Removing Badges

[DonGreen]

hey everyone,

I want to remove the badge that says lexus on the left and the model badge (IS300) on the right hand side of my rear end of the car.

are they just stuck on or are there going to be holes left over if I take them off.

anyone done this before and able to give me some advice?

With plates that say IS300 :) I think just the Lexus badge in the middle will look great.

(This is almost a direct copy from a post in the 259/350 forum, but thought the answers may differ. I will investigate under the boot lid trim to see if I can see any evidence of pins/holes.)

[ilv1004s]

im pretty sure like the 2nd gen IS the 1st IS's will have a hole there

[coconut2001]

Go for it, no holes on the first gen IS, heat and dental floss/fishing wire

[DonGreen]

Thanks Coconut, and Ilv

Can anyone else confirm, no holes on an early (2003) IS? I'd hate to have the badges half off, and find a hole, which would need patching, and a (w)hole respray for the boot lid.

[Lexus Nerd]

I've done some reading and most of what I've read backs up what coconut2001 said - no pegs/holes on any of the first gen IS rear badges, unlike the second gen which has pegs on at least some of the badges.

I also checked one Website selling genuine Lexus parts, and the part numbers for replacement IS200/IS300 trunk badges cover 2001 through 2005 models. So, Don, we don't have to worry about an early 2003 model being different from, say, a 2001 model.

[DonGreen]

Well, today I bit the bullet and tackled removal of the LEXUS and IS 300 badges from my boot.

Step 1. Apply heat - CAREFULLY, I found around 150C worked the best, without producing any noticeable effect on the paint or badge.

Step 2. Slide floss behind badge to cut glue. I'm sure fishing line would have broken less, but I wanted to minimise any possible risk to the paintwork by using something softer. This worked about 0.5 letters at a time, before a reheat from the heat gun.

Step 3. Apply lots of glue solvent (I used Goof Off, which I found at Bunnings). At least 2 layers of a soft cloth, and a fingernail to appply a bit more pressure, worked OK, but very slowly.

Step 4. Clay Bar to remove the outlines of the badges. This was my first attempt at Clay Bar, and it is amazing. You have to get really close up, on an angle, to make out where the badges might have been.

Looks tidy, I think.

I thought I had embedding images into posts sorted, but it didn't want to do it, so have attached images.

[coconut2001]

Looking very good!