So, I was tired of buffing the 4runner, decided to screw around with the tailgate's emblem. Its been annoying me that the silver color behind the emblem is always dirty and a royal pain to get (and keep) clean, so I decided to fix it!

Removed the emblem and cleaned up the 3M adhesive, then cut an oval in a few colors of vinyl. Not sure which one I like best, but anything's better than the matte silver Toyota did behind it (looks like they etched it instead of painting it).

Red would be interesting, but not really my thing:


Then there's taupe mist metallic, sort of a champagne-gold-brown color, which is very subtle:


Copper? Interesting, but a bit too much I think!


Nacre! Or, it normal words, white pearl. Who the hell came up with that name anyways???


And finally, reflective white:


And at night, when there's light shining directly on it:


Think I'll leave the reflective white on for now, I might try a few other colors later on, but this is the one that appeals the most to me. Its definitely different!

I might try doing some digital printed gradations too, something like this:


Okay, done screwin' around, back to buffing...

White or orange reflective.

AFTER you finish buffing let's see all of them with the light! And I thought I was the king of coming up with anything to put off finishing focusing on the task at hand!.....says the guy drinking an IPA in the dark instead of finishing cleaning his garage...

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I like that taupe mist metallic ... Very nice!

Don't tempt me! I may just print that orange pattern on some reflective! I have some 3M printable reflective material here just for doing stuff like that!

I swear I got some ADHD today! Finished the hood and front end yesterday, and got the passenger's side done today!

Think I'll join ya for a beer, but no IPA today, think I'm goin' with some Hair of the Dog's Fred from the wood! 11% alcohol should help me feel better quickly!!!

Been playing around with digital printed colors and finally got a photo of the red one yesterday:



another angle:


The fade is more prominent in person, the photos just don't catch it very well, but if you look you can see it starts with a light red in the center, offset slightly higher so it lands in the center of the logo. It fades to a dark red at the outer edge.

Think I'll try the orange fade on there next, just for you, Greg! Its not on reflective, but can be if I dig it!

Can you take a photo with no emblem at all? And no vinyl? Considering removing mine all together

How resistant to fading will the vinyl and/or printing ink be to fading in the sun? Recall @Ducmonsta used red vinyl to cover is chrome strips, but they quickly faded to pink.

Hazema, its kinda weird under there, they did some sort of etching under the logo but didn't go all the way to the edge, they sorta feathered that texture just under the outer edge of the logo. I'll get a photo sometime today of it, gonna put the orange fade on there next to see which one I like.

desertred, it all depends on the quality of the vinyl. If it faded that fast, I guarantee it was really cheap vinyl!

For solid colors, I use Oracal brand, you'd want to use a cast vinyl, not a calendared vinyl, the cast vinyl will last outdoors longer with less fading and shrinkback.

For digitally printed stuff, I use 3M vinyl and I also laminate it with a clear UV-protective overlaminate, which extends its life and keeps it from fading for a few extra years.

Life expectancy of Oracal vinyl's cast colors are 7-10 years outdoors, depending on color, and their really expensive 9511 series will get you up to 12 years outdoors. 3M's digital print is around 5-7 years outdoors with lamination. These numbers are not based on vehicles though, and if one keeps it clean and protected, expectency will be much higher than that.

It lasted about a year. And it was the cheap stuff. I wasn't sure I was going to stick with red so before I invested in the higher quality stuff, I wanted to see if I was going to like it first.

On a side note, that was a nice pull. It's probably been about 5 years since I posted that info.

I like the outside the box thinking!

So I didn't get a chance to take that photo today, all I gotta say is "because supra"!





Sorry, might be tomorrow or Monday before I get back to the rear hatch project, I'm now knee-deep in this engine rebuild now...