Badges?...We don't need no stinkin' badges!...
One of the latest detailing trends is to debadge, or remove the factory emblems from the painted surfaces of a car or truck...Since I am a traditionalist at heart, and never really liked the corporate change of name from Dodge to Ram for their trucks, and since I really don't like the large, garish emblems on my truck proclaiming it to be a "RAM Heavy Duty 3500" I decided the time had come for a change...YouTube is full of videos showing how pros and amateurs both get the emblems off, then remove the adhesive from the paint, then remove the ghost lettering that the adhesive leaves on the paint...Some like to use dental floss to saw through the adhesive, some like fishing line...
I used monofilament fishing line at first on my old Dodge flatbed...Be sure to wear gloves to save your hands...It cut through the adhesive, but when I stopped momentarily it welded itself to the adhesive...Starting over the line broke easily...So I decided to use one videoer's pliers method...The badge had raised edges perpendicular to the painted surface allowing me to get a good grip with the pliers while staying away from the paint...I rocked them back and forth slowly and gently pulling away from the paint until the badge started to pull away...From there it was easy to just keep pulling and rocking until it popped free...One of my badges had beveled edges which did not allow a grip with the pliers...I then got a thin bladed screwdriver, and using one of the old plastic badges as a fulcrum against the paint, I carefully used the screwdriver against the badge to pry a corner loose...Then I used a double wrap of fishing line to get behind the badge at that corner, then slowly rocking back and forth and pulling away from the paint, it came right off...
The hard part for me was getting the adhesive off the paint...It had been baking in the sun for ten years...Goo Gone was worthless...I used an old credit card for a scraper which would have worked fine if I had a few extra days to put into each badge...At that point I went shopping for a 3M Eraser Wheel...Big box stores and most hardware stores do not stock them...I went to a wholesale paint distributor that mixes automotive paint for body shops, and bought one off the shelf for less money than I could find online...At the same place, I bought a can of 3M automotive adhesive solvent (much better for this purpose than Goo Gone)...I used the wheel (I bought one with an arbor, they are sold either way) on my DeWalt cordless drill, and had a large area of adhesive on my door cleaned off in 20 minutes...The 3M adhesive solvent cleaned up the residue on a cloth...Turtle Polishing Compound took the ghost letters right off effortlessly...As a bonus, I tried the wheel on ancient, dried-up tree sap, and working carefully it came off too...
The methods shown in the videos probably work well for newer vehicles, but for ten year old sun-baked adhesive, the 3M Eraser Wheel is the way to go...There are also cheaper wheels available, but I was advised they wear down quicker...I found new badges to put on proclaiming my truck to be a Dodge Diesel, not no stinkin' Ram...I even found one for the new grille I ordered that has the original factory artwork from 1914 printed "Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicles"...Now back to work under this merciless sun...Five minute work shift; 20 minute rest and water break...:relax:...Ben
