Debadging Your Impreza's Trunk

[409industries]

My Debadging Method

Disclaimer: Debadging your car can damage your paint, proceed reading / attempting this mod at your own risk. I am not responsible for damage inflicted to your car by following this DIY.

Mod Difficulty: Fairly Easy
Mod Time: About an hour, but take your time.

I took the extra time as I was debadging the RS to take pictures so that I could show people how I did it. This is the method that I have done on 4 of my cars, so there may be variations that other people do, etc. So far I have had good success doing it this way. Here goes!

Before we start, identify which badges and stickers you wan to remove.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_001.jpg

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_002.jpg

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_003.jpg

In this case I wanted to take off the 2.5RS stickers on the wing, the AWD sticker below the turn signal, the 2.5RS Impreza badge, the S-U-B-A-R-U badge, and some random website sticker that was on from the previous owner. I believe that for most Subaru’s the actual plastic badging is only glued to the car, and is not attached using pegs through holes in the trunk. If you are not debadging an Impreza you may want to do a search on the internet to make sure that you are not going to remove a badge and be left with holes in your trunk lid!)

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_004.jpg

First on the list was the 2.5RS Impreza badge. (see how faded the paint is? Yuck) Take your girlfriends (or yours… geef!) blowdryer and put it on the hottest setting. I would advise against using a commercial heat gun, as they put out LOTS of heat and you can seriously damage your paint after too much exposure. Heat the badge up by slowly moving back and forth across it with the hot air. Do this for about 60-90 seconds, get it good and hot, this loosens the adhesive on the back of the badge. Notice this Conair blowdryer has a TURBO setting… badass.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_005.jpg

Now, quickly take some dental floss (I found that Mint Waxed works best... no im joking) or fishing line works really good too, and gently wiggle it behind the badge from one side and rock it back and forth while pulling across the badge. You don’t need to try to pry it off.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_006.jpg

You may have to stop and heat up the badge some more to soften up the adhesive again. If it cools down it may harden and cause your floss to break as you pull it back and forth. Repeat as necessary, eventually you’ll get through the whole thing, and it will look like this:

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_007.jpg

The left over glue sucks. Anyway, move on to the next pieces if you want them off too.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_008.jpg

Badging glue ghosts!

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_009.jpg

So this is the crappy part in my opinion. It’s a good idea to put a towel over your plastic bumper, ill explain why in a second. Take the hair dryer again, and heat up the remaining adhesive so its really hot and tacky.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_010.jpg

Grab some “GOOF OFF” I prefer the aerosol kind. This will assist in removing the glue from the metal. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE GOOF OFF. DON’T LET IT SIT ON YOUR PAINT FOR LONG AND AVOID CONTACT WITH PAINTED PLASTIC, IT WILL FADE PLASTIC There might be better options than goof-off (perhaps WD-40?) Spray some on the glue, and then rub the glue off with a clean soft rag. The towel you laid down should catch the overspray and keep it off the plastic bumper.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_012.jpg

I found that pushing with your thumb does a good job at rolling the glue into chunks so it comes off all at once. This is the time consuming part. Be sure to have a bottle of quick detailer with you to spray and wipe down the area each time after you use the Goof –off so it doesn’t destroy your paint. Once the leftover glue is gone, there may be some small scratches in the paint (this is hard to avoid) Get at it with some Meguiar’s ScratchX.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_013.jpg

If you scratched below the clear coat into the actual paint, well there’s no amount of ScratchX that can save you from that, but for minor scrapes this will get most of them out. If you have a dual-action polisher, or an orbital, I found that a medium foam pad will really help. Its much faster and more effective than doing it by hand too.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_014.jpg

Once you buff off the polish, you can optionally put on a coat of wax.

Stickers: The process is similar for the stickers, except you don’t have to use floss or fishing line to pull them off, simply heat them up, peel them off, and then remove the residue underneath. DO NOT USE THE GOOF OFF ON PAINTED PLASTIC TO REMOVE STICKER RESIDUE. IT WILL FADE AND DAMAGE YOUR PAINT. Use a household cleaner (without ammonia) and some buffing to get it off the plastic.

The finished product!

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_015.jpg

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/project_rs/2007-9-2-trunk_debadge/trunk_debadge_017.jpg

Happy Debadging!

-A

[kreitz3]

Looks like the debadging made you license plate brighter. :D

[I Like It Sideways]

That looks really good. Nice work!! Very clean!!

[Weasel Rallysports]

another option for removing leftover adhesive is to check with someplace that sells body shop supplies. They make what looks like a big eraser that can attach to a drill, these work great. I've used one at a friend's body shop and was amazed at how easy it worked.

[AllWheelsDriven]

the floss trick is neat lol ill have to try that wen i do mine soon.....also im painting the key lock black to get rid of the chrome

[rollo]

Goof Off is pretty harsh for a job like this.. it is (and smells) very powerful (it's made of xylene and toluene, same as paint thinner) and I wouldn't be surprised if it ate clear coats. There are two commonly available alternatives that are safer - "Goo Gone" which is citrus-based but works great, and "Motsenbocker's Lift Off" which is specifically targeted at bumper stickers and so forth. Goof Off is a last resort for me. I do have a box of floss permanently in the garage though, comes in useful for all sorts of things :D

Anyway I like the 2.5RS badge - actually Subaru does a good job with all their badging. Although that particular one did look kinda beat up.

IMO painting your lock tumbler probably isn't worth it unless you won't be putting a key in it at all.. you end up with a scratched painted lock, which looks worse than the shiny one..

[IneedRS]

I dont like it when people debadge, it just makes me want to go up to them and be like "WHERES YOUR PRIDE!?!"

[PSG STI]

Just a note, this won't work for '06-'07 owners... the Subaru logo on the trunk has 2 posts that fit into holes that are drilled out of the trunk. If you debadge, these holes will be exposed.

- Matt

[409industries]

the floss trick is neat lol ill have to try that wen i do mine soon.....also im painting the key lock black to get rid of the chrome

Fishing line works even better than dental floss. But for you non-fishing people out there (like me) floss is more easily available.

I didnt know about the 06's having posts. I HATE when they do that. My old civic was the same way, i couldn't remove the "H" because it had posts. lame.

Good call rollo on the goo gone. I like that stuff too.

[RS-ti_Andy]

i was going to say fishing line works better.. lol


hey aaron.. um u wouldnt happent to have that Photogenic Spray on your plate would u? lol it kinda looks like it.. lol no red light tickets for aaron haha

[Dirty TR]

I dont like it when people debadge, it just makes me want to go up to them and be like "WHERES YOUR PRIDE!?!"

See, I think it adds a sense of mystery to your ride when someone uneducated on Suby's comes up to you and is like, 'Hey what kind of car is that?!!?!?!?!?!!?'

[Ath]

Just a note, this won't work for '06-'07 owners... the Subaru logo on the trunk has 2 posts that fit into holes that are drilled out of the trunk. If you debadge, these holes will be exposed.

- Matt

Is this only for the 'Subaru' logo or for the 'WRX' badge as well?

-----

For the floss vs fishing line options. I have read/been told that using floss is safer because it will break before it damages the paint, where fishing line has a hire tensile strength, so it may try to keep working when the adhesive has hardened too much... yay? nay?

[Dirty TR]

Just for the Suby(Blue star) logo. 'Subaru', 'Impreza', and 'WRX' can all be taken off with ease.

[blusuby]

Dont know how good of an idea it is..but it worked like a champ for me. I used lighter fluid to get the gunky glue off....didnt harm the paint and took it right off....im sure there are other safer options out there though.

[Dirty TR]

I actually used acetone with a wash rag and crap load of water. Just a smidgen of acetone on a rag followed by a clean wash rag and a bucket of water worked for me.