Thanks for the info... How about debadging it? Did you do the hair blow dry and floss method?

 

yeah just i kinda feel the sane way about the smoke but the car is dark blue thought it might look a little cleaner... going red first to see how i like it! thanks for the info!


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I debadged mine with a heat gun and floss. Just be very patient and careful with the heat so as to not damage the paint and you'll be fine. Also, watch the tail light housings with the heat, the "overspray" from the heat gun caused the plastic to heat /cool a little too quickly and I got a tiny, hairline spider crack in the bottom of the tail light Luckily, no moisture gets in.

 

Tip for the debadging, hairdryer of the misses and some sticker-off or sticker-removal. You should find it in the local DIY-shop.

 

I used a heat gun, my finger nails, and some goo gone remover, but remember to wash the area really good with soap and water after to make sure the goo gone does not dry into the paint. there was a faint 3m sticky tape stain residue still on mine. It kind of looked like a shadow of the emblems when I was done so I had to compound and buff it out, took like 2 minutes, and it looks great now

 

I've probably debadged two-dozen cars at this point in my life, hair dryers, heat guns and dental floss all work fine but they suck in terms of labor compared to using a vinyl squeegee to get under the badge


Just get it under the edge and use a lever action to separate the badge from the car.

Then use an eraser wheel - if you know a mechanic they can get them from their tool guys otherwise you can find them at local auto body supply shops (we have a PPG shop here in Omaha) for under $20



There's a risk of burning your paint if you hold it on one spot too long but it's hard to do - Basically you just throw the thing in a cordless drill and start going back and forth over the adhesive as it just crumbles away. Areas that are plastic under the paint will burn easier than metal. IIRC the lower area of our tailgate is plastic.

Once done I've used Meguiar's body scrub to take off the dirt edge that'll be left behind with great success... just remember to throw some wax on it after, body scrub takes EVERYTHING off.

no bloody finger nails, no removing half the skin from your thumb.

 

Updated with link to STB and the filter for anyone that comes trolling along. That ebay front STB is the best money I've spent on this thing so far.

I also went after the intake snorkel over the weekend, drilled out the rivets for the last section which has the silencer on it and just left it open reaching over the battery. I punched a 3" hole in the plastic air dam deal between the grille and radiator support so that air is coming directly through the grille into the engine bay. The results are a bit more noise and startlingly improved mpg... probably 10% better on the idiot gauge, i haven't had to fill up for a chance to do the calculation yet.