Rebadging: Dodge to MB

Düsseldorfer

New member
I've started the process of changing my US-market Sprinter's badges over to a Mercedes scheme, and I thought I'd post my experiences. This will be totally uninteresting to experienced posters, but newbies might find some part of it useful.

First, and easiest, is the rear door badge. On a cargo van like my 2008 144", this is a piece of cake. The Dodge item consists of three pieces, the shield-shaped Ram badge and two black plastic surrounds. The left hand surround (ie driver's side) is held on with a single nut, easy accessed through a hole in the door frame. The right-hand surround and the badge are held on with two Torx screws, also easy to access. Removing these three fasteners is all you need to do to take these pieces off; no black stick-um here, that comes later!

Fitting the Mercedes badge is a cinch, but you can't reuse the two Torx screws that held the Dodge badge in: they're too long for the MB roundel. You can trim the Dodge screws with a grinder, or find new ones at a good hardware store. I bought the shortest ones they had at the Ace, and I still had to trim them. Take along the Dodge ones for a match, they're kind of an unusual thread.

The next step is removing the "CRD" and (in my case) "2500" badges. This is a little more involved, and it pays to take your time with this to avoid damaging your paint. You can find a lot of helpful advice on removing these glued-on badges on this board and the wider internet. Don't worry, it's very simple, and the chances of actually screwing up your Sprinter's finish are pretty minimal.

You need a hairdryer, dental floss, some Goo Gone, and a roll of paper towels. (Helpful hint: guys, don't use your beloved's hairdryer, because she will not appreciate that you turned her beauty aid into a shop tool. Go buy one of your own-- they're $10-12 at Wal-Mart, well worth the cost for avoiding marital distress.)

Heat the badge with the hair dryer for 30-60 seconds, until it is quite warm to the touch. Then grab a length of dental floss, and instead of putting it in your mouth, use that same tooth-flossing move to pull the floss behind the badge you've heated. Use a back-and-forth sawing method rather than trying to pull it through in one motion. The badge will come off pretty easily, leaving some of the black adhesive on the van.

Some people will say that you should wear gloves at this stage, because the floss will cut into your fingers in an uncomfortable way. Those people are called "weenies." Joking aside, if you have to pull that hard on the floss, you either haven't heated the badge enough, or you are forgetting the sawing motion. Nothing in the rebadging process should hurt!

While the adhesive is still warm, work it with your fingers and fingernails to pull or roll it off of the paint. If it cools down before coming off completely, as is likely, hit it again with the hairdryer to keep it pliable. Don't worry about fumes-- if you heated it that much, you would have probably visibly scorched the paint, so I can't imagine anyone would actually go that far.

Finally, once you have most of the thicker black stuff off, swipe the rest with a paper towel soaked in Goo Gone. It may also help to squirt a little Goo Gone on the sticky area and let it sit for a 10-20 seconds. This will not (IN MY EXPERIENCE, I make no guarantees here, so don't sue me) damage your paint at all, though you will want to make sure you don't rub too hard and/or rub grit into the finish. But we all keep our vans clean, right?

The Goo Gone should take care of any remaining adhesive. When you're all finished, wash the affected areas with the world's best car cleaner. If you don't know what that is, I will give you a hint: it is made by two guys named Johnson, and it promises there will be no more tears. You might have seen it when you walked into the hair aisle at Wal-Mart earlier...

My "CRD" badge came off very easily. The "2500" badges are best tackled digit-by-digit rather than trying to do them all at once. Both the "CRD" and "2500" badges have adhesive that lives up to the name: don't be shy with the hairdryer.

I took the "Sprinter" badge off of mine as well (gasps from the purists). The adhesive under this badge was different-- perhaps it was applied before the Atlantic trip, and the Dodge badges were stuck on Stateside. In any case, while it was harder to get the "Sprinter" badge adhesive started, it cleaned up very quickly once I got going on it.

Alright, this was a lot of words for a minor topic, but I know at least some people are worried that they might damage their Sprinters (or any other cars) by removing the badges. Believe me, if I can do it this easily, anyone can.

Next post: newbie thoughts on the front grille replacement process. (Once I actually get around to doing it!)

Thanks,
D
 

BBlessing

61k happy miles
when you get to the trim stuck to the hood, get a real heat gun and heat the hood underneath the trim. do wear gloves here, it doesn't mean your a wussy. the knit gloves with latex rubber coating works well. start at one end and warm the hood in a sweeping motion, keep the heat gun moving. as the hood warms through to the sticky adhesive, you will be able to start lifting the trim from the hood. work your way across (you can wrap a glove around a putty knife to keep the gap open as you work). i was able to get about 90 percent of the adhesive to stay on the trim. made final cleanup a breeze. one other note; i started the removal with floss under one end.

bb
 

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