You don't REALLLY NEED a tutorial to do this, but if you've never done this before, this might help. This guide is also meant for folks who are very anal about their car like I am and want to do things perfect.
Besides looking nice, the JDM emblems add at LEAST 2hp EACH to your car! How can you beat that
Standard disclaimer: This is just how I did it. If you follow this and damage your car, I'm not responsible.
Stuff you'll want to have to do this install
- pliers/clippers
- dental mirror
- flat head screwdriver
- razor blade
- patience
This is a pretty easy install and not as hard as it was on my 2003 EP3 was. The good news: the USDM GE8 doesn't use adhesive on the emblems that come stock on the car. That means no need for dental floss to remove the emblems. Instead we'll use pliers/clippers.
FRONT EMBLEM INSTALL
Step One:
Get yer emblems ready. Got mine as surprise gift! But JDM_DOHC_SiR (aka Dave) should be able to get you a set!
Part numbers:
Front Type-R badge - 75700-SNW-003
Rear Type-R badge - 75700-S5T-E01
Step Two:
Pop your hood and find all of these on the top of the front grille area.
Removing them is easy. Take your flat head screwdriver and pry UP the middle section. Wiggle the rivet around until it comes loose. Take them all off and put them someplace safe. It will look like this when you're done.
Step Three:
Remove the front grille cover. Simply take it off. Your car will look like this:
Step Four:
If you've got good vision and good lighting, you should be able to see into the front grille area and see that the OEM "H" emblem is being held by two grommets. If you have a hard time seeing it, try using a dental mirror to figure out where they are. You can also just use your fingers to feel it out.
It looks like this from the inside. Pardon the picture, it was night time when i did this:
You'll want to take your pliers/clippers and clip off the ends of the emblem. Just feel around and take your time. I made sure to line the edge of the clippers up to the base of the grommet, then clip the ends. Then you just gently pry the emblem towards you and it should break free. You may hear the sound of the grommets falling off as well. Find them if you can and put them aside with the emblem.
This picture shows where I clipped the ends off on the emblems back side.
Step Five:
First thing I did at this point was to test fit the front emblem to the location. Hmmm. We have a problem. The emblem won't sit flush because there are two raised grooves where the previous emblem was. If the emblem doesn't sit flush, it might get moisture under it and come loose or worse fall off.
Next problem is the new JDM emblem has prongs on the back of it that need to come off. Let's fix this part first. Simply take your clippers, and clip the prongs off. You'll want to clip the plastic prongs off below the adhesive backing so the emblem will sit flush. It might take two or three clips to clip it all the way down below the adhesive.
When you're done the back of the JDM emblem will look like this:
Step Six:
Okay now let's solve the problem we had at the beginning of step five; removing the raised grooves on the front grille. Many people like to sand them off but I find that messy and sometimes you end up scratching the paint and surrounding plastic. I like using a razor blade to level off plastic. Again,
I must warn you: razor blades are SHARP and DANGEROUS. Don't do this part if you've been drinking beer with the boys all day. I don't want to hear about bleeding fingers, ok?
Take the razor blad and slide it down until it hits the top of the raised groove like this:
Push down on the top of the razor blade gently until the raised area is scraped off. You may have to do it a few times to get the surface flat. NOTE: Some folks don't do this part but I do. I just want to be SURE that the emblem doesn't fall off or get worked off because it's not flush with the surface.
The finished grille area looks like this:
Step Seven:
Test fit the emblem now. If it sits flush you're ready to install it. Use some alcohol to clean the grille surface gently. Make sure the area is clean before applying the emblem. Peel away the adhesive backing and line up the emblem the way you want and press it down. All done with the front!
Linear Mode
