it any easier.
I have a pair of GM take-off fenders in storage, I will see if I can get good measurements of the emblem hole placement. That said, emblem stud positions may not be consistent across all versions.......
What I would do is place a sheet of paper over a block of polystyrene (or similar); carefully push the emblem down onto the paper, forcing the mounting studs through into the polystyrene behind, leaving corresponding holes in the paper. Then trace the outline of the emblem onto the paper, remove emblem and cut out the paper outline. Now you have a template to position to your satisfaction on the fender, and mark through the emblem stud holes to know where to drill.

"cut out the paper outline. Now you have a template to position to your satisfaction on the fender, and mark through the emblem stud holes to know where to drill"

I did just this on my challenger (brand X, I know, sorry) EXCEPT I used a large refrigerator sheet magnet (like the calendars the banks and tool makers give away) I punched the stud holes out first, then laid the emblems on the magnet and cut out the template. I then had "emblems" that would stick to the fenders. Place them according to the correct measurements and stand back and see if they look level, etc. You can look at them from different angles and adjustments are easy, once you have them placed where you want, mark through the stud holes, and center punch before drilling your holes. It's best to have the fenders mounted on the car when you decide on the emblem placement.

One time I laid out the dimensions from the AIM on a piece of paper. I had NOS emblems, but if I followed holes per the AIM, on one side the emblem would angle down, and on the other, it woud angle up. I ended updoing what was suggested above, but I used cereal box cardboard. I used the hole on the "C" as a reference, and then used the cardboard template to mark the other holes. I drilled them undersized, and then filed them as needed with a jewelers file.repeated for the other side.For the Yenko badge, I just faked it, since I'm sure that's what Lynn Yenko did.

I cut this part off of the original fenders from my car and then laid them over the new fenders and marked the hole locations. I will loan you these pieces if you are interested.

I painted a Camaro with NOS fenders. I used templates sold through Heart Beat and I'm sure others offer them as well. They worked out perfectly.

Thanks for all the ideas guys! Freddie, I wish you were closer to me as that would be the easiest, most accurate method. Short of the real deal template, I think I'll give JT's idea a try

OK, but I can ship them to you if you change your mind.

There is a difference in height when it comes to the Camaro emblems mounted to the fenders. From the factory the driver side emblem was mounted a little lower than the passenger side. I just measured mine and there is about a 1/2" difference, if you want to do it the factory way.

69 Camaro Fender Emblem Placement
 

I used a large sheet of regular writing paper taped to the original factory fender using the swept back eyebrow peak body line from the wheel opening as the upper template line (1/2 of the peak as the upper limit) to the rear of the edge of the fender/door gap at the back off of my original factory fender emblem placement. Punch holes through the paper with a pencil taking care not to move the paper. Put template on new fender at same locations and mark punch holes on fender with the same pencil. Then drill holes minutely oversize as to prevent chipping paint finish. This will duplicate factory original discrepancies of each emblem placement as done on the assembly line. Don.