How can I smooth this out? The 16-year-old glue from the emblems is killer.

got mine off with some t-cut

Try using some Goo-gone.
Although I'm not sure if that would effet the paint or not, but the label should say.

Polishing compound, wash the area or use a quick detailer first though.

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Goo-Gone is what I used to get the glue off. I was scrubbing for almost 40 minutes. I think those scuffed edges are the frayed edges of the clearcoat that was pretty much fused to the glue.


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You think maybe those clay bars, Jon? I've been meaning to buy one to try and make my hood prettier. It's got blemishes all over it.

use rubbing compound (i just did mine a month ago) polishing compound you want to use after the rubbing compound of course. just alot easier then using solvents that you dont know if they will harm clearcoat or not, hell the rubbing compound works faster then solvents anyways. and just a fyi most clay bars remove contaminants in the paint, if you want to fix blemishes best to use a buffer and a few different chemicals. i suggest a porter cable 7424xp or any random orbital polisher(not the crappy walmart ones) dont be scared of a random orbital. circular buffers are what burn paint up if you dont know what your doing, random orbital is very simple to use and get the hang of!..oh yeah id still get a claybar and use it before a good waxing, to tell if you need to use the clay run the back of your hand over the paint after a wash, if it feels gritty/sandpapery it needs a claybar.good luck..

This post has been edited by opie_7afe: Jun 28, 2011 - 7:57 PM

clay bar

use some tinner and/or polish it. definitely do not use anything sharp unless you want to see scratches on the paint...

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think of claybar as 2000grit sandpaper

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claybar would be if you have bee crap stains all over your car


Hector, coming from me a person who lives for the color Black on 6's DO polishing compound first! not just because its the lightest out of all compounds or I dont have trust in you using highly abbrasive stuff............i'd rather keep using chemicals that take off as little as possible than..........using something that high in abbrasive-ness and you going pass the clear.

Simple. Use a scotch pad and scrub it with soapy water. But you'll be left with a dull patch in which just just use a medium grit compound rub or polish to bring it back.

Thinner will remove your lacker and maybe even paint.
Clay bar will do nothing to glue and you'll be wasting money.
Sanding will destroy the paint work if yo go too deep.

This post has been edited by yellowchinaman: Jun 29, 2011 - 12:44 PM

Looks like you lost some lacquer there

I think you need a machine polisher to get that looking good. Maybe go to a local paint shop, they shouldn't charge much to machine polish that little bit... You'll get much better results than trying to do it by hand.

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Depending on the price, I may just do that. I have to re paint my driver side door handle because the first owner of my Celica was a very old man and apparently had a very hand time getting the key into the key hole. I'm just glad the scratches were miraculously contained to the door handle.

I dont think any lacquer's come off. Even if it has, you can just rub it down with 1200 grit wet n dry after, then spray about 3 layers of lacquer from a rattle can, and then flatten it when it drys with 2000 grit wet n dry and finally polish it with a compound rub. Its such a small patch you dont need a machine polish. Just elbow greese.

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lol

Rubbing compound, and an armwrestlers forearm.

Or a palm buffer if you are lazy like me. 30 bucks at any autostore.

Yours looks pretty easy to clean up, some asshat put mine back on with liquidnails...

and im not sure of any claybar thats like 2000grit sandpaper, even the not so mild clay is not as harsh as 2000grit which i wouldnt use unless the clear did come off, normal turtle wax rubbing compound and not using a electric buffer you will not go through the clear coat, unless you sit there for hours on one spot, i just had the same issue as the OP hence why i suggested rubbing compound as i tried the least aggressive methods first as anyone should do with paint correction.and should only take 5 mins with rubbing compound to remove the left over dried on adhesive. and dont use solvents as chinaman said unless its something like pure d-limonine. was gonna say for the key scratches use some polishing compound to remove the graying to make scratches less noticeable, but i forgot you have a dark colored car and not white..white paint is a biatch to keep clean

This post has been edited by opie_7afe: Jun 30, 2011 - 8:36 PM

that's not lacquer came off, that's how clean your original paint was when they stuck the badge there, the surrounding paint show how fealty your paint is now. sorry for the term is used but that's what it is. the white thing surrounding the badge before you remove it are hard water deposits, detergents, rainwater / acid etc. a good rub down is what your car needs. Atleast that's how we call it here the the Philippines.

hth

i used 50% RUBBING alcohol. make sure to wax after

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What would you recommend using? Rubbing compound?

celica-s has a good point under your emblem is that pretty paint that was not exposed to UV to fix your fading you would basicly need to get a good machine polishing done on it, if you want you can just take it to get a exterior detail(cheaper then a full detail) and ask if they will buff out all the oxidation,swirls,micro-marring and take care of where the emblem is, hell if you got other ones on the car they will remove those also usualy at no cost. just ask to speak to the detailer directly instead of the office people as they wont be the ones on your car and makes the detailers job easier because he knows exactly what you need and a nice tip helps with a good job also .

This post has been edited by opie_7afe: Jul 2, 2011 - 5:17 PM

General rule for paint -- start with the least aggressive method first.

A compound is, effectively, sandpaper in liquid/paste form. How harsh it is depends upon the specifics of the product and how it's applied. Improperly used, any abrasive product can damage your paint. Even properly used, they are designed to work by removing paint in order to create a level surface. If you can avoid thinning the clearcoat, do so (that said, a proper cleaning and polish of paint usually involves some abrasive action).

Personally, having removed a set of emblems from a 13-year-old Celica, I'd start with isopropyl alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is mostly isopropyl alcohol and will work, but often has other ingredients such as camphor. If you're buying go for the pure alcohol. If may do the job, but if it doesn't all you've done is strip any wax that might be on the area you've treated. In my case the alcohol, applied with a terry cloth towel, did get rid of most of the residue. I used Goo Gone for the isolated patches which remained, then applied a mildly abrasive polish (Meguiar's #80 Speed Glaze). Frankly, that area took less work to correct than most of the rest of the car.