I want to do a delete of the "Lexus" and "LS400" on the back of the car. Well, I got the emblems off without breaking a single pin (amazing) but I can't think of anything I can use to fill these extremely small holes left in the body...



Any ideas? I know this is a common thing to do.

Matter of fact, I'm gonna go slap some white electrical tape on there in the meantime so my trunk doesn't get rained in...

Anyway, thanks people. I appreciate it.

 

Fill it up with Bondo and when it get's dry, use a white marker on it. You can find both at Walmart. You can find white marker at Walmart in hobby aisle.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bondo-Glazing-and-Spot-Putty-4-5-oz/16927984?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227019318126&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42977357192&wl4=pla-81469214792&wl5=9034012&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=16927984&wl13=&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0N28ppnj3QIVAahpCh1PTQtiEAQYAyABEgIYwPD_BwE

 

Correctly?

1.after removing emblem clean area around holes down to bare metal
2. take a small center punchand use it in the center of each hole to make a shallow depression around the hole,this is to give the filler something to key too,the small hole in the center is not enough surface area for the filler to attach to. if you don't make a shallow impression aound the hole,the edges of it will keep reapearing.
3. use a good quality filler to fill the holes and a couple of inches around them
4.rough sand this area with 80 grit paper you will still have shallow impressions at this point where the holes were
5. repeat steps 3&4
6. now finish sand with 180 grit paper,if you still have low areas you might have to fill again,but they usually disappear after the second coat of filler.
7. use a good self etching primer on the bare metal to protect it
8.finish sand and paint

 

I've traditionally deleted emblems on my Toyotas. That involved having the holes welded up followed by the whole lid being sprayed, ~$400-$500. On these diamond white/pearl types, the odds of a good paint match drop with age. If the paint around the area is in good shape and your body guy is excellent the job can be seamless. I didn't have mine done this time because the paint was in varying conditions on the car so a respray of that size would show up.

Alternate suggestion would be to get the black pearl emblems or rattle can the old emblems black and put them back on. While the emblems are off, there may be ghosting. Do a claybar level detail and see if that shows up. If it does, that area will be pretty obvious and you can determine if filling or putting the emblems back on is what you want to do.

 

I have them in perfect condition if I want to put em back. I wonder why Lexus thought holes is a good idea for emblems. I didn't break any of the ***** that go in these holes which is a small miracle.

 

On my 1969 GTO Judge the cast emblems were mounted directly onto the trunk and fenders without rubber grommets...and metal speed nuts were the norm.

The body trim and door panels used sheet metal screws directly into body.

Rusting was commonplace.

On LS400's most through panel fasteners thread into a plastic grommet.

Auto design has come a long way

 

Toyota had used these registration holes on many models over the years. The additional work to punch these seems debatable when a jig can be used equally well to place emblems. They likely designed the name variations based on these holes to make it easy for the assembly line workers to not get them oriented wrong. You cannot put the Toyota/Lexus badge on the opposite side, etc. A QC control so that a specific designed badge will only fit there from the factory.

I can't recall if the Toyota Celsior badges had any pin variation. Are all the pins used on the trunk lid? I'm unclear if there is one on the LS400 side that isn't used.