Debadging Gone Wrong

[connor18]

I am in the process of trying to debadge my car to put on gloss black ones instead of clear ones. When I was removing the residue I believe I started to run away the clear coat. Wondering if anybody had any tips or can even confirm that I did in fact remove part of the clear coat. Image attached below. Thanks70967480850__7C99D075-27CC-4E3D-A3BD-C1095FA2078C.jpg

[Audibot]

Goo Gone and a microfiber

[K3v_]

Was that panel repainted before? Wet-sand and polish may be an option once you get the residue off.


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[iCrap]

it looks like that panel may have been repainted before and you've removed a top layer of clear from the repaint.

[connor18]

image-2023-07-15-14:36:45-667.jpg
UPDATE: I decided to do the next badge to see if it was removing the clear coat as well and it looks like it is. I think I’m screwed :(

[nhracecraft]

You should be doing this in the sun, allowing the body panel (and the adhesive) to get real warm first, and potentially using a solvent such as WD-40 or Goo Gone as well. Honestly, once you get under a corner and it starts to lift, it should come off pretty easy.

What the heck color is that car anyway, mirror silver?

[eskimo0101]

That definitely looks like the clear got peeled off. Gonna need some slightly oversized letters to cover up that mess now.

I've never removed factory badges but have a lot of experience removing dealership badging that gets installed with the same adhesive. I always go with the fishing line saw method, followed by soaking with WD-40 and careful light scrubbing. Usually takes a few coats/scrubs but never damaged the paint/clear doing it.

[connor18]

That definitely looks like the clear got peeled off. Gonna need some slightly oversized letters to cover up that mess now.

I've never removed factory badges but have a lot of experience removing dealership badging that gets installed with the same adhesive. I always go with the fishing line saw method, followed by soaking with WD-40 and careful light scrubbing. Usually takes a few coats/scrubs but never damaged the paint/clear doing it.

That is exactly what I did, fishing line and I slowly went back and forth removing the badge. Then I used a little bit of goo gone and I used an eraser wheel going super slow to remove the adhesive. The problem is that I think the emblems took off the clear coat when I was doing the fishing line removal. Maybe the adhesive was just way too strong, I honestly don’t know

[carrrnuttt]

That is exactly what I did, fishing line and I slowly went back and forth removing the badge. Then I used a little bit of goo gone and I used an eraser wheel going super slow to remove the adhesive. The problem is that I think the emblems took off the clear coat when I was doing the fishing line removal. Maybe the adhesive was just way too strong, I honestly don’t know

My vote is for a poor repaint/clear.

I also debadged and replaced all my badges with black or black/red badges, and I never had the clear coat coming off. Thin floss was used to remove my badging.

Mind you, I live in Arizona with our brutal summers. If anything would have hard-baked the adhesive into paint that would be it. Then again, maybe the summers kept the adhesive malleable?

[dbtong]

Since you're replacing with gloss badges it should cover that mess up but I don't know if that clearcoat failure will start growing over the course of time? I removed my V6 badges when the car was 3 years old without any damage to the clearcoat. Really curious to know if those fenders were repainted.

[Fishface5]

They sell rubber wheels on Amazon that you put into a drill and run at slow speed - my body shop guy recommended & I used on the adhesive residue with perfect results. They are like erasers that strip everything off the paint surface without damaging the paint.