Anyone have any tips on how to debadge the car? Want to remove the subaru letters and wrx letters off the back to have a cleaner stealth look. Figure a blow dryer might work to heat up the glue. Once the letters come off will it be clean or will I need a body shop to rub out?

Heat with hair dryer, while doing that use some dental floss to remove letters, use it in a sawing motion. Most of the remaining glue can come off with a rag while still warm, balance of glue comes off with goo gone, tarminator or a good bug and tar remover. Wash area and wax...no need for body shop. Others have slightly different ways but this worked for me. Start to finish about 15 - 20 minutes tops.

I actualy just used a piece of piano wire. It seemed to work really well.

Originally posted by 128d
I actualy just used a piece of piano wire. It seemed to work really well.

piano wire? didn't have any of that laying around.

must get googone, you WILL have adhesive left on the trunk!

heat gun, or hair dryer, floss, and wax. be sure to wax the area after you remove the letters.
:D

Originally posted by Dick Fitzwell
piano wire? didn't have any of that laying around.

must get googone, you WILL have adhesive left on the trunk!

Haha. didn't need googone. removed mine straight from the lot. :)

kevlar fishing line, googone, and wax

just use gas to get the adhesive off. i use it for bugs, road tar, fresh paint. just make sure to wax it afterwords.

Originally posted by AdoboUaReX
Haha. didn't need googone. removed mine straight from the lot. :)
i have never stepped foot on the dealer lot i purchased my wrx from, but i did remove the badges a day or so after delivery and still had some adhesive left on the trunk.
just use gas to get the adhesive off. i use it for bugs, road tar, fresh paint. just make sure to wax it afterwords.

yeah i forgot about gas, works good removing just about anything and tastes good too!!:)

Fishing line, hair dryer, and the 'ol rolling action of my thumb to get off the remaining goo (using dryer to keep it pliable). Any light residue was easily removed by polishing (non-abrasive). ....followed by wax.

Gloves don't forget the gloves. I had blisters on the tips of my fingers for a week. Don't use goof off it did not work and I lost a great many brain cells.

heat the badge then use fishing line. heat the adhesive afterwards again and give a spray of wd40 and buff off.

gas = bad for paint

Well how about some pics of these de-badged bad boys!

i dont have a pic, but IMHO, debadging makes a HUGE difference. no fooling, i loved it, the smooth/clean look is awesome, because thats whati really dig

http://www.rs25.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=30027

http://members.roadfly.com/big6power/WrxBack.JPG

Originally posted by ScoobyBoy
heat gun, or hair dryer, floss, and wax. be sure to wax the area after you remove the letters.
:D

a heat gun is actually a bad choice, the potential to ruin your paint will increase. just use a hair dryer, floss, cleaning agent, might as well wash the whole car and wax too (c'mon you know you want to anyway) ;)

I just used dental floss. Easy!

hahaha yeah i do want to wax my car, but i honestly do not have the time. stinking school. and by the weekend im either out, or dead tired. but the last time i waxed was like two weeks ago, right before i went to tahoe.
id like to de badge the subaru too, but the impreza, and the wrx are crooked. gotta love Ron Price.
:D

I took of the SUBARU last week and put wax on right after. I too sufferred loss of fingerprint with blister for 1 week.

I still have a shadow of the letters on the paint. Any recommendations for removing the haze from the adhesive?

I was thinking of a little glaze or compound and then rewaxing.

Originally posted by lobelsteve
I took of the SUBARU last week and put wax on right after. I too sufferred loss of fingerprint with blister for 1 week.

I still have a shadow of the letters on the paint. Any recommendations for removing the haze from the adhesive?

I was thinking of a little glaze or compound and then rewaxing.

Try a non-abrasive polish. Wax will only seal in the finish as is. The polish should take out the swirls/haze. How long did you wait to take off the badging? You didn't get the "paint protectant" that the dealers peddle...right? I took mine off within 2 weeks of having the car to avoid having to deal with any fading that might occur.

Any idea as to how to remove the stickers that dealerships put on the cars? I have this annoying dealer sticker right underneath my WRX emblem that is really killing the look.

Originally posted by InfamousDX
Any idea as to how to remove the stickers that dealerships put on the cars? I have this annoying dealer sticker right underneath my WRX emblem that is really killing the look.

Perhaps someone else with experience will be able to help, but I would imagine the 'ol hair dryer/fingernail combo should work just fine for this. The heat should loosen up the adhesive enough to make it removable.

if you got the paint protectant from the dealrship and you remove the lettering will the paint look screwed up?

Kracka99

Originally posted by InfamousDX
Any idea as to how to remove the stickers that dealerships put on the cars? I have this annoying dealer sticker right underneath my WRX emblem that is really killing the look.

heat it up and scratch it off with creditcard or fingernail. for future reference do what i did. i told my dealer that i didn't want any dealer logos on the car at all. he said that it was already on (car hadn't even arrived yet!) and that he had no control over it. i told him fine but that i was going to charge him $500 as an advertising fee. guess what? no tacky decals or license covers.

Originally posted by kracka99
if you got the paint protectant from the dealrship and you remove the lettering will the paint look screwed up?

Kracka99

I would imagine the paint protectant would have been applied prior to the sticker so there shouldn't be a problem.

btw, given enough time, removal of any sticker from the paint could reveal a deeper color than the rest of the car (a ghost image of the sticker due to fading of the surrounding paint).

Originally posted by Kean
I would imagine the paint protectant would have been applied prior to the sticker so there shouldn't be a problem.

btw, given enough time, removal of any sticker from the paint could reveal a deeper color than the rest of the car (a ghost image of the sticker due to fading of the surrounding paint).

*think*

I'm pretty sure my "SUBARU" sticker was on before I got the prestige finish installed.

I was also thinking of de-badging my WRX. Why again is it important to wax after removing the letters?

Originally posted by Acadian
*think*

I'm pretty sure my "SUBARU" sticker was on before I got the prestige finish installed.

Of course the manufacture emblems were on there before they reached the dealer. However, InfamousDX was talking about the "dealer sticker" (showing the dealer name on it).

Originally posted by Acadian
I was also thinking of de-badging my WRX. Why again is it important to wax after removing the letters?

There is no protectant on the paint under the emblems. Plus it helps remove any fine scratches you may have made while taking off them off.

btw, as far as how an aftermaket paint protectant may affect this whole scenario, I couldn't tell you. It amy or may not be an issue when removing your emblems.

Regards,
Kean

well i got those annoying dealer decals off the trunk. they were only vinyl and they came off easily without any color distortion.

http://web.njit.edu/~mcl3/wrx/rear%20wspoiler.JPG

I love paint protectant. What a scam. Here in vegas it's called dessert protection pkg. At the three dealerships where I worked they charged any where from $600-$1200 for it. It's nothing but the factory clear coat. Nothing but pure profit.

Looks nice InfamousDX.

Originally posted by Kean
Looks nice InfamousDX.

Yeah.

Here's what mine looks like:

I've had my car for over a week now...is it too late for me to de-Badge it?

Originally posted by Acadian
I've had my car for over a week now...is it too late for me to de-Badge it?

NO, NO.... you can debadge your car whenever you like. That glue doesn't cure or anything..... just heat it up and it'll get nice and soft for ya.

Blue

Anyone want to part with their emblems? I want to make something out of them.

Originally posted by BlueDemon
NO, NO.... you can debadge your car whenever you like. That glue doesn't cure or anything..... just heat it up and it'll get nice and soft for ya.

Blue

But the problem is that there may be fading. I doubt it happened so early though.

there shouldnt be any fading after a week. unless your car has been sitting in the lot for a year already.
:D

Fadeing happens alot quicker than you think. I have marks that are almost unnoticiable and i tool mine off after about 4 months of having it.

Originally posted by ScoobyBoy
there shouldnt be any fading after a week. unless your car has been sitting in the lot for a year already.
:D

don't worry...its parked in the garage at home and in covered parking at work! 8)

I had no fading after 4 months (garaged).

When I took off the S U B A R U there was a haze on the paint that I couldn't wash or buff out using wax.

I finally got around to using the Maguires 3 step products.

I'm impressed with the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner #1 and Deep Crystal Step 2 Polish. I used a paste wax to finish off the job.

Very impressed with the small scratches that completely disappeared.

Downside- I'll be spending more time looking for things to buff out of the paint and will eventually ned to buy a power buffer.

i debadged my subaru about a month ago, and its a little over 8 years old...no fading issues what so ever. The glue even came off without a problem, and this car has seen all types "New England" weather...So if mine had no fading issues, i highly doubt any rexes will have an issue either.

Originally posted by Darby
i debadged my subaru about a month ago, and its a little over 8 years old...no fading issues what so ever. The glue even came off without a problem, and this car has seen all types "New England" weather...So if mine had no fading issues, i highly doubt any rexes will have an issue either.

....what color?