Debadging the Z

[shakalaka]

Just wanting to get some opinions here. Been thinking of debadging the trunk of my 350Z. I did some research and the '350Z' part is just glue and should come out fine. However the Nissan symbol has two holes under it. So either I replace that with something else (eg. just one big Z), fill the holes and all that (too much work/more money) or just leave the Nissan symbol as is and just get rid of the '350Z' part.

What do you guys think?


Some pics off the internet for reference purposes






Or like this guy....has it all debadged, including the Nissan emblem and has a Z isntead.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3250416

[DelSoln]

I would only debadge my Z if I had a Nismo V2 front bumper.

[2EFNFAST]

Leave the Nissan, not worth the headache.

Don't forget you'll need to polish the area under the 350z because chances are you'll micromarr the paint when removing it; not to mention you'll more-than-likely have ghosting left behind.

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by DelSoln
I would only debadge my Z if I had a Nismo V2 front bumper.

I was actually thinking of getting that bumper and I still might. Just not anytime soon though, plus the fact that I am gonna drive this in winter as well, so not sure if it would make the car any lower from the front?

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST
Leave the Nissan, not worth the headache.

Don't forget you'll need to polish the area under the 350z because chances are you'll micromarr the paint when removing it; not to mention you'll more-than-likely have ghosting left behind.

You think so? Cause from what I read on some forums...

They pretty much said use the go gone stuff, dryer and then dental floss should be good. It eventually comes right out and the remaining residue can be easily scraped using the goo gone stuff. And that's pretty much what they say is needed.

I am also thinking of leaving the Nissan part, because I don't like completely clean look either. Just the Nissan in the middle looks fine to me, from the picture I posted above. Maybe later if I have an itching I can replace that with just a Z or something, not sure yet.

[DelSoln]

Originally posted by shakalaka


I was actually thinking of getting that bumper and I still might. Just not anytime soon though, plus the fact that I am gonna drive this in winter as well, so not sure if it would make the car any lower from the front?

It is definitely lower then the stock bumper. If you drive it in the winter I would recommend holding off.

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by DelSoln


It is definitely lower then the stock bumper. If you drive it in the winter I would recommend holding off.

Yeap exactly the problem. I hate storing cars away and all that, so I know that I won't be able to resist and end up driving it in the winter too. Already got plans of putting winter tires on the stock 18" rims and the reason why I didn't get it lowered or bothered with any sort of a body kit.

But the debadging thing, I quite like it how it makes a subtle difference in the look of the rear and it seems like a fairly easy DIY task. So thinking might as well go ahead and do it.

[95teetee]

Originally posted by shakalaka


I am also thinking of leaving the Nissan part, because I don't like completely clean look either.
[/B]

I'm with you there- I definitely like the top one you posted more than the completely-debadged blue one

[spacerz]

I say leave the center Nissan, otherwise it looks way too plain!

Edit: Or take off the "350z", leave the nissan and add the "fairlady Z".

[Mar]

Take off what's glued on regardless, it looks way better. I also had the holes filled by a shop but that's only if you got some money to drop on it.

[Sasuke_Kensai]

Normally I'm not a fan of debadging, but I'd say it works for the rear of the Z. But it looks equally as fine with the emblem..

[BokCh0y]

Personal opinion, but i would take off the 350z and leave the Nissan symbol. I debadge all my cars for a cleaner look, but i do leave only the "manufacturer" on it. I think its too plain without the manufacturer badging. Like for my RX for example, it has the Lexus "L" symbol remaining, but i took off the "Lexus" on the bottom left hand corner and the "RX350" on the bottom right hand corner.

I didn't use dental floos, instead i picked up some fishing line. I use the fishing line and slowly slice the bading off. Then i used goo gone. I pour inton a clean soft cloth and i slowly saturate the glue residue then wipe off. After wards i'll wash thea area with soap and water and give it a quick wax to seal it.

Super easy. DOn't need the hair dryer either. If you think the glue behind is super sticky, then let it set in the sun for a bit to heat up. But i've never needed to use a hair dryer to heat up the glue.

If you need help, let me know. I can do this for you

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by spacerz
I say leave the center Nissan, otherwise it looks way too plain!

Edit: Or take off the "350z", leave the nissan and add the "fairlady Z".

This is what I originally wanted to do actually. However decided against it, just for obvious reasons. I mean it isn't a RHD or anything, so putting up the FairladyZ kinda seems like a wanna-be thing to me. lol

But who knows maybe down the line if I get bored of having nothing there, I might get one of them and stick it on. lol

Originally posted by Mar
Take off what's glued on regardless, it looks way better. I also had the holes filled by a shop but that's only if you got some money to drop on it.

Yea that's definitely an option, however I don't think I want to go that route. Not yet anyway. If anything I would love to do that on the front, because there is an indentation where the front symbol is. So ideally get it filled and all that after removing the badge. But going to leave that as is for now, cause that just unnecessarily complicates things.

Originally posted by BokCh0y
Personal opinion, but i would take off the 350z and leave the Nissan symbol. I debadge all my cars for a cleaner look, but i do leave only the "manufacturer" on it. I think its too plain without the manufacturer badging. Like for my RX for example, it has the Lexus "L" symbol remaining, but i took off the "Lexus" on the bottom left hand corner and the "RX350" on the bottom right hand corner.

I didn't use dental floos, instead i picked up some fishing line. I use the fishing line and slowly slice the bading off. Then i used goo gone. I pour inton a clean soft cloth and i slowly saturate the glue residue then wipe off. After wards i'll wash thea area with soap and water and give it a quick wax to seal it.

Super easy. DOn't need the hair dryer either. If you think the glue behind is super sticky, then let it set in the sun for a bit to heat up. But i've never needed to use a hair dryer to heat up the glue.

If you need help, let me know. I can do this for you

Thanks a lot man, appreciate it. Although I am thinking it should be a fairly straightforward thing to do, even though I am not really good at DIY things. I saw a video on youtube of some guy removing the Nissan badge from his Altima and like I said seemed pretty easy, so I am thinking I should be good. lol

I am gonna head to Canadian Tire in a bit and grab some Go Gone stuff and anything else I might need. I read that you can either use dental floss or fishing wire, I am just gonna see if I can find either of those sitting at home somewhere. I have some wax lying as well, so I suppose after it's all done, I can apply some of that on the area.

[NoMoreG35]

Originally posted by shakalaka

They pretty much said use the go gone stuff, dryer and then dental floss should be good. It eventually comes right out and the remaining residue can be easily scraped using the goo gone stuff. And that's pretty much what they say is needed.

I am also thinking of leaving the Nissan part, because I don't like completely clean look either. Just the Nissan in the middle looks fine to me, from the picture I posted above. Maybe later if I have an itching I can replace that with just a Z or something, not sure yet.

You still need to polish it after applying GooGone because there will be swirl marks. I used Nu Finish when I removed the badges on my G35 and it worked great.

[e31]

Have you prepared yourself mentally for the idiotic questions that will surely be asked by some ricer? Without the badges how are they to know what kind of car it is?

"Dude, awesom car what kind of Porsches is it?"

"So is it liek som special drift edition yo?"

[shakalaka]

Should provide some free entertainment every once in a while.

[shakalaka]

Alright so finished doing it about an hour ago and I guess i am happy with it. Taking off the 350Z part literally took under a minute. The cleaning the glue residue part took a lot of goo gone stuff and wiping.

After the whole glue was off i used this Nu Finish scratch remover stuff i had lying around then even applied this 3-Step wax/polish system I have. Although there are no scratches or swirl marks and everything are gone , under a shade i can see a bit of 350z ghosting. If you look closely you can clearly read the 350z part on there. I am guessing that is three to stay, or is there anything i can do about it?


I'll post a couple of pics later.

[T-Dubbs]

i would debadge the entire thing
cleans up the rear end alot

[shakalaka]

Here are a couple of pics...



Close Up...If you look closely enough you should be able to see the ghosting I was talking about

[NoMoreG35]

I think it's because the badges have been on the car for too long... I debadged my G on the day that I got it so I didn't have that problem. Your car looks very good though

[shakalaka]

Thank you. Yea that's pretty much why, since it's been on there for all these years. Plus it's not TOO bad anyway, I know it's there maybe that's why feels like it. But otherwise it's barely visible.