N14 Pulsar Project - Debadge and sticker removal

Ok so as we move forward with the N14 Pulsar Project we come to the removing of badges and old team stickers. This is a simple form of customizing your car and making it a bit more different without spending too much cash, or any for that matter, lol. In most cases badges are just held in place with urethane or a sticky adhesive, sometimes there are holes beneath so its best to check online if possible to see what you are dealing with, I have done this to the many pulsars I have had in the past so its no biggie, I know what im doing…. Kinda 😉

Debadging

There are some things which need to be considered when debadging a car, the first is that it will take some time if you don’t want to do damage to the paint, so if you are lacking patience you better find some or leave it to someone else. The first thing to do here is boil the kettle. No it’s not coffee time, we will be using the hot water to make the adhesive loose and easier to remove the badges, but I guess you can make a coffee if you like, but stay focused. Slowly pour the boiling water over the badge you wish to remove, doing it slowly is good for the heat transfer.

Now with a razor carefully, and mean VERY carefully, slide the razor beneath the badge. This may take some time depending on how he badge is fixed and if has been removed and reapplied in the past. I find a slow rocking motion is the best method. Once under the badge it also helps to slightly lift the badge off the body as the razor is being rocked. CAUTION: don cut your fingers cause it hurts, lol.

When the badge is finally off there is that dark part of your soul that laughs at the horrendous view you have as the dirty smear on the rear of the car stares you in the face and you have that thought…. “Just leave it like that”, lol. But we know better than that… there are a few things we can use to get the adhesive gunk off somem use tea tree oil, I just go straight for the acetone. Acetone can hurt the paint if you leave it on the car for too long (im talking 30 min plus), if you wax on and wax off quickly then it should be alright (unless its acrylic, don’t use acetone on acrylic paint ever!!!).

Once the adhesive is mostly off its time for the fun bit, now its time to buff the area to get those last niggling bits of adhesive off and to gets some shine back in the area that has been worked on. Whats been used here is your basic run of the mill cut and polish compound that can be found in most automotive stores. Smear a bit all over the area where the badge was and buff the panel. Be sure to buff the whole panel when you have completed the badge area, it’s really stands out if you only buff a patch of a panel.

Sticker Removal

Here is a sticker the previous owner liked and had on the vehicle, its not really up to scratch on what we are trying to achieve with this ride so it must go. Fortunately, its not that hard to get stickers off of vehicles if you do it right. The process is similar to what is done with the badges. However, the stickers are far easier to remove from the galss than the badges fromo the body, in many cases a razor is not needed after lifting a corner of the sticker. So again pour the boiling water over the area the sticker is on and slowly get underneath and away we go.

Before you know it the car is looking clean and no longer has the stickers or badges that made it look just like someone else’s N14 Nissan Pulsar. We now have a clean canvas to make this car our own with a bunch of stickers of our choosing gaining us much needed street cred and keeping in mind that every sticker adds +5KW of power.

DISCLAIMER: stickers do not add horsepower or kilowatts, this is a joke for the sake of the article, lol.

Job Done

Finally we have the cars ass end with some badges and stickers removed, the canvas is now clean and ready for what we wish to create. I hope you have enjoyed the article and it helps those looking to do something similar with their car.