Debadgng: Circle-T/HybridSD Hole Cover Plate

It is an easy and distinctive mod to debadge the car. But the Circle-T
badges on the hood and lift gate, and the two HybridSD badges on the front
fenders (after 2006) have pins that fit into holes in the bodywork. Maybe the
pins and holes really are for aligning the badges. But then, maybe it's just
Toyota's way to seriously discourage removing these badges.

It is not at all difficult to remove the badges. And here the avid debadger,
or modder has a problem; What to do with the stupid holes? Why not cover
them up with a thin fiberglass plate painted in the car's body color? It
would be a really easy yet classy solution. Cast polyester/epoxy resin should
do the trick.

For the Circle-T, the plate would be exactly the size of the OEM chrome
ornament. Maybe 1/8 inch thick at the rim with a smooth round-over, 1/4
inch thick in the center. The pins aren't really necessary, but they would
ensure that the plate mounted easily in exactly the right place.

The Hybrid-SD badges on the fenders have differing pin patterns. As a result,
there are separate left and right badges. The shape of the cover plate isn't
dictated by the bodywork. I'm thinking that an elliptical shape would look
good. I see this plate 1/8 in. thick at the edge, but only 3/16 in thick at
the center.

All the plates would be affixed with thin 3M two-sided sticky tape.

What do you think?

 

M.Oiseau,

Thanks for the post.

I have checked out the Prius side marker lights. They are tall enough to
cover the vertical spread of the holes, but they are not long enough to
cover them both. (Pictures of recent Euro and Japanese cars show both
the HybridSD badge and side marker lights on the cars.)

To my suspicious, cynical mind, this was intentional on Toyot's part.
Again, they're motive is to keep the badges on the car to further their
corporate purposes, i.e. sales, advertising, free publicity.

 

zenMachine,
Is it the concept of painting the badges that is simple, or is it the process of
painting.

IIRC from other threads, the process of deglossing the badges, with 600 or so
grit sandpaper and ScotchBrite pads is time consuming, difficult work. I'm
thinking that If I do the work, I might just as well end up with a smooth, clean
surface.

 

Whoa! Are you saying that you painted them in place?
If so, you're a braver man than I.

Did you do any masking with tape or the masking liquid that modelers use?

 

zenMachine,

Have you posted pix of your car anywhere?

I'd like to see what the overall effect is with the badges in place and painted the
body color as opposed to no badges.

 

Here is a possible alternative that I just found:

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=11843&stc=1&d=1224328977

I don't know what it's made of, most likely resin/plastic of some sort. I'm
thinking I could carefully sand the Circle-T off and then repaint. At ~$48US
it is a pricey item, and I'd need two.

Found it here:

http://www.ppsonline.net/emblemGrill.htm

Paint from here I suppose:

PaintScratch Touch-Up Paint (rs), Spray Cans, Spray Paint, Paint Pens

One spray can each of primer, base coat, and clear top coat comes to
$65US.

So, two badges and the paint comes to ~$165US -- Yikes!

Time to rethink this "good idea."

 

Re: Debadging: Circle-T/HybridSD Hole Cover Plate

zenMachine,

you've got one very smooth, very tight ride there. Well done.

The Circle-T on the lift gate looks darker than the body color. Is it black chrome?

If you get around to it, I'd really appreciate seeing a frontal, and front
quartering shots to see the HybridSD and Circle-T on the nose.

On a separate mater; IIRC, in the past you've posted pdfs from the Body
Manual (??). Is there anything there that would help me understand what
would be entailed in removing the upper grill "smile?"

[Edit] Nevermind on the "smile" removal. I figured it out and posted the info
here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-modifications/54784-removing-upper-grill-smile.html

 

dogfriend,

Thanks for the pix. Now I can add hand painting to the list of possible ways to
"dechrome," if not debadge. I especially like the lift gate's two-tone look.

I too like the look of the Circle-T on the hood. It has a certain worldy, "Been
there, done that. You got a problem?" look about it. With just a little more
paint randomly removed, I could see a clear coat to fix the paint-chrome ratio.

Again, thanks.

 

Back in post #10, I identified some resin badges found on the internet as
a possible raw material for a Circle-T replacement on hood and lift gate.
It only cost $48, and I need two... ridiculous.

I picked up enough Sculpy modelling material -- ~$11US -- for maybe 20
cover plates. It is relatively easily worked by hand and with simple tools,
i.e. a cylindrical glass as a roller, a kitchen knife. It hardens up when put in
a 275 deg oven for 15 minutes. Final smoothing/shaping is with sandpaper
with grits between 120 and 400.

Here is a pix of the results:

http://priuschat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12096&stc=1&d=1226464641

On the right are my first two attempts; on the top, one with a smaller
Circle-T pressed into the surface. More on this in a minute. On the bottom, a
smooth faced blank. Both these are the same dimensions as the OEM Prius
badges.

In the center column are on top a small Circle-T badge (4-3/8 in. by 3 in.)
that I got from a junker at a salvage yard. Below is the Prius' OEM Circle-T
(3-1/2 in by 2-1/4 in.), also salvage.

On the left are two tools I made. On top is a handle for the smaller
badge.Three pins on the back of the badge slip into holes in the base of the
handle. It is used to impress the smaller badge into the face of a "raw" but
correctly formed blank. On the bottom is a thin aluminum template the
same size s the larger Circle-T. The two holes match the pins on the back of
the Prius badge.

On the car, the bodywork is formed into a low, flat-topped rise to
hold/display the Circle-T. It is obvious that it is meant to feature/hightlight
the badge. For this reason, I'm not sure that the smooth-faced blank will
work; too plain.

That's why I used the small Circle-T and made the other blank. I like where
this idea is going with two reservations. First, I think the imprinted Circle-T
is too deep. I now want the imprint to be shallow, to give a subtler
presentation. Also, I believe that there is an older, smaller Circle-T out there.

The plates, unadorned or impressed, will be painted the body color,
Barcellona red. They will be mounted with thin 3M two-sided sticky tape.

So it's back to the junkyard and more poking about amongst the hulks.
Ultimately, If I can get it just right, I may make a mold of the best plate and
cast the final ones in filled epoxy resin. But, I may just stick with the Sculpy.

And, either way $11 is a whole lot easier to swallow that $96.