Glueing a badge in place

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Have a rather nice wood rimmed steering wheel on the old Rover. Much nicer than the oddly shaped original. But the centre of it is a fairly ugly plastic moulding with a new Rover badge in the middle - more Metro than SD1.

At a P6 meet the other day I noticed new spare wheel boot mounting badges on sale which proved to be a perfect fit diameter wise, so bought one. Its the fairly common method of making such things - clear smooth plastic on the outside, with the 3D effect and colour applied to the back. Cut down the original centre to just the bit that pushes in to the hub and glued the badge to that with Evostick. Which melted the painted part and wrecked it. ;-(

Got another. I can't work out any neat way of fixing it without using a glue of some sort - but at 30 quid a pop don't want to experiment. It does nothing other than cover the wheel boss and securing nut and is a tight fit in the hole in the wheel, so only needs holding down as it were. What would be safe - remembering it has to come off if I need to remove the wheel. BluTack?

Here's a pic of the setup with the damaged centre fitted.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Tacky enough to hold but crappy enough to come adrift if you need to get under it again

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Can you be certain it won't touch the paint? The black part of the badge is provided by the paint on the back - the actual body of the badge is clear.

[F Murtz]

[Dave Liquorice]

You have the old one to experiment on...

Hot glue might work but if the substrate is metal might cool/set too quickly to enable the badge to be applied and centred/aligned properly.

Double sided sticky tape but might damage the paint on the badge on removal.

Folded back on itself gaffer tape or other single sided tape? Experiment in case the adhesive attacks the paint. Maybe that "invisible" selotape stuff?

"White snot"? The stuff a little like blue tack but much stickier and softer that is sometimes used to close junk mail envelopes or hold news credit cards onto the covering letter.

[The Natural Philosopher]

its pretty good. I cant say that anything that is strong enough to attach to the paint wont in the end tear the paint off when you remove it.

It wont attack it though. Appply to the wheel and then apply the actual disk. The stuff I have is tacky at 50-60C - well below any plastic melting range - although it comes out a fair bit hotter than that when 'runny'

The guns are cheap and craft places do them, Ranges of glue sticks exist. Its a good toy that I keep finding new uses for.

its ab bit like a fast version of 'no more nails' which, come to think of it might also work. Or simply use an acrylic sealant like decorators caulk - that is like a very thick white glue and tacks to many things more than plasterboard and wood..

Another that might work is water based latex contact glue. Copydex etc.

.

[The Natural Philosopher]

..and there's another one! the foam tape is best as it gap fills

[Mr Pounder]

It's cheap enough. I've used it for some very unusual jobs - securing the cheap and nasty floating valve thing in the bog is one of them.

[Brian Gaff]

Double sided tape perhaps? It seems to have been good enough for Ford...

Brian

[Andy Dingley]

3M "Command" adhesive. Somewhere between foam pads and blu tack, with very easy removal.

[Jim White]

How about getting a polished ali ring turned and use the steering wheel allen screws to secure it?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Cost. ;-)

I've tried BluTack on the old one and it doesn't go for the paint, so I've used that. Whether it will fall off in the sun etc, only time will tell.

[Chris Holmes]

=A0 London SW

If it does, i'd be tempted to put a coat of Araldite on the badge and the boss and let them cure separately, and then try the glue gun to join them together. Test on an inconspicuous area first, etc, etc

[Muddymike]

Have a rather nice wood rimmed steering wheel on the old Rover. Much nicer

I would coat the back with a more stable paint first, test for stability on the damaged one.

What's wrong with the original SD1 wheel? I have one on my Land Rover and love it despite its quirky shape.

Mike

[Chris Bartram]

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The snag is the material the badge is made of is clear - but from the front looks black. Which is achieved by the (thin) coat of black paint on the back. If that gets damaged in any way it would show from the front. So there is no inconspicuous area.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Each to their own. ;-)

[Jules Richardson]

Paint over it with something that is a little more resilient, then glue?

If it were me, I think I'd be looking at making some sort of carrier somehow, and have the carrier bolt on / clip on / screw on to the steering wheel boss. That or recreating the design in Inkscape and making my own from scratch (which gives me a bit more flexibility, because I'm not stuck trying to attach a bit of clear plastic of pre-determined shape/ size).

cheers

Jules