looks good.

 

Looking good!

 

OK, where did you buy the badge from? I might have to join in...especially after owning the 1G and 2G L E G E N D 's

 

All right Tampa!! I think we used the same Fleabay vendor from Japan.

Cue voiceover: Japanese domestic market LEGEND emblem: $39 plus shipping. Dissing Acura's clueless marketing department: priceless.

 

Tampa do you mind sharing what the cost was on your badge? I found it for around $40, is that what you paid as well?

 

Very nice. I'm tempted to swap the RL badging on my '02

 

Yepper, that is the one. It is OEM Honda and with regular postage, it was delivered 8 days from order. Simply go to Ebay Motors and search on JDM LEGEND emblem.

As mentioned previously, the font size is a little smaller that the ACURA badge on the driver's side of the trunklid. So I had to eyeball the position a bit to look balanced. It was an easy effort. I used dental floss to remove the RL badge, soaked the residual adhesive with rubbing alcohol and removed it with a microfiber cloth. Then I cleaned the spot up with Mequiars Ultimate Compound (great stuff!). The new badge is embedded in foam...just pull off the adhesive protective strip and place on the cleaned surface. But don't expect to reposition it. Make a dry run with some making tape, step back and look for a balanced position with the ACURA badge before you remove the adhesive strip. If you decide to remove the ACURA badge, even easier.

Vodoc, I may now blame you for pushing me off the fence on a mod I have waffled over for 2+ years. Likewise I blame Rob144 on the Wood Steering Wheel. I am glad I did it, and my American Express thanks you both.

 

TampaRL - It looks great.

I'm thinking I might take an "etching" of the emblem once I get it (rub a pencil on a sheet of paper placed on the emblem), and use that to practice positioning it on the car.

I also printed out one the pictures of the rear a Honda Legend as a guide.

It sure looks like you nailed it, though!

 

MINI POLL:

- Do you remove the ACURA lettering from the driver's side when you do this? T-Jay took his off, and it sounds like TampaRL left his on.

The Honda Legend does not have HONDA lettering on the trunk.

(My etching is done -- going to the driveway for a test fit).

Rob144

 

Couldn't wait......

Peeled off the old RL letters (with the help of some cheap floss). Pulled off the leftover adhesive with the fingernails. Waxed the remnants away and set about positioning my etching. I found it was easier to outline the letters than to do a charcoal etch. I then cut out the letter strip and used that for positioning practice.

Once I settled on the spot, I put some blue painters tape along the top and left side of the paper badge. On the real emblem, I cut the foam away from the L, exposing it. And cut the foam away from the top of the D, exposing it. I then peeled back the adhesive backing and positioned the L and D against the proper edges of the blue backing.

Here are the pictures of the result (it was getting dark), and a reference picture or two.

 

Just for the heck of it I tried to level the picture and then draw straight lines across. The "Legend" lettering looks to be about a 1/4" higher than the Acura lettering. Not that is matters much, still looks good. Just an observation.

 

Yes, I left the ACURA badge on as well. I finally got my Acura LEGEND.

Looks good Rob....just like mine.

At this rate there may be more new LEGENDS appearing in driveways than new RLs.

It's OK Acura...we will fix your marketing screw ups. You are welcome.

 

I read somewhere someone had a similar experience. I just was not expecting it to happen so soon...

I stopped at a fuel station this morning while running the Saturday morning errands. A gentleman, perhaps a few years older than myself was refueling his car (not part of the conversation, but a last gen MB E class).

He walks over to my car, looks, walks around it and stops at the backend. I looked over and he asked: "How do you like the new LEGEND?" I smiled and responded...well I have had it 4 years now and very happy with it. There was a long pause as I continued refueling. With a wrinkled brow he asked: "When did Acura bring back the LEGEND?" Again I smiled and replied: "It has been around, but renamed RL". Perplexed, he says: "The RL is a LEGEND???"

Yep.

Once again Acura's marketing proves genius. A name 15 years old draws recognition whereas RL draws a 'wha?'.

Now I am certain LEGEND badge was missing all this time.

 

You have to compare the height of the letter "N" in Legend with the first "A" in Acura because the Legend logo is 7 letters long, rather than 5. To be a perfect match to the Honda photo, the whole thing might have been placed about 1/8" lower.

 

Time to pick up the pitchforks again and march on Torrance.....what a marketing screwup. Acura should have just been.....Acura, and left the Germans to their own badge naming schemes.

The fact that the RL is virtually invisible is an opportunity for Acura to start fresh with this car. Hopefully the RL name will be permanently retired......and the Legend returned to its former glory.

 

good story TampaRL.

I'm telling you everyone wanted a Legend back in the early 90's. The rappers, the major athletes. If you were a baller back then the Legend was the car of choice.

Not to mentioned the Legend had better bodylines than anything out there. It was super sexy all around.

 

Let me know when you do that. I am so pissed at Honda..



I still break my neck if I see a clean, even stock Legend around.. Just amazing and it has aged very very nicely..

 

I re-baged mine too.




Hahaha... I kid I kid.

 

Me, too.

(Mod hat on) Some might not find that funny.....kinda on the edge there. (mod hat off)

 

Whoops... Feel free to delete, I wont be upset in anyway.

 

I found it funny. If i saw that on the road I might laugh at the driver.

 

haha...everyone is converting!

 

The Accord and Civic are legendary in the US because Honda continued to support the cars and keep the name the same. For everything else they just screwed it up, case point would be the Legend to RL name change which never should have happened. They should have kept Legend.

 

The numbers are in...

Our unscientific poll showed a nearly 3-to-1 preference for the LEGEND name over the RL alphanumeric, among fans of the Acura brand who are primarily current or former RL owners. A handful of respondents were OK either way.

Imagine the responses from an unselected sample of consumers: ["Legend? Cool car, always wanted one." "RL? What is that?? Sounds like a disease."]

Are you guys in Torrance paying the slightest attention, or does Tampa need to pay a visit with torches and pitchforks???

 

A Legend lands in Columbus. I used Goo Goo Gone and a Magic Eraser for the debadging. I threw in a few process pics for those on the fence...

 

Nice job!

 

Looks good ! I am on the fence here, I really wanna, but I don't . . . . . . . . decisions decisions

 

Looks great!

So how do you know how to position the letters. Is there a spec for it like 40 mm from x location and 50 mm from y location, or is it just by what feels good to you?

I wanted to know in case I get crazy and do this.

 

I used the picture of the 4G Honda Legend and eyeballed it from there. Similar technique with the blue tape to set the boundaries.

I cut away the foam from the top, bottom, and sides of the letter package so I could test-position the letters and create a tape border exactly around the letters before applying them for real. The trunk has so much curvature and is rather featureless that an exact position is tricky - there aren't any reference points. I tried to balance against the Acura letters as best I could. As near as I can tell, the Honda Legend doesn't have HONDA lettering on the trunk like the Acura.

Looks like respect2nd did a great job! It just looks so right.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o...44/legendy.jpg

 

Damn, after reading everything in this thread, it really makes me want to rebadge my RL too. Must resist... urge to... rebadge >_<;;

 

Looks good

 

Thanks for the feedback! Hopefully we get more Legends on the road to send a message to Acura.

 

Nice badge.

I had a 95 legend coupe and fell in love with acuras since then. I actually ordered my legend badge before purchasing the vehicle.

 

woohoo!

 

Nice. Keep it up, folks. Before you know it, Acura will have to adjust their sales figures from RLs to Legends.

 

Great looking NBP car!

 

I like the badges!

 

Without a doubt, I have more people comment on my LEGEND in the 4 months since I swapped the badge than in the 3.5 years I had it as RL.

I find it interesting the branding geniuses convinced Acura is was more important to elevate the name of the brand over the reputation of the car. Now Acura has less brand recognition than Lexus and perhaps Infinity.

I read a recent auto branding article (I will try to find the link) where Hyundai has become the 'hot' Asian label with the masses....AND they know the cars by name.

I find it interesting Hyundai does not sacrifice the car name and image for the almighty brand. In fact with Genesis and soon Equus are making every attempt to be know for the car, and detach itself from the brand.

Acura came onto the minds of the North American car buying masses because of two cars....LEGEND and INTEGRA. Those two car names, most everyone knew what they were AND knew they were Acuras.

Now we have Acura, the ugly brand with some cars, SUVs and CUV.....and no one can name them.

 

Thanks! That was right after I polished the entire car. Well worth the effort, especially for a black car.

 

I thought I recognized a freshly polished NBP car! I have one also, and she is a pain to keep clean. Yours is really nice!