Hi MC, I just replaced my hood emblem and one of my ham-fisted buddies pushed on it to shut the hood and squashed it…just like the one I took off! The emblem swap started badly when I dropped one of the nuts inside the trunk and could not get it out. Then getting the rubber gasket in place was tough and as I tried to secure the emblem, it kept slipping under the emblem. It looked so easy. Frustrated in Ferndale
Hey frustrated, I had the same experience with my own car except the person who squashed it was no friend of mine. The emblem seems to be such a logical place to push the hood shut. After all, who wants a hand print on the paint!
A few tricks I have learned are to first make sure the pins on the emblem are straight enough that they will fit into the holes in the hood. If they are not (and they often aren’t) you can gingerly straighten them while applying pressure to the face of the emblem (so you don’t distort it and break the cloisonné)
Next I mix up a little epoxy to fill the void on back of the emblem so when it gets pushed on (and it will) it will not squash. After the epoxy dries, I warm the gasket up in the micro wave in a cup of water until it is very soft and pliable then stretch it over the emblem. As far as those pesky nuts, I use a nut driver with a small glob of butyl tape (bubble gum would work) to stick the nut to the driver while I am fishing it up into the hole. It works like a charm. –MC