Emblem Install

The "Porsche" emblem on the rear is starting to pop out of the holes. What is the best way to (re)attach emblems in to their position? Silicon?

Thanks guys.

Happy New Year

Greetings, I use krazy glue, silicon takes long time to dry and is rubbery... there is also an emblem adhesive from 3M.

After I had my stripe painted on, the body-dude just slapped my front Porsche badge on... He had flattened it out, thinking that was preferrable, when it truly needs to be massaged into a sligt bow...Check the area where your badge is going to be and see if there is a slight 'hump' If so, do a little hand tweaking to your emblems before you glue them in.

I used a contact cement when I reconfigured my play-on-words model I.D. on the back...My speedster is a 'Carrera 2' as the other car is a Carrera also,
yuk,yuk,yuk!
2005 oughta be interesting!

If you carefully take a dremel tool or a rasp in a drill you can make the fiberglass thinner on the inside of the body were the "spikes" on the trim poke through. This will let you use the push-on nuts that are normally used on the thinner sheetmetal of the originals. I did all of my trim that way.

There was a thread on this earlier, where someone suggested using a small diameter brass tube to just slip over the studs on the emblem. It could then be glued to the emblem stud (super-glue), and the tube cut long enough to protrude through the fiberglass without having to grind away at the inside of the 'glass. You could then use standard trim press-on nuts (commonly called "Tinnerman Nuts") to hold them on.
Thought that was a cool approach, and it works, too!

Those tubes are readily available from hobby houses - the R/C crowd use them a lot.

gn

Gordon,

That will work too but you need to be careful since this will require a larger (wider) hole. Some of the scripts are very narrow and a wider hole might show at the edge of the script, especially on the lighter color cars.

I did it and it works great for giving enough length. The greatest difficulty has been to find the correct size "keepers" for the back side.
Troy

I was given the advice to remove the prongs and use adhesive to apply the emblems -

Bad Idea / Good Idea ?

I am uncomfortable drilling into the vehicle, but will do what is necessary -

Has anyone gone the glue route ?

Bill,
Because the fibreglas thickness varies here, there and everywhere on the car, maybe grinding the prongs off and doing a surface mount would work well for you...

Keepers are designed to pull the prongs down snugly from the underside, but often the prongs aren't long enough. (Sounds like a sad country western song about a cowboy's shortcoming...)

Blue painter's tape is fairly easy on paint for holding stuff in place. Lately I've been using a two part expoxy, almost clear when it dries...dab precious little and go for it. Don't let any bleed out (squeeze out) as it may mar the paint.

FYI; once you've drilled a hole in your car, you'll find the ensuing holes a lot easier. Just try not to do a series or line of holes (someday) as that will definitely weaken the glas.

Bill:

Don't just glue them on - makes it really difficult to move them or remove them if you ever have to.

Get a piece of corrugated cardboard (like from a box) that's 3/16"+ thick. Cut it a little bigger in each direction than the emblem (1/2" more in each direction). Carefully arrange the emblem so it fits nicely onto the cardboard, then press it firmly into the cardboard such that the prongs will leave "dimples" in the cardboard.

Now, what I do is to get a piece of clear plexiglass the same size as the cardboard, and tape it firmly onto the cardboard, but on the opposite side from the dimples. Then, using the dimples as a guide, drill holes through the dimples and through the plexiglass that are the same size as the studs on the emblem (one drill size larger so the studs will just pass through the holes). You can use screws through a couple of the holes to hold it all in place while you drill the rest, if you wish, but the tape should suffice. Once all holes are drilled in the plexiglass and it's removed from the cardboard, you should now have a drill template for the body.

Use masking tape to cover the area where your emblem is to go. Firmly press/rub it on to the body so all of the tape is making contact.

Now press the prongs of the emblem through the plexiglass. If you drilled the holes accurately, all prongs should line up with the holes. if not, start over with another piece of plexiglass. With the emblem attached to the plexiglass, place them both on the masking tape such that they are lined up exactly where you want them, and then firmly tape the plexiglass onto the body. Remove the emblem and use the holes in the plexiglass to drill the holes into the body.

Now, the tricky part:
- Use a drill that is the same size as the holes in the plexiglass.
- Use a relatively worn drill. DO NOT use a new drill.
- Use a slow drilling speed - 300 rpm or so is just fine.
- Do Not press down hard on the drill while making the hole - use gentle pressure
- DO NOT hurry this process.

Once all the holes are drilled, the emblem should fit right into the holes. Gently remove all of the masking tape. You can now use epoxy in each of the holes (use a flat toothpick to load each hole with epoxy) to glue the emblem to the body. Don't use a lot - just enough in each hole to coat the inside of the hole before popping the emblem in. Press it down and tape it in place after wiping off any excess epoxy (if you don't use too much, there shouldn't be any to wipe away). Let it sit for an hour and then take the tape off.

That's it........good luck!

Thanks guys, I'll tackle the interior emblem first - it is on a flat surface and has fewer holes to drill - You're probably right, once I get one installed, the rest will be easier.

The plexiglass template is a smart idea - and I actually have some in the garage.

I did buy new bits before I lost my nerve, I'll either wear them down some, or find an old set.

You'll probably see lots of questions coming from me in the next few weeks, my Father's Day gift arrived Saturday afternoon (VS 1915cc).

I expect to have some hiccups during the break-in period and this forum is invaluable - Thanks again.

Bill,

Our little Gordon tends to make things overly difficult. Rather than go through all that trouble with stiff, un-yielding plexi, use a clean sheet of acetate instead. Probably have one beside the printer/scanner right now.

Place the emblem over the acetate and press lightly until the acetate dimples. Use a nail to enlarge the dimple into a hole. Check to see if the mounting holes in the emblem or script go through the holes cleanly and tightly. If they do your all set.

Tape the acetate template to the car in the correct position and follow Gordon's elaborate directions from there on. [Oh, and you might want to run the drill slowly in reverse at first, until yo go through the gell coat, It's a brittle and can crack around a hole drilled under too much pressure. Once a star crack starts, it never ends until it reaches the end of the panel or another hole.]

If you use plexi you'll have to bend it to conform to the curvature of the body and it'll move about and no doubt scratch everything to h*ll since the area around the holes that you drilled into it will be rough and torn up a bit.

Don't listen to Gordon, listen to me . . . I always do!

Luck,

TC

REMEMBER. Always drill the outside holes at an angle. If not the script will look 'scrunched'. You can get little 'pressure' washers that will fit on the inside and this keeps it on snug. Pressure washers are like lock washers that have a thin piece of metal over the hole. They are made to snap on and stay on. Easy to remove if you have to as well.

Why not just place a strip of tape on the cardboard, take the emblem in its original flat state and lay it on the tape. Then gently and firmly push the emblems mounting pegs through the tape and the cardboard. Now peel tape off and place it on body of car. The holes will be in the right location and the right spacing even with the curve of the body automatically. Drill, carefully a hole throught the tape and the body of car. Massage emblem to curve of car an so that the pegs line up with your drilled holes. A small dab of adhesive around each post and it is done.

Another alternative is to grind off the studs (or find an old used one with broken studs and recycle it) then get the 3M double sided sticky trim mounting tape. Use a sharp XACTO knife to cut the tape to match the emblem --- then remove the backing and attach to car. This is how modern cars mount the emblems. The emblem can be removed using monofiliment fishing line - and then reused/repositioned with new tape.

Welcome Bill! Aren't these things great? You'll find yourself spending more money tweaking the car and improving it; it's fun nonetheless....

"The emblem can be removed using monofiliment fishing line"

What a GREAT idea ! ! ! No scratching the paint or bending the script or shattering the enamel on the emblem . . .

Super post!
Thanks,

TC

Yeah, using TC's somewhat imprecise hole-drilling method, you'll probably need that double-sided tape and fishing line before you're done 'cause you'll want to move it after you've mounted it 'cause it isn't straight...... ;>) Measure twice and make it nice, measure once and live with it........

And please, before you make a template or put tape on it or whatever, take the time to make sure the entire emblem is straight, especially that delicate "Porsche" one for the front and rear. I don't know how many times I've seen them mounted on really nice cars, and the line of letters waves up and down or is crooked instead of being straight. Takes a minute to make it straight, as opposed to years of looking funny and detracting from the rest of the car.....

Oh, and the plexiglass I used is pretty thin stuff - 1/8" thick or less, so it bends to fit the curve of the body. If you're mounting the "Porsche" emblem on the front or back, bend it and the template to fit and then tape it on. Someone's tip of angling the drill perpendicular to the line of the curve is right on, too.

And don't listen to TC, either - He's one of those "Artsy" types. I, on the other hand, am just;

"One of the Old Coots from Rhode Island"

I am tempted to follow Wolfgang

Bill - think the studs were so they could justify drilling holes in the orignal Porsche's thereby creating another reason for them to rust (like they needed yet another source). Really though, suspect the studs are there simply because they didn't have strong, reliable double sided 3M tape back then --- know for sure they didn't have Super glue! I drilled mine but would not if I had it to do over. The script on my Speedsters nose is not perfectly straight and I had to angle and elongate several of the holes to get it as close as did. On flat areas I didn't have that problem.

Bill; your car should idle at around 850 to 900 rpm. Check your timing advance before tweaking the carburators as that can also affect your idle speed. It should be around 28 to 34 degrees before TDC at 3,000 rpm. I'm just telling you this because through the advice of the nice folks here I fixed up some hesitation I was experiencing in my car and I set up the timing as advised. It's now working beautifully and I noticed that adjusting the timing does affect the idle speed.

Wolfgang:

I think that the best glue they had back then was either oatmeal based or pine-pitch based. Fortunately, we've made great strides since then....