A few questions about some minor exterior work I want to do...

[Missouri Cam]

Hey all! I've been meaning to take off my emblems and paint them black (SE style) for a while now, and I think I've got the part down where I take them off. My problem, though, is how to get them back ON. What sort of adhesive should I use to make them stay. Is there any special technique for replacing them?

Also, (maybe those of you with 95 LEs can comment on this) I've been wanting to take off the crappy Toyota pinstripe that runs the length of the car to clean the apperance up a bit. Is there any special products/techniques I should use to accomplish this? Will my paint be noticeably darker underneath the pinstripe?

Finally, I got some new front turn signal bulbs for my car, but I'm not sure how to get the turn signal housing out in order to get at the bulb. The screw on the front seems to be the obvious method, but when I undid it and tried to pull the housing out it the back portion of it wouldn't fit through the hole. What am I missing here?


Thanks in advance for all the help!

[Missouri Cam]

Any takers at all?

[wildfire]

when I took my pinstripes off, they were pretty rotted. a little scraping with a plastic tool took the pinstripe off, and some adhesive remover took off all the residue from the glue. you'll have a line where the pinstripe was at first, but it's not too noticeable and will fade with to the rest of the car after a week or so (at least mine did).

the plastic tool wasn't anything special and it wasn't that sharp. basically it was like the edge of a credit card, only a little more sturdy.

*edit*
and as for the turn signals, I had a little problem with mine too. I can't remember which one it was, but the wires one of the housings were shorter than the other. it was a pain in the ass to get out. But as far as I remember, that screw should be all you need to get it out.

[Grayguy]

Ok, I'm not sure about the eblems, cause mine had pegs, not just the tape stuff.

As for the pinstriping, heat it with a hairdryer/ heat gun, and peel and heat as you go. Don't burn your paint if you use a heat gun.

If you open your hood and look right above the turn signals, there is a screw on each side (assuing you mean the signals by the head lights.) IF you mean the ones in teh bumper, simpily unscrew the screws that are in plain sight and pop them out. Hope this helps

[zoni]

they make a self adhesive backing tape just for emblems. you can find it at an autoparts store.

[Eye8Pussies]

pin stripes? no need for anything

just leave it in the sun for about half an hour and then it'll peel right off and leave nothing on your door

[v6kamree]

i used mineral turps to get the pin stripes liftin up then just use a sharp razor and slowly pull it up works a charm

[WestCoastff]

pinstripes- I let my car is toutside in the sun for an hour or so then pulled it into the garage. The pin striping comes off by just peeling it away, youll need a little patience. There will be a nasty residue underneath the pinstriping. Then i took an old totoh brush and used Bug and Tar remover and went to work scrubbing. Little by little it will come off, its kind of a pain in the ass but my end result is CLEAN, ill post a pic of my side at the end.

For the badges some of them are mounted in little holes in your trunk. I believe the LE for you will have 2 holes (1 per letter) and the toyota on the left will haev one. Use a hair dryer to heat them up and once its hot, not scorching, use dental floss to get in between the badging and your trunk. as far as getting them back on, you have to make sure your trunk has all the residue off where they were before, and the lettering has to be clear of residue as well, or else whatever you use wont stick. Im not sure what your best bet would be there.

For your turn signal light you kind of have you glide it out of a bracket, once it is out youll see that theres a little curve that latches it into place. It takes some jiggling but once its out its easy.