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removing bowties/badges
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 447
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From: Stockton, CA
removing bowties/badges So I wanna remove my front/rear bowties, rear 'impala' lettering and the side 'GM' emblems. What holds them on? Adhesive? I assume all except the front bowtie I can just heat up with a hairdryer and pull them off. But what about the front bowtie? Please correct me if I am wrong.
I love the debadged look. Only left the SS's on...in fact, replaced the small SS in the back with a larger side panel SS and went with another large one in the front grille...
I wouldn't just merely use a hair dryer...you run the risk of putting a ding or scratch on your paint.
Fishing line worked well for me....The badges are stuck on with a double sided 3M like tape. Just take some fishing line and saw as close to the emblem as you can untill all you're left with is adhesive in the shape of the emblem on your car. Then, in my experience, the adhesive peels right off. If you have trouble, doing it out in direct sunlight or heating the adhesive with a hair dryer is supposed to work well. Follow up with a little pin stripe remover (avail at walmart) if you need to...just dont use too much and leave it on too long.
The front bowtie badge is a little more tricky. The plastic grille underneath is in the shape of a bowtie. It has a little notch somewhere in the middle that goes into the back of the emblem to help hold it in place...Proceed with the fishing line technique. When you run into the notch, just start from the other sides until you're able to remove the badge.
Once you remove the badge and the adhesive, you'll have to find a way to cut the plastic notch...should be pretty easy....then sand it down. I went with a large SS badge in the front over the molded bowtie....looks great. I have pics if you want to see.
Good luck! You're gonna love the stealth look.
I wouldn't just merely use a hair dryer...you run the risk of putting a ding or scratch on your paint.
Fishing line worked well for me....The badges are stuck on with a double sided 3M like tape. Just take some fishing line and saw as close to the emblem as you can untill all you're left with is adhesive in the shape of the emblem on your car. Then, in my experience, the adhesive peels right off. If you have trouble, doing it out in direct sunlight or heating the adhesive with a hair dryer is supposed to work well. Follow up with a little pin stripe remover (avail at walmart) if you need to...just dont use too much and leave it on too long.
The front bowtie badge is a little more tricky. The plastic grille underneath is in the shape of a bowtie. It has a little notch somewhere in the middle that goes into the back of the emblem to help hold it in place...Proceed with the fishing line technique. When you run into the notch, just start from the other sides until you're able to remove the badge.
Once you remove the badge and the adhesive, you'll have to find a way to cut the plastic notch...should be pretty easy....then sand it down. I went with a large SS badge in the front over the molded bowtie....looks great. I have pics if you want to see.
Good luck! You're gonna love the stealth look.
Last edited by hexxLS4; Jul 27, 2007 at 12:07 AM.
I'm not a fan of the new giant gold bowties so I removed mine too. I used dental floss to slice through the adhesive tape and then removed the residue with Goo Gone. Not an easy job though! That adhesive is unrelenting. You have to be careful on the front bowtie as the plastic grill is made of a soft plastic that can be easily scraped and can end up looking pretty ugly. I ended up having to sand (very fine paper) down the area under the old bowtie and then use a plastic polish on it to make it black and smooth again.
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I just used a hair dryer on mine and pryed them off... came off pretty easy... just left the SS's on - put one on the front grill, and relocated the one on the trunk lid... see my PICS link in my sig...
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06MonteSS / DiabLew Tune
2014 Camaro 2SS/RS - LS3, 6-speed manual, short-throw performance shifter, NPP dual-mode performance exhaust, 1LE front splitter, ZL1 rockers, Z28 Rear Spoiler, all paint-matched Red Rock Metallic, BMR strut tower brace, Cold Air Inductions cold air intake, Apex Motorsports, Inc. catch-can, Custom DiabLew Tune
www.diablewtune.com -- www.diablocustomtune.com -- www.diablocustomtunegm.com
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Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Stockton, CA
Thanks for the info and pics everyone. So when I remove the front bowtie do I need to put something there? Is there a big space there without the front bowtie? I may use an SS emblem but I would rather just have a blacked out grill.
Originally Posted by SSWS6
Thanks for the info and pics everyone. So when I remove the front bowtie do I need to put something there? Is there a big space there without the front bowtie? I may use an SS emblem but I would rather just have a blacked out grill.
Originally Posted by Mark IXZD 150
You'll have to put something there. There's a flat area the shape of a bowtie which would look odd IMO without something over it.
I cant wait to put the SS on the front. I am going to use floss to get between it and the black part and then use goo gone to clean up any areas that might need it. I think I will still leave the gold bowtie on the back.
Originally Posted by Taz34SS
I cant wait to put the SS on the front. I am going to use floss to get between it and the black part and then use goo gone to clean up any areas that might need it. I think I will still leave the gold bowtie on the back.
Originally Posted by 20SS07
I'd recommend using fishing line instead of floss, only cause dpending on the floss it might tear easily. The fishing line went right through it no problem.
The floss breaks too easily. Plus fishing line is thinner and takes off some of the adhesive tape.
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From: Reading, Pennsylvania
I got mine off ebay. Guy I got mine from had pretty much any GM badge you would ever need. I got two SS badges for 30 bucks, dunno if that's a good price or not. I'm sure the dealer would have charged that for one. If you get an SS for the front grille, be sure to get the SS from the doors, and not the trunk, cause the trunk one isn't big enough for the grille.