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what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 6:40 pm
by canadave
So the Pontiac arrowhead on the rear of our 2004 Vibe is faded to almost pink. What's the best + cheapest way to handle it? Ideas:

-- replace it (most expensive, unless someone knows where to get one for $10)
-- paint over it (not sure which type of paint to use)
-- plastidip it (next most expensive)
-- decal on top of it (cheap and easy, but would it last/look good? Plus, don't know precisely what colour to get)

Thoughts?

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:33 am
by meidou
Debadge

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:34 am
by canadave
meidou wrote:Debadge
Not an option ;) If anything, I'd love to get a new, larger arrowhead badge! It's relatively expensive though :( Trying to save up money for radio upgrade!

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:01 am
by Doug14
I painted the back one on mine using Krylon fusion for plastic, hasn't faded(i also treated mine with a UV protectant) for all the rest i ordered from http://www.grafxwerks.com/shop.php?part=VIBA1

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:52 am
by canadave
Doug14 wrote:I painted the back one on mine using Krylon fusion for plastic, hasn't faded(i also treated mine with a UV protectant) for all the rest i ordered from http://www.grafxwerks.com/shop.php?part=VIBA1
Interesting...when you painted the back one, did you mask off the thin silver "star" in the middle of the arrowhead emblem, or did you just spray over it entirely?

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:16 am
by Doug14
I masked off the silver star and the edges, it took a few tries to get it right, if you go this route I recommend using 3m blue tape or similar to mask off as the green is too weak. Heres a pic : Image

note* i only painted the rear arrowhead black. The rest of the emblems are overlays from grafxwerks.

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:54 am
by canadave
Wow. How the heck did you manage to mask off the star? I would think that's pretty hard to do...did you get very tiny scissors to cut the tape that thin? :)

Thanks for the pic btw, looks very nice!

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:17 pm
by Doug14
Hahaha, it was a bit of a pain, but I used a combination of scissors and a very thin razor blade. The star in the middle was a few pieces of tape layered then trimmed and pushed to the edges so it was as flush as I could get it, wish you luck!

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:37 pm
by Derf
Went with a decals, many colors, and if you decide down the road to try something different just peel and apply new. Reading posts, the decal lasts 2-5 years depending on how vigorously you wash your Vibe and you local climate.

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Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:10 pm
by ColonelPanic
Highly recommend getting the overlay from Grafxwerks. It should have been standard equipment to cover that emblem that faded to pink while the cars were still brand new on the lot. :mrgreen:

Have lots of stuff from them 7+ years old now I think and still looks fantastic.

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 3:19 pm
by Kincaid
Doug14, that is impressively clean.

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:27 am
by Doug14
Kincaid wrote:Doug14, that is impressively clean.
Thankya!

Re: what to do about faded rear door emblem?

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:41 am
by M1MECHANIC
if you go the paint route, for the star get some grease and apply it just over the star (bearing packing grease works good) that will keep the paint from sticking over the star. used to do this in the military when painting the vehicles much easier than tape and just wipe off around the star and spray paint. let it dry completely and just wipe the grease off and there you go. hope this helps anyone out there.