So i decided to take the 3.2cl type s badge off my car today. I had a hard time finding a place to plug in my hair dryer but ended up find a plug out infront of a church. I must of looked like an idiot blow drying the back of my car in the parking lot, buy anyways it came out pretty good, EXCEPT i have a shadow where the badge was. The paint is much lighter and when you look up close you can tell there what it said. I clayed it and waxed it a little but you can still see it, any ideas on how, or if, you can get the paint to match some how?

BEFORE PICTURE



AFTER PICTURES

 

Looks clean!!! now take the ACURA off :P

 

I think leaving the 3.2CLS & getting rid of the Acura looks better. But hey, it's what you like. And you needed a hair dryer? It's hot as hell now in FL? I did mine in a November only used floss & they came right off.

 

that's what i did to mine a few weeks back i think it looks cleaner and balanced....looks good man

 

I took off my ACURA off and I have the same problem, lighter color paint. btw I have the same color. I just did this about two days ago when I bought the car. My paint was a lighter color also. So if anyone has a tip for the both of us that would be great.

Jeff

 

3M rubbing compound

 

I had the same outline, but after a clay & some Zaino it was gone.

 

get rid of the ACURA and you are golden

 

Get a buffer, light duty rubbing compound, and buff. Followed by wax. That should take care of the gost in the paint.

 

why did you take your S badge of?! you paid extra to own an S why wouldnt you want to let people know whats up?

 

Because I didnt buy it to let people know whats up. Nobody knows what an acura cl is anyways, how the hell would they know that you can get a CL-S and regular CL. Looks a hell of a lot better without it anyways.

 

I took mine off this weekend too and i agree that it looks much cleaner. I also have the shadowing on the paint. Just use some 3M adhesive remover to make surr you get everything off and then some wax and you'll be golden! I didn't use the hair dryer though...just some fishing line and elbow grease did the job.

 

yea i used some wax, but you can still see it. Its pretty visible, if i cant get the paint to match some other way, i think im gonna have to put it back on.

Can someone elaborate on the usage of rubbing compound? I dont see how rubbing compound will fix it if the paint around the symbols is faded. Unless the rubbing compound makes the paint around the badge as bright as it was the day it came out of the factory, which i dont think it does.

 

looks good... just needs a little clean up which by your post you already know. Are you gonna take the ACURA off as well?

 

I may have posted this in another thread...

I actually got pulled over by a Constable officer a few months ago and I haven't debadged my car....yet. I got a ticket (which I got out of...woohoo) and on the ticket he wrote that my car was an Acura Integra...

Oh well...life goes on...but will be doing some debadging over the weekend when I replace my motor mount...

 

OUCH!!!! An INTEGRA!!!! That hurts!!!

 

It will if you do it properly. A light duty rubbing compound will have a very light grit to it. The grit cuts into the finish, through oxidation and whatever else may be on the paint. Buff it with a buffer, NOT one of those useless orbital things. Don't waste your time with one of those. It'll do you no good on this!

1.) Get your self some towels and lay them over the trunk door jam so part of the towel is in the trunk and the other end is hanging out of the trunk. Close the trunk lid on it. This prevents your door jam being full of rubbing compound. If you've ever gotten wax build up in those, you'll thank me for that little trick.

2.) Make sure surface/pain is clean.

3.) Apply (liberally) the compound to the panel you're polishing. Spread it with the buffer pad a little before turning it on. Otherwise, you'll be wearing compound and so will everything else around you.
-If you don't know what your doing with a buffer, don't even try this unless you want swirls in your paint! Have someone who knows how to buff help you or show you.

4.) Wipe panel clean with a clean, soft cloth.

5.) Change your buffer pad for a clean one.

6.) Apply wax to panel as in step 3, repeat. This time using the wax, not the compound. Do it a couple of times to get a couple coats of wax on it.

7.) Wipe clean again, using clean soft cloth.

This should take care of it. I notice I sometimes get better results if I rinse the car off after doing something like this. It gives me a chance to not only get the dust off the car from polishing but it also allows me to wipe any smears or anything off of the car with a clean, damp cloth. Follow these steps and you will be, again, "golden". If for some reason it still doesn't take care of the gost, give it some time. It'll go away after awhile. I hope this helps.

 

BTW, don't skimp $ on the products! You get what you pay for.

 

^^^ thank you! I ordered some 3M polish and light compound, I hope it works.

 

great looking car bro .. good work on the debaging.

 

I think 3M makes some of the best detail products on the market.

 

Ok for everyone trying to get rid of the ghosting, you cant. I talked to a professional detailer and you cant get rid of the ghosting because it is not something superficial in the paint. The paint has chemicaly changed due to the fading. The only way to fix it is hope that it fades to match the rest of your paint or repaint your trunk.

But just to test it myself, i went to the store and got some meguiars scratch-x like someone suggested and worked the spot were the badge was. It made it a little better, but you can still see it. So i guess ill wait a few months and see if it gets any beter.

 

[QUOTE=zoltanh]Ok for everyone trying to get rid of the ghosting, you cant. [QUOTE]

Any detailer that knows what he's doing can get rid of it. If not all of it, most of it. I've done it many, many times.

 

Ok, im not saying you are wrong, but please explain to me how you go about fixing FADED paint. You explained the steps on how to do it, but please tell me how buffing your clear coat is going to have any effect on the color of faded paint underneath. You can buff all you want and make your paint nice and shiney, but the paint it self is still going to be faded.

 

And any detailer that knows what he is doing, uses a porter cable orbital polisher. Im sure everyone can back me up on that.

 

I ran a detail shop for 5 years, never used one...

Orbital: don't use this!

Buffer: Use this!