I looked really hard and the first thing that I saw missing from the first photo was the dog.

Do I win anything?

 

welding on an exhaust tip, painting the muffler black, removing all emblems except the front and rear bow tie were the first few things that I have done. I painted the muffler and tailpipe tip on my wife's Trailblazer black also, it looks much better.

 

I started to peel the dealer sticker off and what remains is a gummy residue. How can I safely remove it without harming the finish? I read about a product called goof-off. It says it removes all these nasty things but doesn't say whether it is safe on car finishes.

The stupid dealer decal is HUGE and is stenciled so every letter is a separate decal.

 

never heard of "goof-off", but i used "Goo Gone".
take some masking tape, and put it over the thing you want to remove.
saturate w/ Goo Gone and let sit for a few seconds.
using a plastic scraper (i used the one from my kitchen), gently start scraping the stuff behind your emblem (or the residue left over) until gone.
rinse area or wash car and presto!

 

I use rubbing alcohol, (Don't drink it) on a rag & take my time.. I would not use any kind of scraper, but thats me...

Then after cleaned up, I add a quick coat of wax on that area..

 

I tried Goo Gone as well, but you want to know what worked the best? Mr Clean, Magic Eraser. It came off with barely any rubbing and no prep. I swear by these things.

If you have kids, Magic Eraser is the best thing ever invented. It has taken its place next to super glue and duct tape in the things you can't live without.

 

This is what I do.

So true. We always have a fresh box of 2 in the house.

 

using the scraper does take a delicate touch. it's just what you're comfortable using.

 

I used WD40 to remove the adhesive left - worked great!

 

+1 for the WD-40