lost some paint on front badge install. What to do

[Mach_Tuck]

A heat gun is fine...IF used properly! Thats a HUGE if by the way.

 

[Big Ern]

I too peeled up some paint with the front badge removal. Used a heat gun and the wedges like the video I watched, but with horrible consequences. I know the front was probably my fault and not the method. But I will say, I changed it up on the rear and perfectly debadged all 3 with only fishing line, goo-gone, and my fingernail. In my opinion, the fishing line approach is absolutely the safer way to go.

Also, I just used some touch-up paint to seal the bare area, then found an oval replacement badge to keep the entire area covered. There are plenty to choose from (most of which are very low quality, but there are a couple good ones). I feel the circular "E" logo is getting kinda played out anyway.

 

[Ace2Rolex]

Replaced mine without any issues using fish line and some elbow grease. The oval badge did leave a very small indent on one side. Only noticeable if you really spend some time trying to find it.

No heat gun used, just slow and steady.

 

[Mhol]

I'm in a panic. So I rebadged the back kia badge and removed the back small stinger logo perfectly fine using a hair dryer. But when I went to do the front, I noticed that not even too long into it, I see some paint chips underneath the badge.

So currently I still have the Kia badge left on cus I'm worried the paint chip is huge. It looks like the E badge won't cover some of the chip on the right of it. Wondering if paint pen will help here?

I had the same thing happen to mine. I have a black Stinger. I am trying to get the paint.

 

[jchan_stinger]

I had the same thing happen to mine. I have a black Stinger. I am trying to get the paint.

I had my dealer take a look at the other paint chips, and he said he's gonna talk to service to see if they can replace the bumper. Not sure how successful the talk is gonna go...

 

[shyguyfinish1st]

Hey new member here. Just picked up a used 2018 gt1. Im glad I found this thread. Just noticed this by the front badge the second day of owning it. I guess the first owner tried to do it himself with a heat gun too.

 

[davebo]

Dang, it had been so long since this thread was updated I had completely forgotten that my front badge is one centimeter off-center to hide my shame. Congrats on picking up a used 2018. Can't imagine someone getting rid of it after just one year but I'll bet you got a great deal. My advice to you is to hurry up and get some awful paint chip from road debris so you'll obsess about that and never think about your paint defect around the badge ever again.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Hey new member here. Just picked up a used 2018 gt1. Im glad I found this thread. Just noticed this by the front badge the second day of owning it. I guess the first owner tried to do it himself with a heat gun too.

I think you could touch that up decently well with a good color matched touch up paint (might need to be tri-coat), a small brush and a steady hand, and some patience. I'm still working on my screw ups on the back badge, probably will get around to sanding it flush this weekend and see how it turned out.

 

[shyguyfinish1st]

Yeah thought about picking up a touch up pen but I’m wanting to re-badge it so maybe I’ll just bite the bullet get it done with a body shop and then ceramic coat this bad boy. And yes I know ceramic coating won’t save me from rock chips.

Pick up this gt1 on an awesome deal. Just 13k miles. The last owner was a senator and I guess he got too many speeding tickets and had to sell it. But I’m finding more and more little nicks everyday but idc I came from a 2003 Toyota Camry so I’m loving this car.

 

[davebo]

A senator? Well if you're around D.C. hit up the Northern Virginia thread or catch me zooming up and down 270 sometime!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yeah thought about picking up a touch up pen but I’m wanting to re-badge it so maybe I’ll just bite the bullet get it done with a body shop and then ceramic coat this bad boy. And yes I know ceramic coating won’t save me from rock chips.

Pick up this gt1 on an awesome deal. Just 13k miles. The last owner was a senator and I guess he got too many speeding tickets and had to sell it. But I’m finding more and more little nicks everyday but idc I came from a 2003 Toyota Camry so I’m loving this car.

Welcome, Shy Guy. You include a pic of a ripped sidewall and don't say a thing!? Whoa! That's bad enough to replace, pronto.

As for your flaws, nicks and blemishes, yes: on a used car, just go over it with touchup paint. My opinion. If the over all effect is near perfection, especially from five or six feet away, then get that ceramic on (or even PPF, at least in front).

 

[shyguyfinish1st]

Welcome, Shy Guy. You include a pic of a ripped sidewall and don't say a thing!? Whoa! That's bad enough to replace, pronto.

Thanks Merlin. Do you think that type of tear warrants a complete replacement? It hasn’t thrown me any pressure warnings and I can’t see the cords. I had a discount tire shop take a look and they didn’t think it needed replacing. Just picked up tire cement but I’m hesitant to use it. Not trying to have a sidewall blowout on my driver side ya know. Maybe I’ll post in the tire section and get 99 different opinions.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Thanks Merlin. Do you think that type of tear warrants a complete replacement? It hasn’t thrown me any pressure warnings and I can’t see the cords. I had a discount tire shop take a look and they didn’t think it needed replacing. Just picked up tire cement but I’m hesitant to use it. Not trying to have a sidewall blowout on my driver side ya know. Maybe I’ll post in the tire section and get 99 different opinions.

Here's mine: at 150+ MPH would you want to be thinking about "tire cement"? ditto, hard cornering, say pulling close to a G in lateral force? And you hear your treads start to "sing" and the back end breaks a bit and you drift out of the curve. On a tire with cement in the sidewall. Nope.

 

[Rakker]

Something is up with the paint on the front. I too had issues with the paint peeling. I even had paint come off when I was using my fingernail to remove some of the glue. Like others I used a hairdryer and plastic wedges. Everything went fine on the back on the car.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Something is up with the paint on the front. I too had issues with the paint peeling. I even had paint come off when I was using my fingernail to remove some of the glue. Like others I used a hairdryer and plastic wedges. Everything went fine on the back on the car.

I find it surprising the "paint issues" were not remedied by the '19 model year considering how many people debadged and had issues on '18 models. I did badge work on my car and ended up with scratches and gouges to the paintwork from a dull plastic tool. I do agree that the paint, at least on the plastics for me, leaves a lot to be desired. At least it still seems to respond to normal detailing work like polishing and coating. Just don't do anything more abrasive than that!

 

[Revvdmedia]

IMO, I would take it to the body shop...

You are the second forum member I've seen mess up their paint due to using a heat gun to remove the badges. Looks like people need to avoid them and try installing with just fishing line and plastic tools.

RUBBER TOOLS, not plastic. Ask me how I know. The paint is very sensitive. Otherwise avoiding heat and using fishing line/goo gone worked well.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Edit: Nope, I decided to half-ass it as usual, so here it is just slightly off-center, covering my shameful paint scratches.

Don't feel too bad, I left scratches on my install with a PLASTIC tool. I've been working to build up the lighter scratches with clear coat, and fixing the down-to-primer issues with tri-coat paint that seems to blend well (with a very artistically inclined hand). I'll likely be doing the sanding, compounding and polishing this weekend to see how well my handy-work blends. If it's still to noticeable and I can't handle it, I'll either remove the Stinger script and replace with a larger round badge which I think will cover up the scratches (K badge), or maybe pony up and pay a professional shop to fix it.

I knew this was a risk, I took it, and lost. Super annoying considering I've done a ton of debagings on various cars in the past and have never had a single issue. The paint on the plastic panels really does suck on these cars. You'd think painting plastics should have been pretty nailed down by all manufacturers by now.

 

[eflyguy]

I used lengths of nylon from a heavy packaging tie-strap (industrial furniture pieces from Costco). No marks on my paint. No heat, ambient temps were around 60º. I used WD40 for lubricant while cutting thru the badge mounting tape, and to remove residue. I think, but can't be sure as it's been so long, I used a plastic trim removal tool to lever some parts away when they were nearly there.

Not claiming to be any kind of expert, just sharing the fact that my SWP paint held up just fine, no marks at all under extreme scrutiny - I removed all badges, put a round KDM badge up front, and re-used the small Stinger script (with small strips of 3M VHB) above the license plate on the rear, which covers the holes nicely.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I used lengths of nylon from a heavy packaging tie-strap (industrial furniture pieces from Costco). No marks on my paint. No heat, ambient temps were around 60º. I used WD40 for lubricant while cutting thru the badge mounting tape, and to remove residue. I think, but can't be sure as it's been so long, I used a plastic trim removal tool to lever some parts away when they were nearly there.

Not claiming to be any kind of expert, just sharing the fact that my Snow White Pearl paint held up just fine, no marks at all under extreme scrutiny - I removed all badges, put a round KDM badge up front, and re-used the small Stinger script (with small strips of 3M VHB) above the license plate on the rear, which covers the holes nicely.

The cars are hit or miss. Considering mine has the headlight peel (minor) and came with significant paint chipping on the side skirt, it could have been considered compromised and from a lower quality batch. I hoped the rear panel came from a different batch/painter/etc, but I think the paint quality/adherence is not good on mine. While I don't claim to be a professional (I don't get paid for my work), I'm well experienced and knowledgeable in this process. Considering most clear coats are designed to cure "hard," plastic is generally "soft" and normally a softer material should not usually scratch a harder material (sand will scratch everything, it is very hard), I should not have incurred scratches on my badge removal considering how careful I was.The couple gouges are rather odd too, again, astonishing a soft plastic could cause this type of damage with minimal pressure and a steady hand.

Luck of the draw it seems.

 

[MerlintheMad]

You'd think painting plastics should have been pretty nailed down by all manufacturers by now.

I think what we are witnessing is a change in the chemical composition of automobile paint. Kia or any other manufacturer can "nail down" a process. And when the supplier changes something (to comply with "green" demands or similar), the manufacturer can get blind sided and have to learn to adapt. This is compete supposition on my part, but this theory could explain why we see variability between the plastic and steel areas resulting in different qualities of adherence.