Emblem Removal ... SOS

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

Well this usually isn't a very hard thing to do but I guess nothing ever turns out to be easy on a car lol...

Went to remove my stock GT badges to put on new 5.0 badges, well at some point during my cars life it was repaint and the stock emblems were removed as they were painted under. But whatever adhesive they used to put them back on is a tough sum *****. Any tips on how to get these things off?

I have tried....

Bug and Tar remover
I let it sit on there for an extended period of time, then did it again and rubbed vigorously, nothing happened.

Goo Gone
Again I let it sit, and tried to rub it off quickly. Nothing.

Heat
I don't have a heat gun but I used a hair dryer and applied direct heat for 10-15 minutes, the adhesive was not affected.

I even resorted to using a razor blade to trim off some of the thicker parts but I cant remove the residue that is thin and still very well stuck to the paint.

This is what it looked like right after I removed the emblems.

Im gonna go with repeating some of the steps I have done above, I guess after 20 times I could see some improvement!

DeepList · May 21, 2013

I'm not really sure what else you CAN do. Heat gun (or hair dryer) usually does the trick and then some goo-gone afterwards to clean it up.

slow90coupe · May 21, 2013

Hmmm. Goo gone and a heat gun has always worked great for me.

sleepn_sn95 · May 21, 2013

You could try using a 3m eraser wheel on a drill. I had some gunk like that on my trunk under the spoiler and it was the only thing that could take it off

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

Thanks the ideas. Im surprised this stuff has managed to stay on even through goo gone, ehh shit happens I guess. Ill try out that eraser wheel for sure.

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

I also tried Denatured Alcohol...this adhesive is a fighter

chris91 · May 21, 2013

If you're VERY careful with the razor blade you should be able to cut it off. Just keep the blade parallel to the surface and dont dig into the paint. Done this MULTIPLE times, just have to be extremely careful.

GT Rob · May 21, 2013

Try wd40

whiplash473 · May 21, 2013

sleepn_sn95 said:
You could try using a 3m eraser wheel on a drill.

What he said..keep it in close proximity to the area needed tho since it'll haze the clearcoat a little..it can be buffed back no problem but some people don't have such resources..if an eraser wheels doesn't take it off then cut a sample off and send it to the government for them to analyze cuz it aint from this planet

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

chris91 said:
If you're VERY careful with the razor blade you should be able to cut it off. Just keep the blade parallel to the surface and dont dig into the paint. Done this MULTIPLE times, just have to be extremely careful.

I have tried a razor blade a few times now on very small spots and to thin down some of the thicker spots. It was going great until my horrid paint job showed its true colors and decided to peel off where I hadnt even touched it with a razor blade.

GT Rob said:
Try wd40

I have read that, Ill try it out!

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

This is what I have reached....the paint is starting to show some wear from the amount of chemicals being thrown on it. Stupid emblems, this was not suppose to be this irritating. :nono:

slow90coupe · May 21, 2013

At that point, I'd just put the emblems back on. Lol.

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

Id still have to go out and buy some 3M adhesive to put them back on, so I either pay more to put them back on, or pay more to continue to try to put the new ones on. In essence my car sucks either way.

Orange 94 · May 21, 2013

Have you tried a polishing wheel?

Weird that heat hasn't done much...

OnyxCobra · May 21, 2013

wonder if they used glue or something, you could try wet sanding it if you have a buffer. also the paint should come back with a little love if you have some polish.

Orange 94 · May 21, 2013

1. Get gas
2. Soak the spot in gas
3. FIREEEE

TanTop94 · May 21, 2013

whiplash473 said:
What he said..keep it in close proximity to the area needed tho since it'll haze the clearcoat a little..it can be buffed back no problem but some people don't have such resources..if an eraser wheels doesn't take it off then cut a sample off and send it to the government for them to analyze cuz it aint from this planet

Sent from bored/stroked iPhone

If this eraser wheel doesn't work Ill just send my whole car to the government, thing is starting to piss me off lol!

Orange 94 said:
Have you tried a polishing wheel?

Weird that heat hasn't done much...

OnyxCobra said:
wonder if they used glue or something, you could try wet sanding it if you have a buffer. also the paint should come back with a little love if you have some polish.

I can only imagine what sort of random adhesive they used to put these emblems back on there, I dont have a buffer yet but sanding did come into mind, I do have a lot of polish.