Debadged grills

"Losing the badge is the mark of a true stealth car"

We've seen many high performance car owners take off the badges that advertise that, or even swap them for more modest badges for a proper sleeper.

It makes cars less obvious to thieves or boy racers that will try to burn away at the lights or do a dangerous overtake just to get bragging rights over your badge.

The single most obvious feature of a car is the shape of the grill and the badge on it.

Simply by removing the badge you anonymise the car giving it a crisp fresh clean look.

We shall now look at the options open to you for debadging your cars grill and see which option will work the best for you.

For a true Euro or Stealth look you should consider debadging your grill.

The manufacturers grills and badges come in a few primary types.

Some have the badge shape pre moulded into the grill and then have a chrome insert added to them forming the actual badge

A few have the badge actually moulded into the grill itself. Other makers badges are simply stuck on to the grill.

You can usually determine the type of badge you have by looking behind the grill and poking around with your finger.

In the case of badges affixed to the grill, you can simply remove these. A few will have pins that slot into the grill and the grill will need to be filled and painted to cover this up.

Where there is a large moulding in the grill for the badge things start to get complicated. To make the look complete you really need to replace the horizontal slats of the grill and cut out the badge mounting area.

It is far easier to just buy a replacement badgeless grill and you will find many auto part suppliers selling these online and in popular auction websites. They are a simple drop in replacement and are a very effective way of creating a smooth look.

Another option is to cut out the entire interior of the grill, and then filling in the resulting hole with a mesh of some description.

The mesh will need to be weather proof, we see some pretty nasty rusting on some chrome effect meshes. It will also need to be quite firmly and tightly mounted as it will look awful if it sags.

Another easy option to get a "debadged look" is to spray your grill and badge black. Some have chrome inserts and even chrome detailing around the edge.

When the whole thing is painted black it can look very effective indeed. A fact noticed by Audi and produced to a small degree in the "Black editions" of their cars.

If you are good at bodywork or know a good bodyshop then you could always bring the top of the bonnet down to close up the gap (but ensure the engine bay area has sufficient ventilation.)

It will also look good if you remove all the badges and decals from the car.

Euro style cars are typified by the removal of trims, badges and all hard edges and creases are smoothed out.

Plan your cars look in photoshop first and then see what options out there will best help you to achieve that look. You can join us in our friendly car forums to discuss all aspects of car modification.

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