re: gluing badges

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

Responding to an earlier post about >>I'm leaning towards simply gluing the
badge and gaskets on with silicone<<, Michael Williams wrote 

"A cautionary tale. The GTV I just traded away had the C-pillar badges
(round w/ green serpent) glued on. Some ding-dong glued them in such a way
that they became a nice little water trap. When I removed the logo I found
a nice rusty spot nearly the size of the badge and a hole right in the
center. Be careful how you glue badges on the car! I would suggest that the
glue be done in a complete circle or if there is a low spot that there be
an opening at the bottom in case water did get trapped inside.

I have had a few which were as bad if not worse, which is one reason (apart
from aesthetics) why I lean toward deleting extraneous trim, especially when
it was a later "enhancement" (as in the case of the coupe C-pillar badges) for
a design which was superb without the addition. I believe, however, that the
type of paint, and its permeability, is a bigger factor than the gluing per
se, although the permeability and moisture retention of the gluing system
could well be factors. All of the cases where I have found problems were
coupes which were lacquer-finished. The one lacquer-finished sedan I had
didn't have any glued-on trim, so offers no evidence, but all of the enamel-
finished sedans I have had shed their glued-on trim without problems.

Bolt-on trim, or studs with spring-nuts, are still around, but bonded trim was
making serious inroads by the mid seventies, particularly for trim which was
variable among models sharing the same production line. The "Sport Sedan"
emblems on Sport Sedans are glued on, and have never shown any paint-film
problems (or rust) on the ones I have removed. The "Automatic" on automatic
Alfas I have had were bonded and also had no problems. Dealer's emblems (which
I also remove) are normally bonded, and don't seem to cause problems. All of
these have the bonding-system and the emblem as a package, i.e. the bonding
was formulated for automotive exterior use, not general-purpose, although
general-purpose products may be perfectly satisfactory. Or they may not.

The 3M Automotive Trades Division catalog lists "3M Plastic and Emblem
Adhesive", #08061, 5oz tube, "an excellent adhesive for plastic repair and
emblem application, for interior and exterior bonding, use for bonding metal
emblems, rigid plastic parts, taillight lenses and vinyl trim strips, - clear,
strong, quick drying, one-surface application". They also have several types
of foam tape, some black, some white, some grey, some vinyl, some urethane,
and a couple of them specifically for trim attachment; "Scotch-Mount
Automotive Attachment Tape" is a closed-cell foam tape coated on both sides
with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, "Scotch-Mount Super Automotive Attachment
Tape" has acrylic adhesive on both sides "for excellent attachment in critical
applications" and "provides excellent adhesion to all OEM and aftermarket
paint systems, especially the high solids lacquers found on all GM cars".

There is not necessarily anything wrong with using bathtub-caulk silicone
sealant for the finishing touches on your $10,000 paint job, and there are
neoprene-based construction adhesives available at lumber yard which I will
happily use for things like reattaching the little rubber bumper-guard bumpers
on GT Veloces and Berlinas, but in the spirit of The Last of the Big-Time
Spenders I would tend to go for a purpose-formulated professional product, 3M
or equivalent if I couldn't find something imported with an umlaut in the
manufacturer's name.

Cordially, 

John H.

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End of alfa-digest V7 #257
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