A 36 Terraplane hood ornament....original and never been apart. I would like to take it apart in order to clean it up and polish the chrome. I cannot get the metal plug out of the front of the ornament, underneath of which is a set screw. There is no corrosion, but the plug seems to be steel and set very tightly in the pot metal housing. Anyone with experience and ideas? Thanks!

I believe that's a "drive screw":

[img ] [/img]

I don't recall how I removed them from my '37 ornament 40 years ago, but I would suggest a couple ideas:
First, use a dremel tool to carefully either place a groove in the center so a screwdriver can be employed to remove the screw.
Or, carefully grind a notch on two sides (180 degrees apart) so you have a sort of rectangular portion remaining on the head, which you can then grab with a vice-grip.
Failing that, you can attempt to drill out the screw which may be difficult if it's stainless steel (but you might try a carbide drill)
Of course, you're working very close to pot metal and one slip of your dremel tool could result in damage to the casting.
You might ask yourself: is it really necessary to take the ornament apart?

I think when you get through you will have a broken ornament. If it has a twist nail like shown it was driven in when the plastic was new and more forgiving. Now it is very old and probably brittle. Seems risky to me.

I would agree if it is the drive in type, it would break your ornament. On the 1936 Hudson one I have, It was a screw and it came right apart, the screw held the two parts on the metal pieces together, then the carrot came right out.

The rounded part is a cover that is pressed into the hole, the screw is under the covers. Only way to remove the covers is to drill a hole to get it out. It is the same on 34-37 ornaments. I don't know of a supplier for a replacement cover.