Ok, so I was bored and debadged by trunk using heat and fishing string. The Acura logo came off fine with a little residue of glue, but the TL didnt look good after it was removed.

I dont know what happened but it looks like clearcoat was sprayed with the TL emblem on the car. I could be wrong but it looks to me like missing clear coat.

I have two options:

1.) Use my porter cable with a cutting pad and try using the different rubbing compounds i have and try to get it to smoothen out to blend in then wash/wax/polish

2.) leave it as is and take it to a shop and ask how much to fix. Im guessing they would use aggressive compound to smooth out then respray some clear?

The good thing is I just recieved my order of Tricoat WDP paint from the net, but i do have all the stages in 1 ounce bottles.

Any advise on what I should do?

Im figuring try using the PC myself, if it gets worse then leave it to a shop. I tried to put the TL emblems back on it and it wont stick, also some clear came off past the lettering now and to me looks like

I could be wrong, maybe its not clearcoat?

 

thats rele funny i just debadged too yesterday cuz i was bored!

thats exactly how mine looked too. mine was just a bunch of buildup of crap, i just scrubbed it with a microfiber with some dish detergent on it and after maybe 5 minutes of scrubbing and using my nails a little it came off perfectly clean

 

GooGone.

 

if its clearcoat it would be like that for the acura logo. Just use some goo gone to clean up the buildup.

 

Was there double sided foam tape left on the back of the letters?

If clear was sprayed over it there would be evidence of a respray on other areas of the trunk edges etc. Its pretty hard to hide.

Try a little rubbing alcohol on a soft MF cloth and let it dwell to see if that will help rehydrate the crud.

 

Thats not crud. Im almost certain its clear coat. I hit it with the PC with rubbing compound that removes 1000 grit scratches and its not budging. Some of the lettering is now buffed smooth into the clear coat outside of the letters and there is an evident color difference.

 

Yes, there was tape left on the trunk and some on the lettering. I tried to put the "TL" back on but its not sticky anymore.

I debadged my STI and had "crud" left over and the porter cable with light rubbing compound removed it easy. This is a whole different ball game here, which makes me believe it has no clearcoat where the lettering was removed.

I'd bet money what u see in the first pic is the clear coat on the outsides and the inner "TL" is the mid coat. If you see it in person there is a color change.

 

Maybe a cheap ass respray ... Maaco does that stuff. .. Best you put the TL back on ..

 

Lesson Learned= Debadging is dumb

 

I just dont understand why the acura emblem didnt have the same problem...

 

I got paranoid and started looking all over the car for evidence of respray and cant find anything out of place except for the trunk issue im seeing.

 

As stated above. Googone will do the trick. Then hit it with a polish of your choice, and your good to go.

 

Clay following by polish.

Orange + M105?

 

I don't think GooGone works with overspray...

Sticky residue would be UNDER the emblem... not around it.

 

the only way it would be clear coat is a repaint job. Check the edge of the trunk for runs. Is there evidence of clear coat on the TL emblem itself?

 

Thats like saying, clearing your headlights is dumb, or putting a turbo on a non turbo car is dumb, or modifiying your car is dumb....

Just because someone attempted to change something about their car and ran into a issue doing whatever it is they were trying to accomplish does not constitute a
"lesson leaned= dumb"

I guess we are all supposed to run around with cookie cutter stock looking cars.

I dont regret "debadging" and there was no "lesson learned". No mistake was maken on my behalf but obviously whoever resprayed it. If I have to pay to get it fixed then O-well, atleast at the end of the day my car will look the way I want it to.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

DO NOT USE YOUR FINGERNAIL!!!!!!!!!

paint is very soft and it takes very little to scratch the clear coat

since your car is white(i assume) you can not see the scratches u put into it.

 

did the same shit bro just get the rubbing alchol with a soft cloth and it comes off perfectly.

 

Yes, I can see some build up of clear at the right bottom of the bent seams on the lower section of the trunk, its real hard to notice. It looks like the right side of the trunk might have been sprayed, the left side looks fine.

No the TL emblem doesnt have any clear on it.

 

LOL....Maybe he owns a PC

 

Perfectly put, congrats on sticking up for yourself...More people need to be like you.

But are you sure its over spray. Mine was like that as well when I de-badged, I think its just a bunch of crud built up along with a little bit of residual adhesive.

 

I already used rubbing alcohol, goo gone, Bug and Tar remover and a Buffer with a cutting pad and light rubbing compound. This is clearly a Clear Coat issue.

If I was to have "crud" then it would only be on the outside of where the "TL" emblem was and the inner paint color would match the outside.

Mine has no "crud" tracing the "TL" anymore. Just an outline of clearcoat with the inner "TL" being more bright white, almost like the clear coat dulls the color a bit.

 

Im gonna take a new pic, brb

 

hate to say it but...youre fucked. they were so lazy they didnt even paint the whole trunk...wow just wow.

If it makes you feel better when I removed my side door moldings, I got to find out my drivers door was repainted and they painted over the door moldings. I hate lazy painters...

 

new pic:

You can clearly see that even if you cleaned up the tracing mark, there would still be a difference of color between the inside of "TL" and the rest of the trunk. I think the "TL" emblem was masked off when the clear was sprayed.

 

No folks. It's called fallout on the paint around the emblems that have made it lose the depth of the paint. Claybar helps remove that, but also keeping the paint in good shape too. If his trunk lid was buffed professionally with a high-speed buffer and some light compound it will come off and you will never see it again.

 

Wetsand and polish will help... not with the color-match issue though.

 

I dunno. Im not pissed about it. Thats just part of life, dealing with the good and the bad. How we choose to let the "bad" affect us I find to be the real challenge.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

 

No need to wetsand that. The method above will take care of it. Never wetsand unless you seriously need too. I have done enough emblem removals to know that will come out with just a buff and the color will match.

 

I already hit it with compound and a high speed PC. All its doing is smoothing the clear into the midcoat. The PC is doing nothing about the color change.

I can claybar it but I dont think that will help any. Im going to take it to a body shop tomorrow and see what they say.

 

A PC is not strong enough to do the job. You will need a highspeed buffer that professionals use with a wool pad.

 

If your right Ill send you a beer payment via paypal

 

^ PC should be fine. I've corrected emblem "ghosting" with 5.5" LC orange and/or sometimes PFW + M105.

 

PC "should" be fine for most jobs. If it's bad enough, you will need a high-speed buffer which MOST professionals use as the PC is too forgiving for the novice user and really won't hurt the paint as a HS can.

 

Yeah, I was using a LC orange pad with Rapid Cut leveling compound. I can actually "chip" that stuff back with my fingernail, all it does is shows more of the brighter white. I find it hard to believe that its not clear coat.

 

And the reason being?? Or you just upping your post count?

 

Sounds like the goo gone method has been employed already, but just based on my experience, (and for others thinking about this mod,) if you put some goo gone on a cloth and press it against the residue - let it soak in for a few minutes. After you take the cloth off, let it set for a few more minutes... the residue virtually wipes off. Also helps if you're in a the sun or the paint is heated.

 

As everyone else has said goo gone works wonders. Also might want to give a clay bar a try.

 

i plan on debadging my car but i dont want the residue so gotta wait till i get acess 2 a heat gun

 

Exactly what im thinking, this isn't residue from the tape. All the tape came off with ease.