900SAAB.com: Removing or Painting Emblems

900SAAB.com: Removing or Painting Badges

One of the small problems with my 900, when I purchased it, was the extremely worn condition of the original badges. On my 900SE, I chose to remove the emblems. On my 900S, I chose to paint them. I'll detail both below.

Removing Emblems:

Removing the stock emblems, without damaging the paint, takes some patience. To remove mine, I used a piece of kite string and sawed away at the adhesive. When the emblem popped free, I used mineral spirits and a heat gun to remove the adhesive. Note, on many SAAB 900's, the paint beneath the emblems will have turned black from water exposure. If this happens, the only remedy is to reinstall the emblems or repaint the rear section of the hatch.

Painting Emblems:

To paint the emblems, remove them as described above. Clean each with mineral spirits and lightly sand with 0000 steel wool. Spray with two coats of color and two coats of clear. Finally, after a thorough curing time, buff and install. Use 3M's exterior-grade adhesive tape to hold them in place.

I chose to paint my emblems body color as I liked the look of the car without emblems, however, I couldn't remove mine due to paint damage beneath the originals. This was a nice alternative and looks slick from a few feet away!