How To - 1st Gen Badge Removal

Here is everything that I used: Orbital Buffer (with Polishing Cutting Compound), Hair Dryer, Putty Knife, Goof Off, Simple Green Cleaning Spray, Paper Towels and a Micro-Fiber Rag.



Example of the side "Toyota Tacoma" badge removal:
Original Look



Step 1.) Apply "hot" air with the hair dryer for a few seconds and then slowly and carefully slip the corner of the Putty Knife blade underneath a corner of the badge and gently (as you're blowing heat on the upcoming letters) move the Putty Knife along, lifting the badge off one letter at a time. You won't peel all of the adhesive underneath, but that's okay...

It should look like this once you peel the badge off:



Step 2.) Use the Hair Dryer again to heat up the adhesive and slowly "rub" or "pick" the adhesive off -- when you get it starting to peel it will roll, and by doing that the adhesive will gather more adhesive. Heat ahead of where you're picking at, it will help the upcoming adhesive come off easier -- if you're like me I have no fingernails so this was a pain in the a$$ step.
It will now look like so:



Step 3.) Once you have all the major adhesive off, hit it with some Simply Green Cleaning Spray and wipe all that gathered dirt off.

Step 4.) Use a folded up paper towel with some Goof Off on it to get some of the dirty adhesive completely off of the paint, repeat this a couple of times - each time switching to a new part of clean paper towel.
After Step #4 it will look like this:



Step 5.) Use the Orbital Sander (I found it best on the highest speed for 20-30 seconds moving it all around the area) -- you can also use whatever Polishing Pad you have, it will just be more work --> either way use the Polishing Cutting Compound you will ultimately come to this result:



Repeat Step #5 as many times as desired --> I had found it takes 3-4 times to become completely satisfied with the end result.

Final Result:



I know it's not easy to see, but the paint was very clean & reflective at this point but believe me, if you stand back you can't even notice there was a bright chrome badge there before.

 

Just a heads up, it you aren't very careful when peeling off the badge(s) with your Putty Knife then you are very liable to break or bend the badge(s) BUT if you don't care about them then no worries.

 

Also, the side badges have A LOT more adhesive holding them on, so if you do want to get rid of your badges I suggest you start out on your back badges as they have very little adhesive holding them down...
Before:



After 1:



After 2:



GOOD LUCK!

 

Sent you a PM to see if you still had these by any chance

 

Thread revival! I started removing a few letters on my tailgate, and I have some serious ghosting in the paint. I used Maguires ultimate compound by hand first several times and followed it up with their polish. helped but its still there... tried wet sanding 3000 grit then 5000, then compound, then polish. Still ghosted... am I screwed ? Should I try a different compound and my orbital? Wet sand with 1500? Ugh I don’t wanna have to repaint

 

Pre wet sand W/3k grit and polish:


post wet sand w 3k grit and polish:


If you look at the cross of the letter A you can see it’s def going away... my fear is sanding too much and hitting paint...

 

Lol I do but I’m trying to do my tailgate like the 95-97 style :

 

more than likely that's years of clear/paint fade going on. tis why newly painted never matches :\

 

If you still have the letters put them right back on where you took them off. Understand you're skill-set.

 

Pretty much normal I think. I pulled my badges off a couple weeks ago on my 02 and it’s even worse, which I actually like. Gives it a phantom/ghost letting look. Still haven’t gotten around to polishing it tho.

 

Ah fuck you’re probably right... I put em back

 

How do you put them back on? Isn't the adhesive all messed up?

 

I have used dental floss to "saw" through the adhesive with great results.

 

With the black pearl it’s going to be difficult to get rid of that ghosting.

I did this on my Sunfire Red Pearl and after a couple of years of polish/wax and UV exposure, the ghosting faded away. If you are 4” from the paint you can still see the faint “SR5” but for the most part it’s all gone.

 

I cleaned off all the adhesive and reapplied some 3M double sided tape

 

that's what I used to remove them with great success, the adhesive wasn't the issue, the issue was the 17 year virgin paint under the emblems has never seen UV rays so its a stark contrast in color difference. I believe it is in the actual paint and not the clearcoat because I tried wet sanding and polishing and it did virtually nothing. Im not willing to sand any further and burn through clearcoat.

 

I removed the pinstripe on my 2000 a few years ago and still have ghosting where the stripe used to be. You have to be pretty close to see it. Honestly the ghost pin stripe looks pretty cool on the old truck.

Thanks. The cut around it with an exacto knife?

 

yep very carefully

 

Gotcha. That's what I've been missing. I have been wanting black emblems and have tried PlastiDip but don't like how they feel rubbery. Removing and painting seems to be the best option.

 

the Badges themselves are rubbery in case you didn’t know. They aren’t metal, it’s like a silver coated rubber it seems to me