Hi everyone,
Firstly I just want to thank all of you for being involved in this forum and sharing such GREAT information!
I read this thread thoroughly and even though I am fairly handy, I am not sure I would have tried this mod without all of the instructions and assurances from "The Pioneers" ... The instructions were extremely valuable ... for anyone wanting to do this here's a summary of what I learned from all of you:
- I ordered my black emblems from downatthebuilding on eBay ... because many here have said Tim (from the eBay store I listed) is possibly unorganized and somewhat misinformed, and occasionally makes mistakes ... I wrote in the note to him in the auction to be very clear and concise ... "I need 2 BLACK Ford emblems for a 2013 Ford Explorer Sport. a 9" bolt-on for the front, and a 7" stick-on for the rear, and because it is an Explorer and NOT an F-150, the rear camera is NOT an issue ... can you please combine shipping and save me a few bucks" ... This went perfectly and he replied immediately and even over the Christmas shipping rush he had them to me (including shipping to a different country) in a little over a week!
- For the rear I followed all of your excellent tips ... put a little Goo Gone on the top of the emblem, let it drip in behind for a couple of seconds and then use a heat gun or hair dryer to loosen the double sided tape ... get a pair of "small point" needle nose pliers and grab one edge of the "tin" logo and twist it around the pliers like you are removing the lid of a sardine can ... comes right off ... use a little more heat and Goo Gone to remove and clean any residue ... Install the new emblem ... it's a perfect fit and this way you have no chrome ring showing, which you would have if you went over the original blue oval ... Doing it this way, it looks OEM
- For the front I also benefited from such great advice listed here! - Pop the hood, get a hand in the small opening where the hood latch is located ... and with a small socket wrench with a 10mm socket remove the 2 "tin" nuts from the back of the emblem ... this is a TIGHT fit and the hood latch nearly rubbed the skin off my wrist ... but don't worry ... I am a fairly big fella with a large wrist and sausage fingers and I got in there ... once the two nuts are off, come back out front and get a thin putty knife or hard plastic "decal smoother/air bubble remover/squeegee type" tool in behind and loosen the backing from the grille ... like many have said previously "just when you think you can't pry any harder without damaging something" it will pop off ... clean the area and install the new emblem reversing these steps and you are good to go! ... I also remember reading a post here that said to be very careful of over torquing the two nuts because the plastic "bolt/nipples" could snap ... I think that is valuable advice to keep in mind too.
Thanks again for all of the great info ... I am glad I did this mod ... it looks great and is just one of those minor things that make my Sport just a bit more unique and personalized.
Cheers!