How to debadge the car?

[Yzerman]

I'd like to take the GOLF of my VW. Whats the easiest way to do this? I heard it was with dental floss, should I get the car hand washed right after?

[spaceboy9]

use detal floss.....work it back and forth behind the letters untill they fall off. Then use some goo-gone and either a rag or paper towel and rub the remaining black gunk off. After everything is off, wax the entire area untill it looks good!

I bought a used 00 Jetta a few months back and debadged it.........you cant see where the badges were, so i think as long as you do it correctly it will look awesome!

good luck

[hungalicious]

It will also be much easier to get off if the emblem is heated up with a hair dryer.

[kreuzer]

hair dryer and dental floss, as said above, remove the residue with Goo-Gone or Naptha.

[BadassVW]

Have wash bucket with rags and soapy water ready...

Spray WD40 (or similar solvent) along top of badging then take floss or fishing line and work your way thru the glue. I found the residue left was a real PITA to remove... I was forced to use a flat-edged plastic scraper, green scratchy pad and LOTS of WD to get the residue off. A heat gun might have made this MUCH easier!

Wash down with soapy water then rinse. I used a light 3M Rubbing Compound (1500 grit) to remove some of the marks the scratchy pad left in the clear coat.
Finish with a wax!!! Just like new (with no badges!)

[Euro One8T]

Another way you can do it which is the way I did it. They actually make plastic razor blades. They work awesome.........My friend work for a car install and he brought it home for me. Definitely some good stuff........

[MrGTI]

Use HOT water from a hose and blast the letters.

After a minutes or so, the letters will come off by hand.

Use some solvent to remove any remaining goo.

[DubStarVR6]

I used fishing line bc dental floss kept breaking on me, but i also used a hair dryer to get all the goo off

[tatge]

If anybody with a debadged Golf would like to donate their letters, I could use them

[Green-Golf]

Step 1. Read the many entries on this subject in the DIY section

[Danny`]

Easy. Get a hairdryer...

Saturate the letters with Goo-Gone, heat it up with a hairdryer.

As it heats up the adhesive behind the letters will get soft. Use dental floss, SLOWLY work it behind each letter with a slow, sawing motion. When the letters cool, use some goo gone again and heat it up. Continue this process until you have each of them off.

Take off the remaining adhesive, and finish off with some wax.

Danny

[VWParts]

What Danny said

[ralphieboy]

The dealer from whom bought a 2000GTI from heated the letters up a bit and used a credit card to push them off. Then waxed the area. (I would use olive oil rather than WD40 on the cars paint...any oil will work to remove adhesive gum)
Good luck!

[VTeurotunerVR6]

should I DEBADGE a VR6???

[bodhi]

I did mine a slightly different way which was very easy. Use the floss but dont attempt to remove the plastic letters and the adhesive off from the car. Instead just first remove the plastic letters from the adhesive back. After you get the plastic letters off with the adhesive back fully exposed on the car just slowly peel off the adhesive and it will come off like butter. Only thing left will be a slight outline which you can scrub off. Worked great for me, didnt need adhesive remover or anything else scary like that.

[M Diddy]

Adhesive Remover isn't that scary. 3M makes a GREAT one that I used to de-badge mine. It even says on the can, "Completely safe for ALL automotive finishes." It took all of 10 minutes...

[-AKA-]

heat up letters with hair dryer

pull of with fingers or needle nose pliers(if you dont want to save letter, will damage the actual letters)

keep hair dryer going as you work of the black/gray sticky stuff with your finger/nail

then once the black/gray stuff is off, use 3M adhesive remover pen. It is $6 at Target, and works grrrreat. Just apply it to the remaining sticky stuff, let it sit for like a minute, then wipe it off with damp towel

[Helicon Twist]

Better to skip all of the "old school" advice here and do as follows.

Park your car in the sun and let it sit for a while. This is all the the heat you'll need, epsecially in Summer. Then clean off the dirt on and around the emblems to be removed. Finally, and this is the most important part, use a good automotive adhesive remover like 3M or Sticker Shock (never Goo-Gone or Goof-Off). Squirt it liberally on the back of the emblem, where the adhesive is. (For the rear "VW," just lift up the rubber surround a bit.) Let sit a few minutes, and squirt again. Repeat 1-2 more times. Keep a rag handy to mop up any excess.

Now you should be able to slowly, carefully unpeel the emblem. The adhesive will typically stay in one piece, minimizing any junk left on the paint. Whatever's left is easily cleaned with more adhesive remover.

That's it! Simple, clean, and undamaging

[vanyok]

I used my Girlfriend's Nail Polish to remove the Glue remaining from the car. Worked fine for me - Try it

[Weaves_GTI]

Will this work for stick letters that the dealer puts on?
Thanks in advance

[KyleMarshall]

I tried the whole "goo gone" route and it didnt work. I used some dental floss to get the letters off and got some CAR PAINT/CLEARCOAT SAFE adhesive remover. You can get it from any auto paint supply store. It came off in 2 minutes. 16 oz. bottle for $12.00.

[Weaves_GTI]

Debadged today.........3M method and fishing line or dental floss worked great........... Can you remove the big VW logo also? Or is this just for lettering?

[Weaves_GTI]

Took all lettering off today.....Great thread
Will these methods work for the big VW logo on the back of my GTI

[Dub Nerd]

Quote, originally posted by VTeurotunerVR6 »

should I DEBADGE a VR6???

They way I did my car:

I was bored during my lunch brake at work, popped the trunk, got the screw driver out (the one with the spare tire) Pulled each letter off. Then a couple sprays of adhesive remover.....done. Took 5 mins

[borapassion]

I tried everything on this topic and it even though the letters are off, i still can see where they were. Its like theyre a different shade of paint. Its a 2000 model and i just did this tonite. So maybe i do have to get the decklid re-painted, oh well.

[Dub Nerd]

Quote, originally posted by borapassion »

I tried everything on this topic and it even though the letters are off, i still can see where they were. Its like theyre a different shade of paint. Its a 2000 model and i just did this tonite. So maybe i do have to get the decklid re-painted, oh well.

Do you know anyone that knows how to use a buffer? Or color sand?

What color is your car?

[borapassion]

Not really, but how do you mean about using a buffer? My cars color is Silver Arrow. The remnants of the letters is disturbing like a ghost paint effect, but looks trashy.

[rferic18]

use a flat head screwdriver and snad paper smooth to a nice finish

[paik]

we used this plastic tool to "pry" the letters off, and then a pin-stripe removers to get the junk off.

[RIVWMKIV]

Quote, originally posted by rferic18 »

use a flat head screwdriver and snad paper smooth to a nice finish

How about using some trinitrotoluene? That should be the easiest way. Gather up some friends who also want their VW's debadged and park them in the general vicinity of your car prior to igniting the trinitrotoluene, you'll get the most 'bang' for your buck.

[jHop203]

dental floss will keep breaking, use fishing line

[sntx]

Quote, originally posted by rferic18 »

use a flat head screwdriver and snad paper smooth to a nice finish

Have fun scraping the paint off of your trunk with that screwdriver. You should also keep sand paper far away from the paint unless you really know what you are doing.

[daviddepin]

How about just take hot water, mixed with WD40... throw it at your car, then attack it with sand paper and flathead screwdrivers. Finish off with fishing line AND dental floss. good luck!

[JerseyDubber885]

i dunno about you guys, but i've heard that dumping hot lead, peeing on it and hitting it with a bat all work well too.

[Passetta00]

Quote, originally posted by daviddepin »

How about just take hot water, mixed with WD40... throw it at your car, then attack it with sand paper and flathead screwdrivers. Finish off with fishing line AND dental floss. good luck!

I hope you're joking.

Also, why are people even responding to this post 2 years after it was created?