Help with debadging

[Rokeby]

As to the purpose of the holes under the fender HybridSD badges, this picture
extracted from a Toyota-EU document shows that in that market there are side
marker lights in that location:

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...1&d=1208607295

And they can be gotten, $89 !!!, here:

Sigma Automotive – Toyota Hybrid Prius 2004 - 2009 OEM & JDM auto accessories

[hobbit]

Well, this morning I just pulled the front-of-hood "T" logo
off mine, following krousdb's advice of "just yank", although
I did so slowly by prying carefully up a little with a non-marring
tool [screwdriver with tape over it] and letting it sit there
under that strain for several minutes while the sticky started
to slowly separate. Helped it separate along by punching
another screwdriver through the "web" of adhesive as it started
to come up, and eventually the thing could just be pulled off
the car.
.
So now I've got a grayish "T" oval of sticky gunk on the hood,
and will try to remove same without making the same kind of mess
I made of the rear one [but managed to recover semi-gracefully].
.
Basically, whatever the right solvent is will be determined on a
noncritical out-of-the-way area in the paint, I expect coupled with
a good bit of finger-rubbing to roll the stuff off. Then comes
the problem of filling the holes [Dan said clear RTV was fine] and
touching up. But I'm thinking maybe of painting some *other* kind
of logo over the area to help visually hide the bulge that hints
that something was supposed to go there. [Suddenly, the Mack
bulldog comes to mind...]
.
Maybe a frontal pic and a little photochopping work to play with
concepts is in order...
.
_H*

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by hobbit

Basically, whatever the right solvent is will be determined on a
noncritical out-of-the-way area in the paint, I expect coupled with
a good bit of finger-rubbing to roll the stuff off. Then comes
the problem of filling the holes [Dan said clear RTV was fine] and
touching up.
_H*

Finger rubbing worked fine for me. No solvent required.

[Rokeby]

Temps in our beloved Ballamer reached 75 deg in mid afternoon. I have
been waiting for a month for temps to get above 60 deg to debadge the rear
hatch.

By way of prep, I read debadging threads on at least four different marque
forums. The recommended process ranged from a combination of heat guns
and various petrochemicals to just grabbing the badge with your fingernails
and pulling. I figured there was a simple way somewhere in the middle of
the range.

I parked the car with the rear hatch facing south, into the noonday sun. Then
I made a simple tool equivalent to a popsicle stick tapered for about 1/2
inch to a near chisel point.

A half an hour later, the hatch was hot to the touch. I grabbed one end of a
badge with my fingernails and pulled firmly outward. The adhesive stretched
slightly, maybe 1/8 inch.. With the chisel end of the tool I pushed gently
against the stretched adhesive close to where it was stuck to the car. The
adhesive let go for about 1/16 - 1/8 inch on the car side but remained stuck
to the badge. As the adhesive detached from the car, I kept up continuous
outward pressure and repeatedly pushed the adhesive off the car. At no time
did the tool touch the paint, and the adhesive came off cleanly. No pain and
no strain.

I had the three rear hatch badges off in 10 minutes. It was so easy as to
approach being trivial. You'd have to be really ham-handed to screw it up.
Just remember to get the badge and hatch quite warm.

In post #32, Hobbit was taking off the Toyota oval-T badges which are
secured with stickum and pins with retainers. Thats a whole different ball
game not to be confused with badges secured solely with tape as above.

[hobbit]

Cool. My hood wasn't quite as warm yesterday, but I did manage
to get all the stickum cleanly off. A little 95% isopropyl did
help soften the stuff and let it "ball up" a little better.
Nothing any stronger would truly leave the paint alone.
.
_H*

[Rokeby]

Hobbit,

Are you dead set against all badging on the hood/hatch, or just the Toyota
oval-T? If not totally against them, these Toyota of Japan badges might be
plug-n-play as it seems to me that all Toyota models have the same size
oval-T on hood and hatch/trunk.

This one's from a Vitz:
http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...1&d=1208716120

And this from a Harrier:
http://priuschat.com/forums/attachme...1&d=1208716120

They are from:

eBay Seller: jdmpit: Parts Accessories, Action Figures items on eBay Motors

Oops, sorta' off topic topic, I know. But it could be the next topic!

[Rokeby]

As to dealing with the holes under the fender HybridSD badge, this Dodge
Pacifica Touring badge might fill the bill:

Auto Parts People (Dunno why but there is no drawing of this badge,
but its got a part number and price, $18 for that little-bitty thing!)

I've seen, touched it in real life. It's about 1/2 inch by 3 inches; "Touring"
painted on a chrome rectangle with radiused corners and edges. Don't know
if it's plastic or metal.

For a touring model, use as is with a couple of coats of high quality clear
coat.

For non-touring, first a little work with paint remover -- no abrasives, please
-- then the clear coat. And what do you say it is if asked. Why make up
some outlandish lie of course! Its the ultra long wave lunar phase sensor, or
the differential gravitometer, or better yet they're the contacts for
PHEV recharging. Hehehe.

[hobbit]

Okay, I need some aesthetic feedback here. Maybe it's that I
keep hearing the rods going by on the highway a half-mile away
[gas prices, schmas prices...] or that I just spotted a lot of
sensible "line matches" when staring at the car's nose.
.


.
Note that I haven't actually *done* this to my car yet, it's just
a photochop artist's conception. But somehow it brings to mind
those raised-center mustang or whatever hoods, y'know, the one
you squeeze the massive blower underneath. Or something. I'm
kinda likin' this, and I'm not even sure it would hide the fact
that there's a bump where the logo was...
.
Comments? Counter-proposals? This feels particularly weird
because I usually don't sit around art-fagging about cars.
Then again, if there wasn't something going on here I wouldn't
have pulled the logo off in the first place.
.
_H*

[Rokeby]

Hobbit,

It has a strong resemblance to the raised certer section on the Gen1. Hmm,
retro. The fumes from the rodders must really strong, nitro maybe? Ethanol?

(Does this make me an aht-fag?)

[Neicy]

I like it. It picks up on the black around the windows I think.