Tail light panel emblem repair

Well, I was told that Ford didn’t want to warranty my tail light panel broken emblem so I decided to fix it myself. This is not a hard repair to do so don’t get stressed if it seems to be a lot.

Prep work is key... I suggest that when you remove your tail light panel to lay it down on something soft and then tape the edges so that you don’t scratch anything up.

When you do remove your emblem, I’d suggest taping off the exposed side of the emblem to protect that as well.

Lastly, try to get it warrantied if your car is still under warranty... if it is out, you can use this approach, or whatever works for you.

Cheers.:cheers:

This is what I started with. The 7 o’clock plastic support broke.

This is how the reverse of the tail light panel looks so you can see how the emblem aligns and is attached.

So was it the wife or kids that smacked into it?

Drill out the remaining plastic on the reverse of the emblem as well as the tabs in the tail light panel. After doing this, it would’ve been easier just to use a Dremel and grind the tabs flush on the back of emblem.

Open up the holes in the tail light panel to accommodate the 8/32 female post nuts.

Now, trim away the tacked down foam padding, while the surface with alcohol and then glue down nut using Gorilla Super Glue. I scuffed up both surfaces for good grip and used a little baking soda to help harden the union.

Now lay the masked emblem on its frontside and spray over good with a can of Flex Seal. This was the best medium I could find to act as a barrier between the emblem and the panel, as the foam backing has been removed in some places.

I used two 8/32 female post nuts, two 8/32 x 3/8” stainless screws and two 3/4” washers as the mounting hardware. Since this car makes so much vibration, I drilled a wine cork and then cut slivers and placed between the washers and the panel to help absorb shock.

Here is the finished product. I was able to align my panel gaps between the lights a little better. While I was at it, I cleaned my rear hubs and calipers.

Tomster said:

So was it the wife or kids that smacked into it?

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No one did actually. I happened to notice it just prior to a wash.

Nice work. Pretty hardcore solution compared to the original attachment method.

Thanks [MENTION=29009]Demonic[/MENTION]. The factory deal is pretty flimsy given the NVH of these cars. Hopefully it will last a while. If not, back to the drawing board.

I used to use the badge to close the trunk with. No more after seeing the flimsy attachment. Nice work Drum. I guess us beer drinkers will have to settle for rubber washers.:cheers:

Nice , why didn't they want to fix that under warranty?

EF300 said:

Nice , why didn't they want to fix that under warranty?

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Yea, especially if those NVH vibrations did it.