HOW TO: Removing Back Badges and Filling Holes (mp5)
Here a little guide to badge removal. Its pretty simple stuff so most of you all probably wont have to read this. The Overall time for just badge removal took about 40 minutes including clean-up.
i only removed and filled my protege5 badge but it should be the same for the other back badges
The way I did it was with a hairdryer and Dental floss. I know there are other things but this is what I had laying around and it worked for me.
Start by using the hairdryer to heat up one side of the badge. Keep the heat constant until the area is reasonably warm. Use dental floss doubled up, just one strand will snap, and gently saw back and forth in the crack between the badge and the car. Slowly, by heating a small area and sawing at it with dental floss, you will be able to remove the whole badge.
The tricky part is that Mazda uses two pegs in their protege5 badge to guide the badge on. When you get to one of these pegs heat that area with the hairdryer and slowly pry up until the peg is slightly out of the hole. Wait till you have both pegs slightly out of the hole before yanking the badge out..If you yank one side completely out with the other side still in it might break or bend your protege5 badge.
When the badge is out there will be glue residue left over on the mp5. I used my finger to rub off most of the glue. If some areas are hard to rub off use the blowdryer to heat it up. After only small specks of glue remain use goof-off to clean the rest. You can use car wax to give the back a nice clean finish after all the glue is gone.
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Now you choose the badge you want to put on. Ignore the rx-7 one I got in the picture. If you are putting on the JDM silver Familia or EDM 323F you can leave the holes and just plug these badges in. I recommend using 2-part epoxy glue to make sure no one will steal your rare badges.
If you want to fill the holes or apply the JDM sport20 familia badge read on.
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I put on a sport20 badge but I still filled the holes so my badge would have more area to bond to and I was worried about rain or water going in between cracks in the badge and messing up wires or causing rust. Just the perfectionist part of me getting the best of my judgement =P
Open your trunk, there is a plastic cover that covers all the wiring and the area you need to get to for the holes. Below I circled the clips used to attach the plastic cover. The other 2 clips are symmetric to the ones pictures. I just pulled off the cover, its probably not the right way to do it. If you just yank it off you will have to re-bend the clips into shape. When putting the cover back remember that the clips attach to the plastic cover and snap into the trunk.
Those white squares circled are styrene plastic, I used it to cover the holes on the inside of the trunk. I used a liquod welding agent called weld-rx that melted the styrene onto my inner trunk ensuring water-proof holes.
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Here I am filled the holes.Steps below:
-1. This is what it looks like with the styrene on the inside of the hole. The styrene stops any water from going in and acts as a stopper for the auto body putty so it wont go all over the inside of the trunk lid.
-2. The putty I am using is Bondo. You mix it in a 4 to 1 ratio and it cures in about 30 minutes. The benefits of it is that it cures quickly and sands very easily (like soft pine for those of you that work with wood). Somone on the board recommended another product, forgot the name. If you want something a lot more durable use epoxy putty (NOTE: not glue, putty!). It cures rock hardthe downfall is it is harder to sand and cures slower.
-3. After the bondo has cured I cover areas around the holes with tape to stop scratching while sanding.
-4. Starting with 150 grit sandpaper I slowly sand and use higher and higher grit sandpaper until the back is smooth. A good way to make sure your sanding is good is to close your eyes and feel the area you sanded. It should be perfectly smooth, if you feel any uneven areas sand more!
=======================================================
After I was done sanding I glued the sport 20 badge. I used epoxy glue on the back so no one would jack it. Basically the glue comes in two parts that you put on a mixing surface and mix. After you mix you have about 10 minutes before it starts to cure. The stuff I used holds 1500 pounds per square inch so if you can steal my badge you deserve it, lol. Put on a little amount in the MIDDLE ONLY. Dont get any near the edges because you dont want it leaking out when pressing the badge on. Use a card to wipe away the glue so you only have a very thin layer, trust me..itll be enough.
When putting on the badge I used a level to make sure it was on straight. You should use something similar so after all your hard work your not left with a crooked badge
Edit in- THANKS MOD(S) FOR MOVING THIS TO THE CORRECT SECTION
Here a little guide to badge removal. Its pretty simple stuff so most of you all probably wont have to read this. The Overall time for just badge removal took about 40 minutes including clean-up.
i only removed and filled my protege5 badge but it should be the same for the other back badges
The way I did it was with a hairdryer and Dental floss. I know there are other things but this is what I had laying around and it worked for me.
Start by using the hairdryer to heat up one side of the badge. Keep the heat constant until the area is reasonably warm. Use dental floss doubled up, just one strand will snap, and gently saw back and forth in the crack between the badge and the car. Slowly, by heating a small area and sawing at it with dental floss, you will be able to remove the whole badge.
The tricky part is that Mazda uses two pegs in their protege5 badge to guide the badge on. When you get to one of these pegs heat that area with the hairdryer and slowly pry up until the peg is slightly out of the hole. Wait till you have both pegs slightly out of the hole before yanking the badge out..If you yank one side completely out with the other side still in it might break or bend your protege5 badge.
When the badge is out there will be glue residue left over on the mp5. I used my finger to rub off most of the glue. If some areas are hard to rub off use the blowdryer to heat it up. After only small specks of glue remain use goof-off to clean the rest. You can use car wax to give the back a nice clean finish after all the glue is gone.
=======================================================
Now you choose the badge you want to put on. Ignore the rx-7 one I got in the picture. If you are putting on the JDM silver Familia or EDM 323F you can leave the holes and just plug these badges in. I recommend using 2-part epoxy glue to make sure no one will steal your rare badges.
If you want to fill the holes or apply the JDM sport20 familia badge read on.
=======================================================
I put on a sport20 badge but I still filled the holes so my badge would have more area to bond to and I was worried about rain or water going in between cracks in the badge and messing up wires or causing rust. Just the perfectionist part of me getting the best of my judgement =P
Open your trunk, there is a plastic cover that covers all the wiring and the area you need to get to for the holes. Below I circled the clips used to attach the plastic cover. The other 2 clips are symmetric to the ones pictures. I just pulled off the cover, its probably not the right way to do it. If you just yank it off you will have to re-bend the clips into shape. When putting the cover back remember that the clips attach to the plastic cover and snap into the trunk.
Those white squares circled are styrene plastic, I used it to cover the holes on the inside of the trunk. I used a liquod welding agent called weld-rx that melted the styrene onto my inner trunk ensuring water-proof holes.
=======================================================
Here I am filled the holes.Steps below:
-1. This is what it looks like with the styrene on the inside of the hole. The styrene stops any water from going in and acts as a stopper for the auto body putty so it wont go all over the inside of the trunk lid.
-2. The putty I am using is Bondo. You mix it in a 4 to 1 ratio and it cures in about 30 minutes. The benefits of it is that it cures quickly and sands very easily (like soft pine for those of you that work with wood). Somone on the board recommended another product, forgot the name. If you want something a lot more durable use epoxy putty (NOTE: not glue, putty!). It cures rock hardthe downfall is it is harder to sand and cures slower.
-3. After the bondo has cured I cover areas around the holes with tape to stop scratching while sanding.
-4. Starting with 150 grit sandpaper I slowly sand and use higher and higher grit sandpaper until the back is smooth. A good way to make sure your sanding is good is to close your eyes and feel the area you sanded. It should be perfectly smooth, if you feel any uneven areas sand more!
=======================================================
After I was done sanding I glued the sport 20 badge. I used epoxy glue on the back so no one would jack it. Basically the glue comes in two parts that you put on a mixing surface and mix. After you mix you have about 10 minutes before it starts to cure. The stuff I used holds 1500 pounds per square inch so if you can steal my badge you deserve it, lol. Put on a little amount in the MIDDLE ONLY. Dont get any near the edges because you dont want it leaking out when pressing the badge on. Use a card to wipe away the glue so you only have a very thin layer, trust me..itll be enough.
When putting on the badge I used a level to make sure it was on straight. You should use something similar so after all your hard work your not left with a crooked badge
Edit in- THANKS MOD(S) FOR MOVING THIS TO THE CORRECT SECTION
Last edited:
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