Astra Mk4 De-badging - Outline of scratches/dents

[roarstar]

hello forum! i'm new here so go easy on me

i thought you guys might be able to help me. I have recently purchased a black astra mk4, 53 reg, 2003, 1.6 active. I have put on a front grille and I have now given an attempt at taking off the badges because i think it looks nicer, especially on black, and just leaving the griffin in the middle.

i've got all the sticky stuff off with white spirit, tar and bug remover, microfibre cloth and hot soapy water. all of the main sticky stuff has come off, however an outline remained around where the sticky stuff was. i initially thought this was just extra stuck-on sticky stuff, but i've scrubbed and scrubbed it to no avail what soever, so i'm thinking they are scratches. pics are below... can anybody help? i don't really want to have to stick them back on, but it's looking like my only choice.

looks ok from a distance...



but close up...



any help appreciated,

cheers

[Gaz86]

safe cut from halfords, not g3 not crappy t cut but safe cut, it will polish the area perfectly.

[roarstar]

cheers for the help so far,

slightly reluctact to spend more money on polish etc,

so far i have tried, AutoGlym Super Resin Polish, AutoGlym Paint Renovator, T-Cut....... none of these make the slight bit of diffferences and i have scrubbed HARD with all of them, and no different, so i guess it must be scratches. re-spray is the only option?

what do people think about re-spraying yourself at home? (in a garage).... halfords sell my colour. is it as easy as masking taping up the windows and chrome bits, spraying the can over? or is it extra hard and not recommended?

cheers again

[the-darkhorse]

do not spray it at home in a garage , polish and some effort will be fine or a little thinners but be gentle , but lookin further looks like its been painted and they have laqured over badges , find some where to maybe paint it , or come to poole and i can help, pictures are hard to proper establish what has been done before or not ,

[couped]

Pics do look hard to deter.. looks to me as if someones outlined the badges at the back resulting in the paint being scored all on the outer edges!.. would follow gaz86 advice failing so and looks like a bodyshop polish out job.

[Rubix_Cube]

Its a common issue on some mk4 astras

This cannot be flattened and polished out as its a mark that goes all the way through the paint - My old Mk4 was exactly the same.

You'll get the same advice here as on AOC - You either need to rebadge (maybe even colour code the badges) or have the bootlid resprayed / find a bootlid without the paint issues and swap them over.

Again, that will NOT polish out - You could spend a million quid on having it flattened back and buffed up - The marks are very misleading.

[Gaz86]

do they laquer over the badge or something?

[couped]

The badges on the side of my coupe was laquered over...the f**kin lazy b**tards... ended up getting the rear panels resprayed as i hated the badges, but was needing bits touched up so it was worth it!

[Gaz86]

The badges on the side of my coupe was laquered over...the f**kin lazy b**tards... ended up getting the rear panels resprayed as i hated the badges, but was needing bits touched up so it was worth it!

they did that on my corsa too before I owned it, I had to respray the boot.

[astra16vcdti]

hi just took mine to mi m8s body shop and he buffed my boot and it came out fine.mines had that left behind maybe its dif on urs

[Rubix_Cube]

The badges are lacquered over so if you flatten back you destroy the paint under the badges !

Either re-spray the boot or find a bodyshop who will flatten the full boot back and hit it with a fresh coat of lacquer Even then it doesn't work too well

Colour code some badges for a cheap fix, or just fit the newer style vauxhall badges

[turbo_nik]

Can u feel the marks when running your finger over them??

[couped]

they did that on my corsa too before I owned it, I had to respray the boot.

did they do it over the griff on the rear as well as the text???... was going to take ma griff off and coat it black!..

[Benn]

I'd very lightly flat it off and polish it back up. Wont be perfect but will look better.

[Gaz86]

did they do it over the griff on the rear as well as the text???... was going to take ma griff off and coat it black!..

it was a bodyshop that repaired (badly) a dent in the tailgate that did it and it was only over the writing badges.

[lowry_uk]

Why does it happen on certain cars, mine has left a slight outline but my mates was fine

[Andybon]

Its a common issue on some mk4 astras

This cannot be flattened and polished out as its a mark that goes all the way through the paint - My old Mk4 was exactly the same.

You'll get the same advice here as on AOC - You either need to rebadge (maybe even colour code the badges) or have the bootlid resprayed / find a bootlid without the paint issues and swap them over.

Again, that will NOT polish out - You could spend a million quid on having it flattened back and buffed up - The marks are very misleading.

I beg to differ.

Had the same problem myself. Used a Trizact pad on a DA sander wet, Went over the area with it then used some G3 cutting compound on a mop and it has dissapeared.

Just needs to have a light sanding then a good buff, Then polish with your choice of polish.

[Andybon]

Oh, These are trizact pads for those that don't know!

3M Trizact Hookit Foam Discs(15) 6in P3000 on eBay (end time 13-Sep-10 22:46:53 BST)