I'm in the process of updating the front grille to mesh with a chrome splitter with the Jaguar emblem on it. So as not to have two emblems on the front, I removed the existing on from the nose, and am left with what appears to some sort of glue/cement residue and two mounting holes. I plan to fill in the holes with a Bondo product made for that purpose and then try to use my Dr. Colorchip kit to attempt a seamless finish. Three questions:

1. What can I do to remove the cement residue? I'm sure that I can peel most of it off, but will undoubtedly be stuck with some that isn't removable. I'm not a paint chemist, and am concerned that I will bolix up the paint (if that's what it is) in the process.

2. What is the procedure (after the holes have been filled) to prep the area to receive the touch-up paint? Obviously de-greasing, but are there any other measures I should know about?

3. Has anyone else tried this with any degree of success, or should I just leave it to a body shop to do the job?

Thanks!

 

AMMO NYC has some very good videos on car care I believe I stumbled across a link in the detailing section but now have a permanent bookmark to their you tube channel. Here they remove a badge, if you look thru thier channel you'll find video on how to fill the holes prep etc.

 

Very good video, thanks. The key ingredient here seems to be patience; not my strong suit. I'll give it a try, and hopefully not mess it up.

 

The saga continues. Took the car to a body shop to get an estimate to re-finish the area where the badge was. Simple enough, right? Wrong! It seems that the reason there is a different color under the badge than on the rest of the nose is that it was re-painted sometime in the past, a bad color match, and whoever did it masked around the badge rather than removing it, hence the difference in color and a little ridge of paint around the perimeter. To do it right will require re-finishing the entire nose including sanding off the old paint, filling the holes, other scratches, gouges, other imperfections, and re-spraying. We're talking $$$ here, at least a lot more than I'm willing to spend (the car isn't concours to begin with). So my limited options are:

1. Fill the badge mounting holes myself, use touch-up paint on the holes, and just leave it the way it is. At least the touch-up paint will match the circle.

2. Put the original badge back on (although it looks silly with the new grille)

3. Find an appropriate emblem that will look good and cover the circle (2-3/4")

Three is my first choice (a long shot, at best), two is my second. But, then again, none of this is visible from the driver's seat!

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Max

 

Or! Go to O'rieley's, they have some paint sections that will mix the color after shooting your color with a detector and put it in a spray can. Get a can of clear also. You can spray the small area and overlap 6 inches, sand it down with 2000 wet and dry around the edges and then clear it. Let it set a couple of days and rub it out with a good cleaning compound. Don't get real excited about putting paint on, just cover it, just use a tack cloth before everything you do, cost about a dollar at Lowes.


Wayne

 

The bumper will be the hardest to match. That's why you'll see many cars with a different shade on the bumper even though it was painted with the same base coat.. A flex agent should be added to the paint. It will make the paint more flexible in case of any minor dings. Most of the body shops don't use flex agents, probably because it creates more work in the long run.
The proper way to match the damage is to blend the repaired area into a adjacent panel or curve, Blending is the key to refinishing any damage.

 

Great suggestions! As far as O'Reilly's goes, there are very few in the northeast, the closest one to me is in Erie, PA (and I'm just outside of Philadelphia). I'll check with some local automotive paint suppliers to see if they offer a similar service, and I'll also see what I can find out about blending, which would be awesome if I could do a decent job on it.

 

How about a number plate sticker like the E type's ?

 

+1 on RCSign's comment. I had a 300ZX that needed some body work a few years back. I took it to a reuptable body shop and they did good work on the repair EXCEPT that the paint on the bumper cover began to peel-off like a snake. I got in touch with an old friend who worked in the paint business many years and was with Sikkens at the time. He told me that it was obvious that the body shop had not used a flex agent in the paint on the cover. After some serious negotiations, the shop re-did the paint job, with flex, and it was fine.

 

I took a closer look at the bumper and it's paint match to the front fender looks pretty close. The circle remaining when the emblem was removed, however, appears much darker, leading me to believe that the bumper cover may have been obtained used and then painted to match (my initial thought was that it was original and re-painted in the course of repairing damage, which is likely not the case). I think I'm going to get a spray can in the factory color, and try re-finishing that section of the bumper, blending it several inches on either side of the circle. Worst case scenario; I muck it up and end up paying a body shop to do the work. Best case; it looks close enough for government work.