De-badging A3

BAKER · 09-01-08, 02:58

Thinking of taking the A3 and 2.0 from the rear of my A3. Are they held on with adhesive, or is there something that will leave a hole that must be filled. If adhesive, is a hair dryer enough to remove them? Thanks for any input.

teecster · 09-01-08, 04:37

Most of the time the only things on Audi's are the actual AUDI emblem, the big one.

Hairdryer, goof off, then a nice detailer/polisher = D

Accumulator · 09-02-08, 09:40

BAKER- Cool idea, I debadge all our Audis (some to a greater extent than others).

I use a combination of 3M Adhesive Remover and a hairdryer. Sliding some waxed dental floss between the badge and the panel will help pull it off once the adhesive is compromised (DO NO use a screwdriver/etc. instead) and will help you determine if the badges are pinned on.

Think twice about removing the Audi rings. I like how completely badgeless looks, but plenty of other people prefer leaving the rings on. I took everything off the S8 and left the rings on the A8, and most people like how the A8 looks better (but not me, so do what *you* think looks best

).

IME all the badging is glued on, but I really dunno about A3s

I'd sure be surprised if they were pinned though. You could always go to the dealer and check out the emblems, make sure they don't have pins (or ask an Audi dealership bodyshop).

IF the badges *are* pinned on, you can almost always just put 'em back in place. I had this happen with a Subie..one badge pinned, the others glued, and I just stuck the pinned one back in place. As long as you don't bend/etc. it (use the floss method to help prevent that) you shouldn't have any problems. But man would I be surprised if they weren't just glued on...

Flashtime · 09-02-08, 10:02

^ Good info^

Fishing string works too. But be sure to clean around the emblems with a brush.
And they use double sided tape; 3M makes these for many manufacturers. Should
you decide to pet them back on, do use the 3M brand (works best). And for
cleaning off the residue, SEM SOLVE (part# 38374) or 3M Adhesive Cleaner (Part# 08984).
And you can use these cleaners for overspray, waxe/grease, bug/tar, etc.
Good stuff and safe on paint.

Jason M · 09-03-08, 08:52

3M pin-stripe remover, AKA 3M eraser wheel, can come in handy when de-badging. It makes much quicker work of some bigger pieces of adhesive/tape than 3M Adhesive Remover. I generally use both. The eraser wheel is easier on the paint than scrubbing with Adhesive Remover so I get all the larger pieces off with that and then use the Adhesive Remover in a lighter fashion to finish up.

G35stilez · 09-04-08, 05:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

BAKER- Cool idea, I debadge all our Audis (some to a greater extent than others).

I use a combination of 3M Adhesive Remover and a hairdryer. Sliding some waxed dental floss between the badge and the panel will help pull it off once the adhesive is compromised (DO NO use a screwdriver/etc. instead) and will help you determine if the badges are pinned on.

Think twice about removing the Audi rings. I like how completely badgeless looks, but plenty of other people prefer leaving the rings on. I took everything off the S8 and left the rings on the A8, and most people like how the A8 looks better (but not me, so do what *you* think looks best

).

IME all the badging is glued on, but I really dunno about A3s

I'd sure be surprised if they were pinned though. You could always go to the dealer and check out the emblems, make sure they don't have pins (or ask an Audi dealership bodyshop).

IF the badges *are* pinned on, you can almost always just put 'em back in place. I had this happen with a Subie..one badge pinned, the others glued, and I just stuck the pinned one back in place. As long as you don't bend/etc. it (use the floss method to help prevent that) you shouldn't have any problems. But man would I be surprised if they weren't just glued on...

Agreed.

When removing for myself or customers, I heat up the badge for 60-120 seconds with the hair dryer and slowly massage the dental floss with the hair dryer still on, to remove the badge. The heat should allow a rather flawless separation from the paint. Follow up with an adhesive remover and then polish it.

BAKER · 09-04-08, 01:16

I decided to go ahead. It was pretty easy, less than an hour start to finish and that included polishing, applying KAIO and then a layer of SG. Very clean look to the rear end now.

and a pic of the roof, I polished it this morning, put 2 coats of SG on it about 6 hours apart and topped it with Collinite # 885 Fleetwax.

Accumulator · 09-04-08, 03:08

BAKER- Looks great!

The hatch looks a lot better without those badges (and you won't have to work around them any more either

), and leaving the rings was probably a good idea

BAKER · 09-04-08, 04:19

Thanks Accumulator. Your input was one of the deciding factors to go ahead with it.

Accumulator · 09-05-08, 09:28

BAKER- Well, I'm just glad everything went smoothly. IME it usually does with Audis, but sometimes you do get ghosting from the emblems that takes some polishing to completely eliminate.

FlowRate · 10-12-08, 11:13

Good job. I'm part of the crowd who prefers the rings, so I'd say that was a good idea. Well done =)

Mark77 · 10-12-08, 11:32

I like it, good you left the rings there.. looks a bit too naked without them IMHO.