One small problem that I wanted to correct on my car was the "R Dynamic" badge was missing from the grill. I had read where others had lost their badges, not sure if by theft or by failure of the adhesive layer. Anyway, mine was gone.

A new badge from the Jaguar dealer was in the $100-$150 range. However, with some judicious shopping on the internet, I found a new replacement on Ebay for $25 plus shipping from the ABHN Store. I was attracted to this version of the badge because it did not have the


This is the most often seen R Dynamic badge

standard red and green artwork on the circle on the end of the badge. Half of the circle on the badge on Ebay was black. This fit well with the Black Exterior Pack option on my car.

I waited until a beautiful 70 degree day here in the midwest. I thoroughly cleaned the molded recess of the plastic plinth on the grill where the badge resides with a commercial cleaner/degreaser and then with Isopropyl alcohol, swabbing it into all the corners of the recess. I peeled the backing off of the double stick adhesive on the back of the metal badge and was greatly disappointed with the adhesion of the tape. It was lousy. I am not sure if it is due to aging/shelf life of the adhesive, or if perhaps the wrong type of double stick tape was applied to the badge. In any case, this badge would not adhere adequately and would soon fall off again and also become lost. Now what?

I went to one of my old standbys, "Gorilla Glue" 2 part epoxy. I mixed up a small batch and spread it evenly on the back of the metal R Dynamic badge with a popsicle stick. To work correctly adhesives in general need 2 things:

1. Clean bonding surfaces.
2. Clamping pressure to support the item to be bonded while the adhesive cures.

I had the cleaning pretty well under control. But how am I going to "clamp" this badge to my grill? I can't sit here and hold it with my fingers. There is no easy way to get some kind of C-clamp or something in place on the grill. So I went to another common tool in the tool box. Zip ties, like you would use on a wiring harness. I could pre-bend the ties a little so that I could loop them through the grill, around the badge plinth, and come back through the grill on the other side so I could grab the tail of the tie, pass it through the receptacle end of the cable tie, and tighten the cable tie. You can see the cable ties in the picture below.


Gorilla Glue 2 part epoxy to the rescue!

Cable ties looped through the grill and pulled tight to "clamp" the badge in place while the epoxy cured.

I left the cable ties in place overnight and cut them off the next morning. The badge is now firmly affixed to the grill. I feel better now with the badge in place on the car, and it looks better too!