Hey, check out what I'm making...
 

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...em-project.jpg

I'll have one for the front and rear :D

I'll post pics once their completed and mounted. Should mount up perfectly...

To do this you need:

Z33 JDM emblems x 2

Dremel

Steady hands (admittedly, I had a buddy of mine who is more artistic than me assist with some of this...)

Z34 sidemarkers x 2

Some thin black plastic

3M emblem adhesive

Interesting!!

Basically this will result in EXACTLY the same as the silver-base emblems you can buy for like $130 each (for only about $55 each in materials!), I'm just DIYing it.

Should look just as good/awful depending on your point of view :icon17:

Interesting..subscribe..love to see emblems mounted on car

Ok, I guess I'm a dullard. I don't get what you're doing. I'm not being a jerk, my brain just can't figure it out.

I'm with you on that:confused:

^^^^

Good thing I'm not the only one here...


What is going on?

He's putting the Z34 turn signal inside the z33 fender outer ring.

Can't wait to see them mounted, but like they say in the movies ... "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

Right but what is up with them going on the front and rear

Now that I don't know. :)

Man you are no help at all :icon17:

I think jordo is replacing his hamburger badges with these.

I did this but used the Nissan badges off the car along with filler and painted them up.

Are you going to put LEDs in them or leave them as is? :)

Ooooh! I like it! In for pics when done.

Yep. These will go in place of the standard "hamburgers"

They will affixed with 3M adhesive glue, not double sided tape, and I am not bothering to make a perfectly flat back -- just a small plastic circle (imperfectly cut, not that it matters) so that the car paint will not be visible through the side marker plastic.

So, no LED, just black backing.

It will look identical to the one being sold for $132 by one of the vendors on here, but with (I would assume) a less than perfect back.

As to anyone who wanted me to make them one... maybe. I am reluctant to do so because these are (1) a little bit of a pain to make, so if I charge you for my time, you won't save all that much over the retail piece, and (2) I am not going to bother making the back nice and smooth (not that you'll be able to see it), so perfectionists will not like it. Also, (3) if anything comes out slightly crooked or whatever, I'll neve hear the end of it -- these are hand made arts and crafts type things... not made by a robot :icon17:

Anyway, I'll get these done and on soon, and will post pics to show off my fine work for praise/lambasting :icon17:

Don't know if anyone cares, but here's a nifty custom emblem I made for my old Celica -- modified the factory emblem, made a black backing, and mounted the cool 1st gen Celica dragon to it.

Kind of a crap pic, but you get the idea...

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...gon-emblem.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...e24840-ap6.jpg

1. Purchase a set of JDM Z33 badges

2. Purchase a set of Z34 side markers.

3. Fire up the dremel. Carefully cut out the back of the Z33 emblems. The center circular piece with the Z logo is glued to the outer ring. Gently push this out in order to separate it from the outer ring -- you have to cut out the back first in order to push out the center piece (hollow on inside).

4. Dremel again. carefully chop off the back of the sidemarker, leaving the front circular part of the Z intact. Clean up any odd bits stuck inside the tinted lens of the marker. This separates the sidemarker from the rest of the assembly. Has to be cut -- don't see any other way to separate the circular marker from the rest.

5. Glue modified sidemarker circular piece to the outer ring of the Z33 badge.

6. Cut out a piece of black plastic and affix to the back of the new assembled badge with glue. This will keep your car's paint from being visible through the lens of the side marker.

7. Glue the new emblem to your car after removing the hamburger. Should fit perfectly in the grooves on front bumper, but will just cover up the grooved section on rear bumper (rear hamburger is a bit smaller for whatever reason).

8. Enjoy the new emblem and the kudos by fans; endure the mockery of haters :icon17:

See image below for reference.

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...em-project.jpg

I cant wait to see how these turn out!!

Looks great Jordo! So to confirm you purchased a set of the Z33 front and rear emblems, as well as a set of Z34 side markers and just replaced the front portion (old Z vs. new Z and backgrounds). How much did that set you back for BOTH the Z33 badges and the Z34 side markers?

Yep.

I got both badges as a set for like $50+ shipping on ebay and the sidemarkers for about $35+ shipping each on ebay... so total investment of about $120-135 for both, about $60-70 or so a piece.

Oh and 3M plastic emblem and trim adhesive -- actually I need to pick up some more of that.

Very cool, Jordo!

:wtf2:

subscribed for results!

I was lost until it was explained on exactly what was being done, awesome, but if you can buy these already made for $130 as someone stated earlier, why would you do the exact same thing and invest time and money, initially after the first few post I thought you were modifying the hamburgers to light up white or orange in the background, anyway cool cant wait to see finished product, GL

Because I will have two, which are identical to the ones you can buy, for less than the cost of one.

If someone would rather spend $260 plus shipping and not bother with the arts and crafts I certainly wouldn't blame them...

Poke a fork in these puppies!

Sadly, my crap camera really doesn't do them justice... I have a choice between lens flare and blurry :icon14:

Any apparent imperfections are just artifacts of glare or blur -- they look EXACTLY like the ones sold for retail (and after all, why wouldn't they -- same exact parts are involved...)

Anyway, I'm very happy with how these came out...

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...ed-emblems.jpg

Now just need to remove the OEM hamburgers and glue these bad boys to the front and rear. Pics following install...

nice turnout!

Argh... apparently there are a bunch of little nubs under the emblem that I'm going to have to sand down :icon14:

Oh, well... at least no one will ever see them with an emblem in place. What a PITA tho'... :mad:

So Jordan, now your car with have five Z's on the exterior. It's a Z-o-rama! :D

You can make fun of me when I convert the entire interior to red LED's.

They look really good :)

You are right, there are nubs on the front and rear of the 370Z under the badges.

One thing though, the badges from the 350Z are larger than those on the 370Z. As they are inset into both the front and rear of the car you will need to use extra tape or something to fill the gap and still have them securely stuck on.

I was thinking the same thing about the sizing. Hopefully they will still look good though :tup:

those light up, right?

Jordo .. get some pics of them installed on the Z ... great work thus far! (FYI Im still interested in a set .. lol)

So you want a lighted up Z emblem on the front and back of your car as well as the sides rite? I mean cool concept but over kill if that's the plan...

Don't think they are supposed to light up... Just for looks to match the side markers...



Right Jordo?? :confused:

It's too late for me then!

I was going to reveal my ricetastic addition to the gang in OTNH after they were on the car, but yes this be it :D

Are you really doing all red inside? Now you need the sills too :icon17:

Thanks! I think they'll look really good once mounted. I'm probably just going to use 3m trim adhesive and glue those suckers on there. I'll probably never take them off so if a little gridning and glue has to happen it'll be fine.


Paul_S' do; mine won't. I just wanted them to be black on silver.

Thanks :tup:

Maybe what I'll do is offer to accept materials bought by indivudals and charge a fee to assemble it (there's a good bit of dremeling, hacksawing, glueing, and gentle adjusting that has to happen).

My only concern then is whether people will get persnickety over any minor flaws they find... (e.g., if there's a tiny bit of excess glue around the edge of the emblem, I don't want to have to deal with people that now want their money back).

Also, I either have to figure out a way to incorporate holes for the bumper nubs on the back of the emblem or people will have to be willing to grind them down so it lays flush... a lot of people won't want to deal with that.

I dunno, that said, gather up the materials and make me an offer I can't refuse and I'll probably do it :icon17:

Ask me again in a year. That's the kind of mod you can't exactly take off the car and considering that mine's leased, I wouldn't do it unless I'm absolutely certain that I'd buy out the car at the end of the lease. I really wanted to keep the mods to simple bolt-one, which is what I'm doing, but I hate hate hate the orange illumination.

I redid entire interior of my Celica redone to red and blue, so I know I'm capable of doing it. But for some reason, this car appears much more daunting than the Celica.

We can definitely work out that deal. Granted I have a dremel and a hacksaw .. I am just pressed for time .. I rarely make the meets anymore let alone have time to mod the Z lately. I am not that detailed oriented to be a perfectionist .. if anyone has seen my initial front badge replacement can attest to that .. I currently have some other 350z after market badge up front .. and you can see the divot in the bumper behind the badge as it does not completely cover it up .. so I probably already get dinged from the judges for that alone! LOL

Installed.

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...installed3.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...installed2.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/jordo...installed1.jpg

What I like -- I love the emblems. Not flawless, but I think a vast improvement over the Nissan badges. :tup: :tup: :tup:

What I don't like... I swear they are slightly crooked :icon14:

Not scuffing the paint slightly in getting off the factory emblems is almost impossible :icon14:

The rear one requires 2 or 3 layers of 3M tape on the bottom to lay flush with the trunk.

Front nubs were fine; rear nubs needed to be razor bladed off to fit.

All in all, I give myself a B+ to an A-

You may commence congratulating or mocking as you wish :tiphat: