OK, so here is the quick write up on the DIY Black Chrome Emblems. I can’t take credit for the idea however. I started doing searches for having the emblems actually “black chromed”, but just could not justify the $100 plus for just these three emblems. Especially considering I have the COBRA SS inserts on the back of the car I would want to give the same treatment. So, I ran across a DIY process over on acuraworld.com and talked to the guy who did the process – great guy.
Anyways, here are the tools you’ll need or may want to have on hand.
You’ll obviously want to start off by pulling the emblems off the car. I’ve heard you can do that with dental floss or fishing line….go with the fishing line. I burned through half a roll of dental floss because it kept braking….I thought the florid covering would have helped…but no go
that and my wife was a little upset when she went to go use it later that night…oops.
When you pull off the emblems, you’re gonna have something that looks kind of like this.
So I started out by soaking the left over 3M tape with Goof Off and used a bondo knife.
That didn’t work that well….so I used a microfiber towel soaked in Goof Off and just rubbed….it all eventually came off and only left a fait outline of dirt/wax/whatever.
But take a couple of minutes to hit it with some clay and the outline is gone. Now, I took the SVT and the Ford Oval off the back as well. I’m moving the SVT over the holes where the Oval was, so I had to clean both spots very well so there was no ghost image of either. It took some work, but both spots are flawless looking.
After I removed all of the emblems, I grabbed a tupperware bowl and put some acetone in it (yeah, I got in trouble for that too). Put enough in it to cover up the emblems. This will almost immediately pull all of the paint off of the two cobras as well as pull all of the glue off the back of them and the SVT emblem. I used a light brush to just scrub the cobras to be sure all the paint was off of them. Once they’re clean of glue and paint, wash them off with soap and water and let them dry.
Once they’re dry, I covered them with some Alcohol to insure that all chemicals and oils are off them. Honestly, even when I handled them, I poured a little alcohol on my finger to make sure there was no oil put on the emblems.
After it all evaporated I held the emblems from the back with a pair of needle nose pliers and shot with the VHT Nigh Shades window tint stuff. I sprayed first around the outside of the emblems, then over the front. BE VERY CAREFUL TO DO LIGHT COATS!!! I had to redo this process once because I went too heavy with it. It will come out blotchy as crap if you go to thick.
With one light coat, they should look like this.
Now, I want to see what they look like in natural light tomorrow before I say I’m done. But they look great to ME right now. I will look at them tomorrow and go from there. If they are too light, I will add a LIGHT second coat.
If they still look good, I’ll be putting the 3M on the back of em and slapping them on the car. THEN I’ll be pulling off the SS inserts to do them as well.
Total cost was about $20 - $30.
Yeah, it may scratch if a rock hits them or what have you…but being on the side of the car and the back, I don’t see it being an issue. If it does become an issue, maybe I’ll think about paying out the money to have them professionally done…until then….they look cool to me.
OK, that's it....once I get them installed, I'll update with a finished picture.
Anyways, here are the tools you’ll need or may want to have on hand.
You’ll obviously want to start off by pulling the emblems off the car. I’ve heard you can do that with dental floss or fishing line….go with the fishing line. I burned through half a roll of dental floss because it kept braking….I thought the florid covering would have helped…but no go
that and my wife was a little upset when she went to go use it later that night…oops.When you pull off the emblems, you’re gonna have something that looks kind of like this.
So I started out by soaking the left over 3M tape with Goof Off and used a bondo knife.
That didn’t work that well….so I used a microfiber towel soaked in Goof Off and just rubbed….it all eventually came off and only left a fait outline of dirt/wax/whatever.
But take a couple of minutes to hit it with some clay and the outline is gone. Now, I took the SVT and the Ford Oval off the back as well. I’m moving the SVT over the holes where the Oval was, so I had to clean both spots very well so there was no ghost image of either. It took some work, but both spots are flawless looking.
After I removed all of the emblems, I grabbed a tupperware bowl and put some acetone in it (yeah, I got in trouble for that too). Put enough in it to cover up the emblems. This will almost immediately pull all of the paint off of the two cobras as well as pull all of the glue off the back of them and the SVT emblem. I used a light brush to just scrub the cobras to be sure all the paint was off of them. Once they’re clean of glue and paint, wash them off with soap and water and let them dry.
Once they’re dry, I covered them with some Alcohol to insure that all chemicals and oils are off them. Honestly, even when I handled them, I poured a little alcohol on my finger to make sure there was no oil put on the emblems.
After it all evaporated I held the emblems from the back with a pair of needle nose pliers and shot with the VHT Nigh Shades window tint stuff. I sprayed first around the outside of the emblems, then over the front. BE VERY CAREFUL TO DO LIGHT COATS!!! I had to redo this process once because I went too heavy with it. It will come out blotchy as crap if you go to thick.
With one light coat, they should look like this.
Now, I want to see what they look like in natural light tomorrow before I say I’m done. But they look great to ME right now. I will look at them tomorrow and go from there. If they are too light, I will add a LIGHT second coat.
If they still look good, I’ll be putting the 3M on the back of em and slapping them on the car. THEN I’ll be pulling off the SS inserts to do them as well.
Total cost was about $20 - $30.
Yeah, it may scratch if a rock hits them or what have you…but being on the side of the car and the back, I don’t see it being an issue. If it does become an issue, maybe I’ll think about paying out the money to have them professionally done…until then….they look cool to me.
OK, that's it....once I get them installed, I'll update with a finished picture.
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