A quick body trim question

[stinkysGTI]

Does anybody know how the rear VW emblem is attached to the hatch on an 01?

It looks like somebody tried to pry mine off cause the rubber seal in one spot is tucked under. When I pulled on it a little, it sounded like all it was, was some type of adhesive, but I didn't want to just pull it off not knowing if I'd have some big hole, or a bunch of little ones.

I've been wanting to take mine off anyway to have a clean rear, and this seemed like good motivation... yeah, I said clean rear :)

[Mr_Diesel]

I did a lot of searching on google and other forums and couldn't really find a stright up answer to that question. Isn't the key hole for the hatch hidden behind the VW emblem? There might be some nasty body work... welding, etc required to remove that beast. I know the "GTI" badge shoudl come off with a hair dryer and fishing line (plus goo gone).

[stinkysGTI]

I got the GTI and VR6 emblems off no problem not too long after I got the car.

The keyhole is actually right next to the hatch handle near the bottom. There's nothing but car behind the monsterous VW

I talked to a guy who had his removed by the stealership [what a dummy], and paid somethin like 600 bucks!! Just for the removal, repainting of that small area.

I was thinking of taking it all the way down, bondo from the back, sand and primer. THEN take it to a body/paint shop and just have them paint it for me.

[Mr_Diesel]

$600 is a bit steep, but that's probably not too far off. You can't just repaint that one area, you have to repaint the whole panel. A good high quality paint is around $200/gallon depending on color... Metallic paints are more. Black and white, I hear are the cheapest. They would probably remove the hatch, completely disassemble it paint it, then reinstall it. If your paint is in MINT condition, you might just be able to spray over the area that needs it if you do your prep work right.

[stinkysGTI]

Then the 600 makes sense. Hopefully if I did all the removal and everything it'd be half that. That's not gonna make me go faster though, so I'm not in a hurry :)