Removing emblems
02-11-2006, 08:05 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 12-18-2005
Location: Middle Village, NY
Posts: 1,791
Removing emblems
I just finished removing the side and back emblems off my car, and it really cleans up the looks.
I have actually done this to all of my cars since I was 17. To be honest, although I love the appearance, my original reason was actually laziness. You see, during my teenage years, all of my friends and I were waxers. We would hang out and talk cars. And while we talked, we would all wax our cars. Sometimes we would wax them 3 or 4 times in one day. It probably started when a friend with an antique Jag with custom paint saw a scratch on his hood. Upon investigation, it turned out that his car had so much wax on it that the scratch never made it down to the paint-it was just in the wax itself. Anyhow, the hardest part about waxing my first car-an Opel GT, was getting the wax out from around all of the letters on the back. So, for convience I removed them. And back in those days it was not so simple since they were attached with pins that stuck through holes in the body. So, body putty and paint was necessary. My next car, a Datsun 280 Z had an intricate back panal with all of the tail lights. Again, I had to make things easy (and look better) so I designed a custom back panal. It was a flat piece of plexiglass painted black on the inside with 3 holes on each side for round lights (2 red and 1 clear on each end). It gave the car a Ferrari-like appearance. And, most importantly, it was a snap to polish. In fact, a friend of mine that owned a Datsun club/parts store was so impressed that he began marketing a similar piece made of fiberglass.
Sadly, the HHR will be my most difficult car to wax due to it's height and size. Only now, I have a son to do it for me!
I have actually done this to all of my cars since I was 17. To be honest, although I love the appearance, my original reason was actually laziness. You see, during my teenage years, all of my friends and I were waxers. We would hang out and talk cars. And while we talked, we would all wax our cars. Sometimes we would wax them 3 or 4 times in one day. It probably started when a friend with an antique Jag with custom paint saw a scratch on his hood. Upon investigation, it turned out that his car had so much wax on it that the scratch never made it down to the paint-it was just in the wax itself. Anyhow, the hardest part about waxing my first car-an Opel GT, was getting the wax out from around all of the letters on the back. So, for convience I removed them. And back in those days it was not so simple since they were attached with pins that stuck through holes in the body. So, body putty and paint was necessary. My next car, a Datsun 280 Z had an intricate back panal with all of the tail lights. Again, I had to make things easy (and look better) so I designed a custom back panal. It was a flat piece of plexiglass painted black on the inside with 3 holes on each side for round lights (2 red and 1 clear on each end). It gave the car a Ferrari-like appearance. And, most importantly, it was a snap to polish. In fact, a friend of mine that owned a Datsun club/parts store was so impressed that he began marketing a similar piece made of fiberglass.
Sadly, the HHR will be my most difficult car to wax due to it's height and size. Only now, I have a son to do it for me!
02-11-2006, 08:27 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 12-18-2005
Location: Middle Village, NY
Posts: 1,791
This was pre-digital days, and before I was into photography. BUT I have a few. I will scan them when I a) get my computer, which is hooked up to my scanner, working or b) when I get to work on Tuesday.
But, it was a 1971 model that I got in 1974 from my cousin. It had a blown head gasket. I actually got it several months before I was 17 and could legally drive it. I kept it in my apartment house garage, where much to the annoyance of my neighbors, I worked on it. (Years later, I even painted it in there, and got mist on everybodys car). I grinded the valve seats by hand, in my bedroom. I installed Hooker Header and Abarth exhaust. So, the car was modified before I could drive it on the streets (legally that is). The car was not too popular to race except for a few diehards, since it was just a fancy body on an Opel Kadet. It had a single transverse leafspring in the front, and 2 coil springs that were actually held in place by the shock absorber. Intake wise, I put on a Holley 500 cfm 2 barrell carb that had reduction venturies to bring it down to 370 cfm. But it blocked all of the vaccum ports, so I preferred not to use them. I did a lot of experimenting with accelerator pumps, jets, power valves, etc. But it was so rich it would destroy a set of plugs in a week. Then, before a friend of mine with a Capri 2800 had his car 'stolen' I took his carb-a Holley Webber with progressive 2 barrell-and it was the exact right bolt pattern for the Opel manifold. I got a cable throttle from an Opel SW at a junk yard and with a bit of fabrication had a really great running car. Next, I had a custom paintjob-midnight metalflake blue, 24 coats. You could shave from the reflection. Sadly, I had a blowout on the highway and totalled the car. No injuries thanks to the rollbar I put in-you could see that it saved me from the way the side was crushed except for the protected part.
By the way, those waxing days are long gone. Not as much free time as when I was a teen.
But, it was a 1971 model that I got in 1974 from my cousin. It had a blown head gasket. I actually got it several months before I was 17 and could legally drive it. I kept it in my apartment house garage, where much to the annoyance of my neighbors, I worked on it. (Years later, I even painted it in there, and got mist on everybodys car). I grinded the valve seats by hand, in my bedroom. I installed Hooker Header and Abarth exhaust. So, the car was modified before I could drive it on the streets (legally that is). The car was not too popular to race except for a few diehards, since it was just a fancy body on an Opel Kadet. It had a single transverse leafspring in the front, and 2 coil springs that were actually held in place by the shock absorber. Intake wise, I put on a Holley 500 cfm 2 barrell carb that had reduction venturies to bring it down to 370 cfm. But it blocked all of the vaccum ports, so I preferred not to use them. I did a lot of experimenting with accelerator pumps, jets, power valves, etc. But it was so rich it would destroy a set of plugs in a week. Then, before a friend of mine with a Capri 2800 had his car 'stolen' I took his carb-a Holley Webber with progressive 2 barrell-and it was the exact right bolt pattern for the Opel manifold. I got a cable throttle from an Opel SW at a junk yard and with a bit of fabrication had a really great running car. Next, I had a custom paintjob-midnight metalflake blue, 24 coats. You could shave from the reflection. Sadly, I had a blowout on the highway and totalled the car. No injuries thanks to the rollbar I put in-you could see that it saved me from the way the side was crushed except for the protected part.
By the way, those waxing days are long gone. Not as much free time as when I was a teen.
