Emblem removal problem
 

I had my car repainted after vandals and a deer screwed it up last year.
Front hood emblem was replaced with a new one from Porsche. Emblem fell off. Now I see two silver posts and that's it. Took it back to body shop, Porsche agreed to replace emblem for free since it appears to have corroded off. Now I can't figure out how to get remnants of emblem off! When I try to unscrew from under hood, the silver posts visible from top just turn. I can't get a hold of them since they are pretty flush with hood. Tried hot gluing and supergluing various things to posts, but it never holds well enough. Any ideas??

Are the posts threaded? If so, run nuts down on them (don't scratch your hood) and then hold the nuts and turn the screws out of the nuts from the bottom side.

If they aren't threaded, tap them gently with a soft faced hammer and see if that will budge them, at least enough to get pliers on the back side. Don't dent your hood.

The nuts on the back are flanged thread cutting hex nuts (assuming OEM badge was sourced).

http://images.lowes.com/product/conv...36716146lg.jpg

They cut threads into the badge's posts as you tighten down. However, there is also a type of 'plumbers putty' between the nut and the hood skin (since the hood is curved this helps create a flat surface for the nuts without deforming hood). Since the posts are spinning, that's sort of a good thing (though you rightly do not think so at this exact moment) b/c it means the nuts haven't stripped the posts by cutting a groove into them at base.

Bottom line is you need to find a way to grab hold of the post flanges from the top side. Tape up the front area of hood around the post heads w/ some electrical tape (tape an area 3-5x bigger than you think you need just in case). Then use a pair of pincers or lineman pliers to hold the post flanges still while loosening hex nut on the underside. What you can also try to do first is use some needle nose pliers or a screwdriver on the underside and wiggle the nuts and posts a bit trying to crush some of the plumbers putty loose. This will give you a little more to grab onto from the top side. Might also try using a center punch from the underside on the posts but it will be difficult to see it on point due to how small the opening is.

Again, take extra precaution to tape the hood area to prevent scratches (even though the area will be covered by the new badge). Painters tape is so so for this task but I recommend electrical tape b/c it's thicker and will absorb some pressure from tools better (maybe both since electrical tape really only sticks to itself well...)

Good luck :)

Use a dremel with a small cutoff wheel to remove any remaining top of the post and just pop them out the back. ;)