Dammit! missed. Moral: don't apply badges in the dark

Dang!....those pictures are already "old" and "back in the day"??.....where has time gone?..:sad:

 

When I went to the store I looked at it. Parking lot light was perfect. On a magnum it pretty much has to be right there or the other end is going to be up on the fender flare for the wheel. Up against the edge of the door seam the other end comes right to where the fender flare starts. Perfect. You can see the line of the flare from the flash in the pics. To move it away from the seam one would have to put it higher on the fender. and I thought about that... I thought about putting it on the line of the crease that runs just below window height.

 

OMGLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't know Jason (MOMO) went:rofl2: to visit you over this long weekend.

 

BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Shut it Chris.

 

ouch, that sucks..... but i can relate......put my rear springs in upside down when trying to do them at 2 in the morning while it was dark......

 

Ok, went to Kragens and bought some 3M tape. Says it's just for this. 1/2" red backing (the part you peel off) on grey adhesive. Hope that's the right stuff. Wasn't real happy that the adhesive was grey. The original adhesive was black. Oh well, I may end up getting another badge if I don't get used to it. Small other problem with that badge too. The black inset parts of the lettering are textured... well, apparently I rubbed in there too hard at some point and it's sort of dulled in spots. It's hard to see. Since the tape was only 1/2" wide I had to lay down 2 strips and trim the second one with an exacto blade. That actually worked out and I didn't knick or scrape the edge of the badge.

I did score some safety bling while at Kragens. A CHROME fire extinguisher! The size you'd use for your kitchen or car. Not exactly show quality chrome and the handle and nozzle are a little less so but nice! Black epoxy or powder coated bracket. Naturally, since I'm now an adhesive removal expert, I immediately took the label off the bottle and shined it. Have to decide where to mount it in the back of the Magnum. I'm thinking it'll fit perfectly in that "cubby hole" indentation just in front of the rear side pockets.

One thing I did notice is that the badge is sort of convex where it would fit the curve of the rear gate and the fender where the HEMI badge was is sort of convex towards where it flares for the wheel. Even with the badge backed up all the way to the door seam where I've got them. If you look closely and straight down along the fender you can see about a 1/32" gap towards the front of the badge. You got to really look for it.

Heh, It was still daylight so went on and removed my side moldings. That went pretty well. Slow pull and most of the adhesive came off with the molding. Good bit of dust and dirt collected behind the molding above the adhesive.. Figured that may have been pressed against the paint washing an waxing with the moldings on there so I washed it, clay barred it, went over it with Meguiars Scratch X, 4 coats of Zaino Z5, two coats of Zaino Z2, 1 coat of Zaino Clear Seal. Any tell tale that the molding was there? I have no idea since it was completely dark again when I finished. Maybe pics tomorrow.

 

About time you ripped those puppies off! ... I was really glad I did mine once I saw that pile of gunk that gets into that groove.

 

Yea, but on the Mags we got those pesky corner strips. That's one of the reasons I was waffling on it so long. 1) have to see if the doors look too big and the car looks like it should be longer without that line there. Someone's pics sort of looked like that and then JP's pics looks great (nothing to do with the corner strips, just proportions). So maybe it was the light or perspective. 2) corner strips... have to decide to leave them? or maybe start thinking about getting them painted or black chromed like JP's or something like that. Body work to fill in the slot where they sit is not an option.

 

Yea, I tried sort of bending them. I got them to almost stay flat but was afraid of stressing them too much -- snap them or crease them or something. It's kind of looking like I may have to get another set in the future. I'll probably just let it sink in for a while and see if I get inspired after a while to change anything. Then I can experiment with these for bend limits etc.

The other consideration is moving them straight up. Put them on the same line that the door handles are on. That would be back against the door seam where they are now but with the top edge the same level as the top of the front wheel well opening. The Magnums have a bend in the sheet metal on that line.

I did the badges first so I could use the moldings as an alignment aid. Anyone know of something that would work like a chalk line for cars?

 

that sucks!!!

when I did mine I took blue painters tape and taped off a section of the fender, took a mini torpedo level and put in on the tape. The magnets from the level will hold it in place. make sure the bubble is level and VOILA your badge in on straight.

 

Now that's a good idea. But I'd have to get a magnetic level with a sort of protractor blade on it 'cause I don't want mine level. I want them lined up with some body line -- most of which are raked front to back on the Magnum. Actually a chalk line would be ideal except for the chalk "over spray".

 

ooops I forgot to mention mine also has a laser on the end of it. VOILA problem solved again

 

I used paint.:viking:

 

ooooh, now there's an idea... I don't think I could afford someone good enough to hand paint the badges on the car :tomato:

 

We have pics... I'm thinking of moving the badges up (pic). Not sure but I think with nothing else going on on the hood or anything it would look good up on the "shoulder"? And anyone know what I'm going to drill into if I mount the extinguisher in that "cubby hole"? could drill straight sideways (looks dangerous) or straight down. Not sure if heavy duty velcro to mount the bracket would work (or make more of a mess than a 4 bolt holes). I think I like the moldings gone... have to let it set for a while).

3 badge pics (no tell tales that the moldings were ever there. Even in sunlight k





Here you can see where the badges need to be bent... doh. and the diff between the stock black adhesive and the 3M tape. The 3M tape looks a whole lot worse cause I was too lazy to turn the car around and used the flash over on that side... I don't think any bending would be required if I move them up.

Driver's side (stock adhesive)

Passenger side (3M tape)


Extinguisher bling!



Mount it here? (either on the side or bottom -- not both)

 

yeah.....your are just sooooo special!!!! :good:

 

IMO I would move the badges up like you show in the picture!

 

The badges just didn't look quite right down there and it was driving me nuts that they don't sit perfectly because the sheet metal isn't flat. So yesterday I woke up paralyzed by this blinding light. An image of my car came into focus and a booming voice said "The badges are meant to go HERE". So I waited until it started to get dark and I moved them. I think badges should be up on the shoulders.