Didn't know if anyone else has had the badge on their car get damaged - but when I looked for ideas on how to repair it, I didn't see anything posted so maybe this will help someone. Great news - it's easy to fix!

I took my car in for some paint work. When we were doing the pre-paint inspection, I told/showed the shop owner that I'd reglued my WS6 badge to my car with E6000 because some tool tried to pry it off. He said that they were about $100 to replace off ebay which is probably why someone tried to steal it. So he tells me that he'll remove it with wire and put it right back in the same place - no worries. Fast forward to when I come to pick up the car - no badge. Where tha hell is it? Oh yeah - stammer stammer - you might want to get a sticker online to replace it. Turned out one of his guys tried to pull it off the car and basically bent it a good 30 degrees. Cracked a bunch of the "stained glass" looking color out of it. Insert temper fit. Couldn't believe he tried to sneak that one by. Tool.

So anyways - got home with my busted out badge - I got to thinking about my craft supplies and what I'd seen at the store. Decided to try and give it a fix. First step was to wrap it in a rag to try and avoid scratches and place it between some wood blocks and put it in the vice to straighten it. That worked pretty well. Used a little metal polish to brighten up/clean the finish while I was at it.










So behind that stained glass looking stuff is a copper colored metal surface with differences in the surface - kind of a diamond pattern - that I guess gives some life / reflection to the colors. Since I didn't know exactly what it was made of or how to get an exact color match, I figured I had to get the rest of that substance out of there. Tried a few different things - tiny screw drivers, punches, mostly I used a dental tool to chip out the rest of the color. Be patient with it. I think it's a plastic more than glass because it seemed to bond in there pretty well in some areas. I actually dinged up that backing a little big here and there and had the dental tool slip and leave a scratch - so I'd vote that you take a break and walk away if you've hit your limit and get impatient with it. Come back later. But that said - it's not really noticeable with the finished product.

So then it was on to the craft store looking for a replacement medium. I remembered those sun catcher things that we used to make when I was a kid - you sprinkled the granules into the frame and baked them. Tried a couple versions of the stained glass look products (liquids that you bake etc.) to find the most durable result - the suncatcher granules were the best I found. Here's a picture of what they look like. I got this one at Michaels Arts & Crafts - paid right around $3. It had the two colors I was after - red and black.




So filled up the spaces with the granules and made a little aluminum foil frame to hold everything in case any escaped (it didn't). Put it in the oven on a cookie sheet and started baking. I actually had to bake it at a higher temp and for longer than they recommended - but the thing I learned was that our badge frame can take it. No issues there. I baked it several times during my experiment. Can't remember the exact temp I used - but it was something like if their instructions said 350 - I might have had to go 400-425. Tho to be fair my oven is a little cooler than others I've had. So just start with what they recommend and then if the time goes by and you don't see melting, crank it up 25 degrees or so at a time.





You can see the amount that I put in there to bake - and it was actually a bit much. (those granules were end to end most of the way around and stood up a little taller than the frame) It was pretty but ended up with a kind of pillow effect. I wanted it to look as close to original as possible - which would be flat with the surrounding frame. So what I ended up doing was taking my dremel grinding wheel and grinding around to take some of the top off that - then putting it back in the oven to melt it down even again. Worked like a champ. Again - took forever to melt down but finally got there. Just watch it and be patient.

I chose a kit that had a true red in it - and also black - redid that little dot in the middle there too. And am quite happy with the end result! But for what it's worth, the pieces that I crumbled out of the original had a slightly purple tint to them. Maybe a purple-ish burgandy color. I guess the copper color warmed it up a little - but I was happy with the red.

Here's the finished badge. I guess you could use the same process/materials to create a custom colored badge too if you were so inclined. Hope it helps!

 

Pretty cool. Pics installed?

Thanks for the write up.

 

Heck yea, great job! I honestly forgot about those little granules, I wouldn't have thought of that, haha!

 

Thanks! I have to admit I was kind of pleased with myself. Gotta wash the car and find my tube of E6000 to put that bad boy back on there. Need to find a post that shows the placement to be sure I get it back on there in EXACTLY the right spot. (overly aware of details here) I'll post up a picture of it once I get it on the car!