Hi, I'm going to replace one of the cutlass badges (driver side front quarter) and I'm wondering how it works. I got the badge and it came with three nuts or washer type things. How exactly do i put those on? when i pulled the broken existing badge off there were no washers, were they inside the panel and are still in there? i checked my fisher manual and could not find the install instructions of these trim items.

many thanks.

 

The emblems are held on the inside using speed nuts (friction fastener). The only way to do this right is to drop out the inner wheel liner (plastic) so you can access the inside of the fender when attaching the emblem. If this is more than you wish to challenge, you could also apply some 3M thin 2 sided adhesive tape to the back of the emblem and just stick em on. No guarantee that would stay put though. I've seen 3M 2 sided tape fail.

 

I think you are confusing speed nuts with barrel nuts. Barrel nuts are the barrel-style friction fasteners where the emblem stud simply presses into the pal nut and is held with friction. These are typically used on the trunklid emblem - the barrel nuts snap into the holes in the sheet metal and the emblem studs press into the barrel nuts.

Speed nuts are stamped sheet metal nuts that cut their own threads in the studs on the back of the emblem when you tighten them.

Barrel nut:



Speed nut:

 

No, I'm not confused at all Joe. I know exactly what the differences are and I stand by my post. The OP mistakenly called the fender a front quarter panel. The emblems on the fender are fastened with speed nuts. Maybe go back and re-read. If I made a mistake on the interpretation of his query he can correct us both.

EDIT: Maybe using the term friction fastener is what threw you off. I intended it's use as you described but it still creates friction as it cuts, right?

 

Calling a speed nut a friction fastener is simply not correct. The barrel nut (used on the trunklid emblems) retains the post of the emblem by friction only. There are no threads, simply the friction of the necked-down part of the barrel nut pressing on the smooth sides of the emblem mounting post. You can remove the emblem simply by prying under it.

The speed nut (used on the front fender emblems) is a self-tapping nut and cuts threads in the emblem post. The only "friction" is what takes place during the thread cutting. The retention force comes from the interlocking of the nut on the threads it cuts into the post on the emblem. "Friction" is not what holds the fastener on, it's mechanically interlocking threads, just like any conventional nut and threaded rod. You must unscrew the fastener to remove the fender, just like any other threaded nut. I'll also point out that if you are reusing emblems, the speed nut retreads onto the previously cut threads with much less friction (unless you cross-thread it).

 

I keep my fender emblems on with barrel nuts.

 

That's certainly an option, but it's not how the factory did it, which is the topic of this thread.

 

^^^ I like this! I need to replace my fender 442 badges and have been dreading dismantling the fender/inner fender . The existing numerals were attached with two-sided tape when the PO did a whole body repaint, and are coming loose.

The other side of that coin is that I already have the front suspension completely dismantled as part of a refresh, so whats a few more bolts/screws that retain the inner fender? Everything is pretty much out of the way at this point LOL!

 

Point taken. We're both on the same page though as far as how the emblem is fastened on the fender.

For the record, the barrell nuts were used on the deck lid because there's just no good way to access them from the inside of the deck lid. I'm actually surprised that the side emblems weren't also fastened with barrel nuts. It would make the job of installing/cleaning/painting much easier to just pop off the emblems and re-insert.

Of course this would eventually wear out the barrel fasteners but they're quite easy to replace. IMO the biggest obstacle to barrel fasteners is rust around the perimeter of the fastener hole.

Hope the OP now understands the method he needs to follow if he's planning to replace the emblems as per OEM standards.

 

Use duct tape