Really re-badging a TDI

I picked up a Turbo Diesel badge from an '84 Mercedes 300D with the thought I'd put it on my little pal Bluefish. It has 3 studs coming out of the back for speed nuts. For months now I've been debating the drilling of holes, removal of the TDI badge and all that. I'm thinking of cutting off the studs and gluing it on the way other badges are stuck to these cars. This leads me to the question, what adhesive do they use to glue the badges on? Has anyone else attempted this?

TIA

The adhesive is a version of double-sided foam tape, but I would suggest cutting off the studs, smoothing down any possible abrasive points and using clear silicone to attach it. Create a smooth base on the back of the badge by filling in any gaps or hollows in the back of the letters with the silicone, and allow that to cure fully. Then only a very thin layer will be needed to glue it to the car, it will set up a LOT faster than a thicker coating (trying to do it all at once and watching it fall off) and if you ever want to remove it, a plastic razor will cut it off and the remnants can just rub off.

I have a Turbo Diesel tag from a Lincoln Mark VII that I was tinking about doing this with, if I don't convert my Lincoln to a diesel first.

Have fun!

--Jim

Funny, I've thought about getting a Mercedes "Turbodiesel" badge, too, because not many people know what the "TDI" stands for.

Or you could get just "Diesel" from an older Benz and "Kompressor" from one of the newer ones...

IIRC, TDI stands for 'Turbo Direct Injection', not 'Turbo Diesel . . . '

My $0.25 worth for the day.

any body shop supply store or larger auto parts store (Autozone, for example) will have the 3M Trim Adhesive tape which is a thick, double-sided sticky tape. It would work but IIRC, the letters from the benz logo are very thin and this would be tedious to cut so many small, narrow sections of tape.

Plan B: Order new deck lid lettering from the MBenz dealer. You could order "TURBODIESEL" from a 1999MY car or just the letters "TURBO" from a 1987MY car. Both of these are all individual letters and are a more modern font similar to the VW font.

.....Create a smooth base on the back of the badge by filling in any gaps or hollows in the back of the letters with the silicone, and allow that to cure fully. Then only a very thin layer will be needed to glue it to the car, it will set up a LOT faster than a thicker coating .....

Click to expand...

I would suggest doing all the silicone in one step since silicone will not properly adhere to cured silicone. I know this because I have several glass aquariums that have been disassembled and reassembled and it was crucial to remove all old (cured silicone) prior to applying the new stuff for reassembly. I only made the mistake of not properly removing the old stuff once (77 gallons of water and broken glass all over the garage floor).

I realize that the issue of bond strength is not nearly as crucial when applying badges but personally I would use the double sided tape.

Just my 2 cents.