[brad12kx]

I finally got to the Debadging.

Picked up the fishing line and adhesive remover on Friday, so after work I started on the tailgate.

Here are the 'required' items - 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover, and 17lb fishing line.

Although not required, warming them up with a heat gun (Low heat - I set mine to 250deg F) makes it easier.

Use gloves to hold the fishing line.

Work your way in a sawing motion behind the badges.

Just about done. This part of the process took about 10 seconds. Warmed with the heat gun on a sunny day = real easy!

So far, so good. Now to get rid of the tape that held them on.


This next section is how NOT to remove the tape and adhesive....that's right....I fully documented the WRONG approach. :wow:
Hopefully this helps out someone else that is planning to do this. Later in this thread, I have a much better way of dealing with the tape and adhesive.

 

[brad12kx]

Following the directions on the can, I sprayed on the adhesive remover, let it sit a moment, and re-sprayed a few times to keep it damp. I then used the dry rag as instructed, and

discovered that after 5 minutes of ZERO results, that an alternate approach was necessary.

So I pulled out my trusty squeegee that is normally used to apply vinyl decals....

and carefully scraped at the bulky part of the tape to remove as much as possible without touch the paint with the squeegee.

Then I re-sprayed with the adhesive remover, and started to wipe...

and spray and wipe.....

and spray and wipe....

15minutes of spraying and wiping later......

5 more minutes....

15 more minutes....

Lets try a different kind of rag...terry cloth...

10 more minutes.....terry cloth was no more effective.

Oh goodie! It only took 1-1/2 hours to make swirl marks in the paint. :woohoo:

At least the 4x4 badge is gone, and you can't see the swirl marks from a block away at 60mph. :smileup:

The next section is the sides of the truck. I wasn't about to go for a repeat performance of Friday, but I really wanted to complete the mod.

 

[brad12kx]

So here it is Sunday, it's cold, threatening to rain.....completely opposite weather.....what could go wrong?

Here is the B4 picture.

A second B4 picture....we all like pix?? Don't' we ??

Using the same procedure to remove the badges, here is the infamous tape left on the truck.

After heating the tape and carefully scraping at it with a plastic bond scraper for about 10 minutes and only had the 'M' and the 'A' scraped....I had an idea

For those that are wondering "What the heck is Pro-Gaff". This the tape we use in the entertainment industry to tape down cables, and anything else that most people use duct tape

for. It has a tight weave cloth back and holds it's glue very well, and sticks much better than duct tape and doesn't leave a glue residue behind when you remove it.


I'm up to the 'R' when I try this concept....Heat the 'R', apply the Pro-gaff and using it to hold the adhesive tape together, I pulled it an 90deg to the paint, and slowing pushed at the

bonding edge of the adhesive while pulling on gaff tape.

In a few seconds, I had the 'R' off, and most of the adhesive tape came off. You can see the difference between it and 'A'.

Here's another shot showing the difference in the remaining adhesive.

Here is the gaff tape with the 'R' tape stuck to it.

Sprayed on the adhesive remover, and wiped off with a soft dry rag. The 'A' & 'M' caused a bit of grief, but the 'R' and the 'Hemi" can off super easy.

A left and right set of badges! :i_rolleyes:

Next I did the passenger side. From starting with the heat gun to this stage - 15 minutes + 5 minutes to remove the adhesive = 20minutes!

After cleaning off the adhesive, I rubbed the area down with a clay bar. It almost erased the shadow of the badges.

 

[brad12kx]

Here are some shots of the final result.

In the beginning, I was hesitant to debadge. Right now, I am so glad I did. Who would have thought that such a small thing could make such a big difference.....other than every Z

member that has already done this. :doh:

 

[yamifz1]

Great looking truck , love the results. Great write up as well!!:rep:

 

[FDBDW]

Looks great , did you try buffing out the swirl marks on the tail gate with a little wax

 

[Bordin]

Duck tape (pro gaff) worked amazing!
Have never seen that approach before.

I used the old heat up the tape and roll with the fingers. Worked fine just took a toll & a few blisters on the hands.

Nice looking truck though man, definitely looks better de-badged! The only badge I left on was my Hemi! It has a black accent in it to match the white truck so I said what the hell.

 

[brad12kx]

Thanks yamifz1. It's always nice to receive reps after spending hours of culling, cropping and resizing pix for a thread that you stay up until 3am to post. :4-looney: LOL

Looks great , did you try buffing out the swirl marks on the tail gate with a little wax

I guess I did forget to mention the waxing, polishing and buffing to erase the tell-tale efforts of debadge done wrong. :hah:

Duck tape (pro gaff) worked amazing!
Have never seen that approach before.

I used the old heat up the tape and roll with the fingers. Worked fine just took a toll & a few blisters on the hands.

Nice looking truck though man, definitely looks better de-badged! The only badge I left on was my Hemi! It has a black accent in it to match the white truck so I said what the hell.

LOL....after doing the similar thing with the 'A' & 'M', and although I was using a plastic scraper, the fingers were very much involved. The 'duct tape' idea came along similar to a bathroom moment.

I struggled with whether or not to remove the Hemi badge, so decided to leave it on for awhile and possibly remove it at a later date. However....in the heat of the moment....opps! In the end I'm very pleased with the results. :smileup:

 

[RansRAM]

Wow Brad, I'm impressed and thanks for sending me the PM that directed me here so I can properly acknowledge your efforts. :rep:

 

[brad12kx]

Thanks Randall. Like I said, after seeing your debadge; it was enough to push me over the edge to do mine. Thanks for the inspiration. I am so happy with the result. :smileup:

 

[CdnoilRAM]

Awesome write up Brad! :rep: I know how frustrating debadging can be... I got impatient and used a razor blade. never again. Stupid cut mark :doh:

 

[916Timmy]

The first part made me laugh!!!!

:rep:

Looks great! And thanks for the smile!

 

[jcasey10]

The truck looks so much better, Brad! And the Pro-Gaff was a great idea. I wish I woulda had that when I debadged mine, as I was swirling around adhesive for an hour like you did. :rep: Awesome job bud!

Edit: I was gonna rep you, but I couldn't. Again. lol Stop doing awesome stuff so often!

 

[bones06]

Nice job Brad, I may try it in the near future

 

[brokenwrench66]

That looks really good Brad. I may have to try that with the white.

 

[SFA1500]

Thank god i read this before I tried DeBadging this week

 

[EVS1]

I used the 3m eraser wheel to do mine.

 

[AzHunter]

I think I am doing this over the weekend. Great post!

 

[ITSARAM]

Highly recommend an eraser wheel. It costs about 10 bucks and you can be done in less than an hour.

 

[AzHunter]

I picked up a wheel and started on mine but found an easier way. Go figure that it was from listening to my father-in-law. Wise man who has done this many, many times. I wrote a thread on it.

http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=92968