New badges
- Thread starter John Lumsden
- Start date
Flameangel
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From what I have read on threads, depends on Dealership, no harm in asking. There are threads here showing how to go about rebadging, personally I will go to a car detailer myself when I get my car because I am too nervous to do it myself and would freak if I damaged the paint work on the car.
Thrashmetl
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I bought some fishing line, a heat gun for $8 on sale at Harbor Freight, and some little yellow plastic wedges there to like the ones used in the main rebadging video on YouTube and just did it myself.
In all honesty, it’s pretty hard to mess up. A few tips. Don’t overheat it. Just keep moving the heat gun over and around the badge. When it so hot that you can only leave your finger on the badge for a second or two quickly move in with the fishing line. It’s honestly going to take about 20-25 minutes. Move in from one side and then the other and make sure you get around the top and bottom. There are 3 posts towards the center which you will see on the new badges when they arrive. Because of these you won’t be able to get all the way across with the fishing line. Once you’ve gotten pretty close to the center, this is where the wedges come into play. You’re going to want to put them in on both sides at the same time. If you put one in on one side and start prying then the other side of the badge will dig into the paint. So put one in on each side so when you start prying you won’t damage the paint. Do not heat it up with the wedges in there because the wedges will melt. You’re going to have to take them in and out each time you heat. Eventually you will be able to pry it off. Then just use some goo gone to get the remaining adhesive off that you can’t get off with your fingers.
The GT and Stinger badges come off super easy. Maybe one or two heat sessions and the fishing line moves through like butter. Maybe a minute or two and they are done. The Kia badges are the ones that take time.
I’m pretty sure there is a whole thread dedicated to replacing the badges with better directions than I’ve given here, search it. The dealer will charge you a load so you’ll save money doing it yourself.
I saw a thread where a guy damaged his paint pretty bad, but he must had used waaaay to much heat or something. There are also loads of videos on YouTube of people removing badges too.
In all honesty, it’s pretty hard to mess up. A few tips. Don’t overheat it. Just keep moving the heat gun over and around the badge. When it so hot that you can only leave your finger on the badge for a second or two quickly move in with the fishing line. It’s honestly going to take about 20-25 minutes. Move in from one side and then the other and make sure you get around the top and bottom. There are 3 posts towards the center which you will see on the new badges when they arrive. Because of these you won’t be able to get all the way across with the fishing line. Once you’ve gotten pretty close to the center, this is where the wedges come into play. You’re going to want to put them in on both sides at the same time. If you put one in on one side and start prying then the other side of the badge will dig into the paint. So put one in on each side so when you start prying you won’t damage the paint. Do not heat it up with the wedges in there because the wedges will melt. You’re going to have to take them in and out each time you heat. Eventually you will be able to pry it off. Then just use some goo gone to get the remaining adhesive off that you can’t get off with your fingers.
The GT and Stinger badges come off super easy. Maybe one or two heat sessions and the fishing line moves through like butter. Maybe a minute or two and they are done. The Kia badges are the ones that take time.
I’m pretty sure there is a whole thread dedicated to replacing the badges with better directions than I’ve given here, search it. The dealer will charge you a load so you’ll save money doing it yourself.
I saw a thread where a guy damaged his paint pretty bad, but he must had used waaaay to much heat or something. There are also loads of videos on YouTube of people removing badges too.
