Kia Optima - Re-Badging Complete!

I realized after I put up my last post that I had previously posted about ordering the Kia re-badge kit so some of it was redundant.  I don't have an editor (or bother to reread my own posts) so things like that happen from time to time.  Anyway today was a nice day so being the impatient type off I went to apply my new re-badge kit.

The first thing I realized was that the on-line instructions for removing the existing Kia badges was HORRIBLY INACCURATE.  The ones I saw suggested using dental floss or fishing line to remove the badges.... here's the problem.  The original badges have pegs that go into the sheet metal.... YOU CANNOT SLIDE DENTAL FLOSS THROUGH THE PLASTIC PEGS!  After breaking several pieces of fishing line I had to come up with an alternate plan.

The alternate plan involved a hair dryer and a screw driver. I gently lifted the badge and had my helper son apply some heat with the hair dryer, he was actually the one who got the first one lifted off so he deserves the credit for our success. Once we got it pried off it was pretty simple to keep applying heat and remove the entire thing.  The first one left a lot of the double sided tape behind which we had to remove with goo-gone but the back one came off with almost all the double sided tape intact.  I think our success with the second one was due to constant and heavy hair dryer heat application.  Once we had the old ones removed and the area cleaned up applying the new ones was a breeze.

For the wheel covers we simply had to place the new badges over the old ones.  Here is proof of our success, I think the new ones look way better than the old ones.  There is also another story in these pictures but I will get to that in my next post. (And its not the expert removal of my license plate in the second picture using MS Paint)

Kia Optima Re-badge Kit

One of the things I am not really in love with are the Kia emblems on the front and back of my Optima, they are also on the wheels and steering wheel.  I was reading somewhere that you can find replacements that are easy to install, they look like the picture to the left.  After a little internet research sure enough you can buy replacement kits, prices seemed to range from $50 to $80 for a set of 7 (front, back, 4 wheels, steering wheel).

On E-Bay there are lots of places selling the kits but some of them were located overseas which I normally avoid due to it taking forever for items to arrive and possible shipping damage.  I came across a place called the K5 Optima Store and the link to the items can be found here : http://www.k5optimastore.com/products/kemblems.  There were some good reviews on this company so I figured I would give them a shot.  Sure enough 5 days later the kit showed up in the mail well protected in a bubble envelope.

So next steps are to google some videos about how to apply these babies and I'll let you know how it turns out.