Body Work Emblem Removal

[Jgkram]

Guys, bought a 2001 Boxster that had a broken rear emblem. No big deal to remove but underneath the glue/adhesive is dried on, crusty and very difficult to chip away. Tried to soften it to no avail. Any advice on getting this stuff off short of wet sanding? Thanks...

[BoxsterSteve]

Use WD40 or GooGone. If the adhesive is as dried out as you say, soak it with a dampened paper towel to soften it.

[Pdwight]

heat gun...not too hot

Then before it cools try goo gone

[jakeru]

Are you feeling lucky?

If it's the factory-original finish with the linear polyurethane 2-part clear coat, it should be extremely resistant to pretty strong solvents, even including acetone, such as lacquer thinner or non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner.

Using anything with acetone would take the old crusty adhesive off in a hurry.

If you have a cheap respray, however, you'll quickly damage your finish and have color transfer onto the towel you within seconds of applying an acetone-laden solvent. This would be very bad. A milder solvents either won't work at all, will require extended dwell time, and/or mechanical agitation (which is another issue if there is dirt in the old adhesive, as it can get scoured into the paint and cause many scratches). There are a few different products out there often recommended for things like removing tar from paint, which could work ok.

Hope that helps, and best of luck.

[Xpit77]

Be careful on what you use. I tried some of the products listed here and I damaged the clear coat. Took it to a Body shop and had it buffed out.

[Jgkram]

Thanks for the replies. I believe the finish is original (no respray) but still quite cautious as I do not want to damage the paint and end up with a bigger problem, I will try a few of the milder suggestions and see where I get. I was watching a detaling video last night and saw someone using a rotary rubber eraser on a drill that took softer glue off lickity split with no damage. But seeing how mine is crusty and dried I would be afraid to try this.

[grc0456]

I replaced the black rear emblem on my 03 with a new titanium one. After giving it some heat with a blow dryer I used dental floss to remove it and a good portion of the old adhesive. The remainder came off with Goo Gone and some rubbing with a non-abrasive. I used one of my wife's old nylon stockings (my go-to bug and tar remover). All adhesive came off and then I compounded, clay barred and re-waxed. Good as new for the new emblem to stick perfectly.


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[particlewave]

For the love of all that's good, please don't put acetone on your car. WD-40 works just fine and is very much safe to use on the paint.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by particlewave

For the love of all that's good, please don't put acetone on your car. WD-40 works just fine and is very much safe to use on the paint.

Maybe it was WD-40 I used. I can't be sure these several months later.

Whatever I used softened it up nicely and with some moderate rubbing got all the old adhesive off. And there was zero paint damage after a nice compound and buff. Looks factory fresh


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[2TrunkSteve]

Did this several years ago and used the Goo Gone method. I have original paint and there have been no effects from what I can see. Car still looks great!

[Dlirium]

Originally Posted by BoxsterSteve

Use WD40 or GooGone. If the adhesive is as dried out as you say, soak it with a dampened paper towel to soften it.

This is exactly what I did - GooGone. Took quite a bit of elbow grease, but eventually came off with no damage to the paint. DO clean the area VERY well after it is all off before sticking the new one on or going "delete".