1- Front Page
Bowtie write up
3- Night Shots
4- Interior
5- Plans
Wrote this for those wishing to change the color of their bowties. This is for the style of bowtie emblems on the '06+ Monte's and Impalas. I'm sure the same emblem is on other chevys as well, I just don't know which.
Now you can get one of these here over(under)lays from GrafxWerks...
Overlay
(I'm not sure if these just go on top of the emblem or if they do in fact go underneath, anyone?)
OR
You can paint it yourself.
I'll explain how to do this here.
First step would be to get everything you'll probably be needing or you can just get it as you need it.
Here is what I used...
Plastic putty knife/cloth (used to take bowties off car)
- Other options are available, some ideas Emblem Removal
Some enamel paint is what I used and it's been working great, little bottle of paint for a model was more than enough.
- Or one of those overlay deals posted above if you don't want to paint it
Paintbrush if you're going to paint it
Some sort of thin object that can bend but still slice
- I used an eraser shield, hopefully anyone else that has done it will post what they used
Duck/Gorilla Tape
- Not to put the emblems back on!
- Use it to help get all the bits of foil off
Some double sided tape to stick the emblems back on
- I got mine from a Checkers for a few dollars
A blow drier is also very helpful to use whenever double sided tape needs to be removed.
Step 1:
Remove the bowties that you wish to paint from the car
- I used the plastic putty knife and wrapped a cloth around it and slid it under each bowtie after they had sat in the sun for a few hours, this can take a bit of effort and time
- Be careful to not scratch your paint, unless you don't mind scratches...
- The link again to those other ideas: Emblem Removal
Step 2:
Clean all the junk left over from taking the bowties off
- The double sided tape likes to stay stuck to stuff, but if you are able to get it all off you're car/emblems will look that much better
- It is also recommended to get the tape off of the back of the emblem too as you will be replacing it with fresh stuff and an extra layer of tape will make you're emblem stick out from the car in the wrong way
Step 3:
Separate the yellowish plastic from the chrome(fake) backing
Clear plastic piece
- This is probably the part that took me the longest
- The plastic is not only inset, but the tape is behind it so this is where I used my eraser shield, looks like this...
(Basically if you have something that's pretty thin and flexible, try to get that down around the edges on one side to try and loosen it up. Once it gets loosened up you should be able to slide whatever you're using further under the plastic, you might scrap some of the foil off or you might just slice the tape in half, either way works just fine.
Make sure you don't pry on the plastic very much, after sliding something under it after awhile and slicing up that tape it should start to pull away more and more. Once enough of the tape or whatever is cut, the plastic will kinda just pop off. I cut into it about an inch on all sides and then I was able to slide along the underside and it came right off. )
Step 4:
Now you should hopefully have a piece of plastic with foil and bits of double sided tape on it, at this point I got rid of all the foil. This is where the duct tape comes in, I used it to lift off the bits of foil that would tear and stick to the plastic. Once all the tape and foil is cleaned off of the plastic piece and the plastic chrome backing you can get ready to paint.
Step 5:
I used a bottle of black enamel paint that I picked up from wal-mart that's used for painting model cars. I don't know how other paints will work, but this enamel has held up for the years it's been on with no signs of wear. Simply brush whatever color you want onto the back of the clearish plastic piece, remember, the first layer you put down will be the one that is seen so if you want to do multiple colors you'll need to remember that. I didn't sand the plastic at all, just made sure and cleaned it with some rubbing alcohol. I was afraid that by sanding I'd loose some of the gloss.
Step 6:
Once you get the plastic looking the way you want it all that's left is the simple matter of waiting for the paint to dry then reapplying double-sided tape to the areas you removed it from and replacing the emblem on the car.
Let me know of any questions regarding this write up as I may have left out parts and not realized it.
