i'm thinking about de-badging the rear. just the "lexus" and "sc 430," leaving the center L. my question is how hard are they to put back on? i figure most people will want them on there when i go to sell it later on. also, has anyone had any problems with ghosting? my car is an 02, so i'd be a little worried about sun fading.

 

Fishing line and a heat gun is one of the better methods to get them off. They are stick ons but since they've been on there since 02 they are probably stuck on pretty good! Won't be easy to get back on as you'll have to take off all the old sticky stuff and put on new.

 

thanks. any idea what kind of adhesive you would use to put them back on? i guess my main worry is as soon as i get them off i'll see a ghost image and have to put them back on.

i played around with it in photoshop and think it would look a lot cleaner.

 

3M makes a tape you could use. This is what mine looks like

 

I recently replaced my chrome emblems with black pearl.

Once you remove the emblems, use either a quick wax type spray to remove all the gunk or goo goo gone. Just continually rub over and over to get everything off....wash off the area with soap and water.

Buy the 3M molding tape from like Autozone....works very well.

 

cool. i think i'll give it a try.

 

Hi Jason,
When I debadged I only used dental floss and patience to get them off, and it was pretty easy. I did get some pretty noticeable ghosting, which is still slightly noticeable after attacking it with my PC and some very light polish... I should have used something with more cut, but never did, though now I think I'm the only one that can see the ghosting. Also, my car is black, which shows anything on the paint more than lighter colors. Good luck!

 

thanks for the advice. i'm done. i don't have a heat gun, so i used a blow dryer. i'd recommend skipping the heat. i used it on the luxus side. it made the adhesive more viscous, but it also made it stickier. so it was harder to get off. it was a pain to get the other side off too. but not as bad. i have minor ghosting if you look at it from the right angle. i waxed it so it's barely noticeable. i may try some polish at some point.

here's the end result. i also added red tint to the taillights a few days ago to cover the amber. overall, i'm pretty happy with the new look.

 

Nice work! I think it looks great!

 

thanks. it's kind of subtle if you're not familiar with the car. but makes a pretty big difference for very little $$

 

Agree^ I had the "L" look for a while on mine until I came across a good deal on BP emblems...so decided to put everything back on. LOL

I think it looks clean and classy on yours...It's a cleaner look than on my car.

 

Looks awesome! Is that tint an easy application?

And your front grill.. is that a whole new one, or can you just pop the LEXUS badge off?

 

personally, i wouldn't try doing the tint yourself. i intended to when i bought it then had second thoughts. i took it to a tint shop and they charged me $30. it was quite a bit more work than i anticipated. it took him about an hour and he knew what he was doing. i think he thought it would be easier too. anything under $50 would be fair.

the front grill is stock. i just took off the emblem.


edit: i took a little meguiars scratch remover to it, which i think is actually just a mild polish. it reduced the ghost to nearly invisible. and that's just doing it by hand. so i'm pretty sure a professional detailing would get rid of it entirely.

 

Nice. Thanks.