The clear coat is peeling off our black 2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ. Does the "Cherokee Sport" logo come off somehow? We would like to repaint and don't know what to do about the exterior emblems. Thank you.

 

Subscribing for learning also. I like to de-badge my vehicles and my new to me Sport is no exception. However I would like to keep them in good condition in case I decide to restore the Jeep fully to factory condition.

Or should I just leave them on? They look better than most since they are minimal and attached via adhesive.

But I don't like painting around stuff. I prefer to remove everything as close to what it was like in the factory when they painted the vehicle.

 

They are stuck on with adhesive. Heat and a plastic scraper should get them off. Metal scraper works, too. I never tried to remove them myself, but thats how ive seen it done elsewhere. IIRC, WD40 was used to soften up what was left.

 

IDK if you can reuse them.

You may be able to find some NOS. Still got the one for the front that I never put on:

 

Yeah, I found some but they are pricey, which is leaning me in the direction of leaving mine on. But the OP and I still are wondering; can they carefully be taped off?

 

Anything can be taped off, but that would be a lot of work to make it look good...IF you use tape, anyway, I just visualize a crap ton of x-acto knife work, haha

Wonder if you could use something like plasti-dip, that you basically paint on the emblem, then peel off later, but even that sounds like a lot of work.

Maybe someone with a 3D printer can replicate the badges, then just get the double sided adhesive 3M makes to install?

Spit balling ideas here, lol

 

Hasn't anyone on this forum painted a 2001 Cherokee before? (It seems all the polite responses here are just guessing)

 

No guessing, just discussing options. If you want a class A job, remove the emblems, paint the vehicle and replace them with new ones. I have painted literally 1000’s of vehicles (worked for GM when I was younger) and to replicate factory, you shouldn’t be taping/masking much of anything.

if you are just looking for acceptable, remove them and leave it debadged or carefully tape them knowing it will take a long time and still show a tape line.

 

The question still is, if the emblems on the doors of a 2001 Cherokee come off, how does one remove them? Are they glued on Are there hidden fasteners inside the doors? etc, etc.? Looking for some specific information from someone who has performed this task. Thank you.

 

Glued I think. Heat and dental floss as saw behind them to cut the adhesive or mounting tape.

 

This.


And this, lol

 

like one other post here.. I've heard the dental floss method before...but also a thin piece of wire does the trick too. Just carefully work it back and forth through the adhesive and it will come off without breaking most likely

 

I like using 15lb fishing line. Not too thick and not too easy to break.

 

The fishing line and the dental floss are good tips for getting them off.
And personally if I am going through all the trouble of painting my XJ I am removing the badges.
Do it right or don't don it at all IMO.
Problem with the fishing line and the dental floss is that you want to be sure to be flush behind the badging.
From removing door molding on my '00 I was not for a split second and actually cut into the molding.
Think I was using fishing line.
Have since discovered this:


Not cheap and lately not available in some states but this stuff is awesome.
Little goes a long way and it does not evaporate completely.
Now I have never used it to remove badging but have to clean up residue from stuff.
So since I have it in "stock" (LOL) would try it.
Now as far as the badging.
New stuff if you can find it is expensive. Some depending on the year are just decals though.
Some can be removed, like the 4.0 badge on my '00, and reused cause it is one piece.
For that I would use 3M double sided tape. And not the stuff that you can buy in the auto parts store.
But the 3M VHB. The 5952 one.
Now realize this stuff is no joke. Be exactly where you want to be before you even brush up against the vehicle.
Cause either that is where it is going or you get to clean it up and try again. LOL.
Now in my travels and curious about this I came across this for dealing with all the separate letters.

https://www.adhesivetemplates.com/

Now I have seen some of the templates for my '00 on here but trying to get to that page on the website today would not let me for some reason.
Thing is these are not cheap either but IIRC were about half the price of what new badges would cost.

 

Part of what the company I work for manufactures are logos, decals, badging. Think stuff like the SRT badge on Dodges, the Toyota "hat" badge on their vehicles, Ranger Boat badges and decals, etc.

If I was to try and apply the word Jeep for example, being separate letters, I would definitely apply some kind of topside adhesive to hold the orientation. That is how they are sent to the factory. Then since us mortals don't have the nice templates the plants have to place the words in the perfect orientation, I would use tape on the sheet metal to mark out the location. Then you have a good chance of getting it on properly without having to redo it.

I guess this is part of the reason I have de-badged all of my vehicles in the past. Just easier, lol.

And I also think it's interesting that this thread has gotten so many responses and my thread about an axle pinion gear is virtually untouched. Must be more folks here with appearance interest/knowledge than driveline acumen.