How-To: Painting Front Emblem GMT900.

hidefmike · May 17, 2013

The contrast of the gold emblem is great imo. I don't understand why there's a need to paint it.

Thankyou for bumping my topic with your opinion. Although there is no NEED to paint the emblem. Many people WANT to paint it to give the vehicle there own personal touch. That is the wonderful thing about owning your own vehicle and personalizing it .

BTW, I don't see the need of having the Michelin man in your avatar.... I guess its just something you wanted to do to personalize the forum to you liking....

Agree 100%!! Customizing my rig is something I'm interested in, and I want mine to be as unique as possible.

IMHO the gold Bowie looks awful against most colors. Color matching or having a different contrasting color is the way to go. Oh yeah, and F*#£ stock!! Especially when you pay $30K for something, make it your own!

white1500 · May 17, 2013

As far as I know there wasn't a standard issue avatar that I changed from.

And you guys are pretty touchy, I didn't mean to hit a nerve.

hidefmike · May 17, 2013

As far as I know there wasn't a standard issue avatar that I changed from.

And you guys are pretty touchy, I didn't mean to hit a nerve.

No issues here, and not touchy at all. This site is full of big boys and girls who typically speak their mind and are A'Ok with differing opinions. I think the line about the avatar was likening it, in kind, to customizing a vehicle. You got your style, I've got mine.

GasHog369 · May 18, 2013

agreed.

white1500, it appeared that your reply on this topic was to bash people that paint there bowties because you think there is no need to paint and the contrast is great... When making statements like that it only puts up a defense guard imo. Did not mean to get touchy, But I put this topic here to be informative to other members who have interest in it.

mdun71 · May 21, 2013

I painted my front bowtie insert white, and plasti dipped my back one black. Thanks for the write up, made doing the front easier. Even if not needed ;)

Jjohn1987 · May 24, 2015

Here's a simple mod anyone can do with a little time and little $.

First step is to remove the bowtie.

What i had to do since i have big hands was remove the plastic cover that is over the radiator. There is about 8 pins or so.. Pry the pin up and remove the clip.

Here's the piece i am speaking of..

Next take a small slotted screwdriver with stubby handle and there are 2 clips behind the bowtie. You have to put the screwdriver next to the clip and pull to opposite side of vehicle (driver to pass ans pass to driver)

Be sure to hold emblem with other hand so you do not drop it.

Here is what the clips look like front behind.

Next step is to pop the emblem apart. This is if you want to have 2 colors.. I chose to leave the stock black border on there and have white in the middle.

To pop apart I took a slotted screwdriver to either side and worked it in very slowly. Once the screwdrivers are 2" in or so, it will seem as it wont go any further because of the combination with glue and tape. Very gently start turning the screwdriver to slowly pry it apart. This may take a while.

Once you have popped them apart it will look like this.

Some people may sand the factory emblem for a better bond, I prefer a bonding primer meant for plastic. This way you keep that smooth finish.

The primer I used was made bu duplicolor , and is meant for plastic bonding.

Spray light and even, 2 coats..

Next it to spray your color of choice, mine being white to match my front end. I also did 2 coats of this.. Product used was duplicolor "perfect match".

The final application step is to spray on the clear coat. For this be sure to use only duplicolor perfect match clear... I used a different brand at first and it yellowed! I re-sprayed and topcoated with the "perfect match clear " and it turned out great. Be sure to spray a couple coats of clear to give it a gloss look and durability.

Allow topcoat to cure for a day or 2, before handling to glue back together.

Next step is to mend them back together. For this I chose hot glue for the reason if I wanted to re-separate later on and re-paint it would be easier to pull apart than a epoxy..

Here is the final outcome after gluing.

To re-install on truck, simply line up on grill and push back on. It snaps in.

Some final pics on the truck.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

I'm assuming it's around about the same for the rear as well, looks great

GasHog369 · May 28, 2015

Not sure about the rear. I never got around to doing it yet. I did buy a american flag wrap / decal overlay for it tho that i may use on rear. undecided yet..