thunderstruck
Babuinos Móviles
I did this mod to my truck years ago, but I never really mentioned it here. I know a lot of guys just shave the badges, but I hope those of you that are keeping them can appreciate this. I found it funny that a lot of people colormatch the bowtie emblem on their grille, but never pay any attention to the small bowties on the door badges. You can colormatch them [almost] just as easily as the grille emblem.
The top one is my passenger side badge and the bottom is the driver side. The passenger side lost the clear plastic bowtie before I did this, so I had to paint them differently. I'll show you both ways.
A lot of credit goes to this writeup at GMFS: http://www.gmfullsize.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94524
That guide shows how I colormatched the bowtie on my grille. IMO, it's better than just simply shooting paint and clear on top of the emblem.
If your door badges are on top of your rocker molding, they are simply held on by two retaining clips and a little adhesive IIRC. You can gently pry them off. For you guys that have badges attached directly to the doors, I don't know how remove them without damage, nor do I know what adhesive would be best to reattach them with.
If the bowtie on your badge is damaged or missing, skip further down. Remove the bowtie from the badge by VERY gently prying it up from all directions. You are going to want to do this while the badge is warm so the plastic isn't as brittle. If you screw up, no worries, just skip further down. Once you get the bowtie off, use EasyOff HEAVY DUTY oven cleaner to remove the adhesive and metallic "plating" from the plastic. If it isn't obvious, wear gloves, this stuff WILL f'up your skin. Let the cleaner work for about 10-15 minutes, then rinse and wipe off. Repeat as necessary. It should come out almost completely transparent, a slight amount yellow tint is normal.
Once you get all of the paint and adhesive off, tape off the front and sides of the emblem. Paint the rear of the emblem. You can also apply some clear coat later, but it's not completely necessary. Once the paint has completely dried, use clear RTV silicone adhesive to reattach the bowtie to the badge. Use a clamp or weight to keep the emblem in place while the adhesive dries.
If the clear bowtie emblem on your badge is broken or missing, completely remove all pieces and adhesive from the pocket on the badge. Get in there with some sandpaper or a brillo pad. Clean the badge, then completely tape it off. Using a sharp knife, cut the tape away from the bowtie pocket. Apply a couple of coats of primer or adhesion promoter. Paint it, then apply several coats of clear coat. Wait for it to dry, then remove all the tape.
Once your badge has completely dried, you can can reattach it by applying clear RTV silicone adhesive to the back of the badge, then driving the retainer clips back into the rocker molding.
Here's how mine turned out, these pics were taken almost five years ago, but they still look just as good today.
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The top one is my passenger side badge and the bottom is the driver side. The passenger side lost the clear plastic bowtie before I did this, so I had to paint them differently. I'll show you both ways.
A lot of credit goes to this writeup at GMFS: http://www.gmfullsize.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94524
That guide shows how I colormatched the bowtie on my grille. IMO, it's better than just simply shooting paint and clear on top of the emblem.
If your door badges are on top of your rocker molding, they are simply held on by two retaining clips and a little adhesive IIRC. You can gently pry them off. For you guys that have badges attached directly to the doors, I don't know how remove them without damage, nor do I know what adhesive would be best to reattach them with.
If the bowtie on your badge is damaged or missing, skip further down. Remove the bowtie from the badge by VERY gently prying it up from all directions. You are going to want to do this while the badge is warm so the plastic isn't as brittle. If you screw up, no worries, just skip further down. Once you get the bowtie off, use EasyOff HEAVY DUTY oven cleaner to remove the adhesive and metallic "plating" from the plastic. If it isn't obvious, wear gloves, this stuff WILL f'up your skin. Let the cleaner work for about 10-15 minutes, then rinse and wipe off. Repeat as necessary. It should come out almost completely transparent, a slight amount yellow tint is normal.
Once you get all of the paint and adhesive off, tape off the front and sides of the emblem. Paint the rear of the emblem. You can also apply some clear coat later, but it's not completely necessary. Once the paint has completely dried, use clear RTV silicone adhesive to reattach the bowtie to the badge. Use a clamp or weight to keep the emblem in place while the adhesive dries.
If the clear bowtie emblem on your badge is broken or missing, completely remove all pieces and adhesive from the pocket on the badge. Get in there with some sandpaper or a brillo pad. Clean the badge, then completely tape it off. Using a sharp knife, cut the tape away from the bowtie pocket. Apply a couple of coats of primer or adhesion promoter. Paint it, then apply several coats of clear coat. Wait for it to dry, then remove all the tape.
Once your badge has completely dried, you can can reattach it by applying clear RTV silicone adhesive to the back of the badge, then driving the retainer clips back into the rocker molding.
Here's how mine turned out, these pics were taken almost five years ago, but they still look just as good today.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
