Guys my cars going into thw workshop as the laquer is peeling on the bonnet, the whole bonnet needs a respray and stone chip repair. Basically i was thinking would the bonnet look good debadged or shall i leave it be, your input will be most valuable

I'm sure those with debadged fronts will say go for it
However, it's not that straightforward, the badge sits in a dent so you need to get that filled, preferably with a flexible filler or lead filler as the bonnet does flex a bit. I've seen a few debadged ones where the filler was starting to come away from the bonnet and it looked poo.

I don't mind either to be honest, but I think the badge being there is better.

I personally prefer debadging it as i think it looks cool, i remember ijaz owning a red plus which was debadged and it looked spot on, especailly with the grill it had on it.

Dont do it, makes the Coupe look too kit carish from the front. All cars need a badge on the bonnet even a Fiat one.

Also as Scooby says, even if you think it looks cool you will regret it when the filler shrinks ( and it will) and leaves a sharp line where the badge used to be.

He He... do it The Fiat badge is not something to be proud of but the coupé can be I don't think anyone could mistake the coupé for a kit car, badge or no badge, and after 18 months she looks as sweet as ever without the badge. If you prefer it then do it... even the die hard standard folk are putting in uprated brakes, suspension and turbos

i think if the bodyshop do a proper job like welding it rather than just filling the indent theres no problem heres a pic of my debadge to help you make your mind up

Kev

If you debadge it you can always cut the bolt off the back of a new badge and just stick it on if you change your mind, but it's much more expensive to do it the other way round. My filler isn't shrinking after a year. I agree with Flea - the Fiat badge is nothing to be proud of, it is also the old-style badge and looks dated IMO

Busa your car looks the dogs ball**£$. Really nice colour, i think im defo gona get a debadge

Why not replace the old fiat badge with the newer style round one?

My 2p's worth - I've considered it for a long time now. The first time I saw a coop debadged in the flash was when I popped 'round to see Nigel's dark red coop back in the dark ages. It looked impressive, especially with the zender front bumper. But, I've kinda grown to like the fiat badge, it lends a bit of 'underdog' to the car. Also, people are wrong to say that the FIAT badge is not something to be proud of, Fiat has a strong racing pedigree that pans back to the dawn of racing.

Most people know it's a fiat anyway, and the ones that don't - well who cars, if you want them to think you are driving something other than a 'shitty fiat', then buy something else.

Subaru's reputation used to be of cars that were so crap no-one had ever heard of them coz no one in a developed country bought them. Look at Lancia - not the best benchmark for a well sorted car but the Integrale is world famous for being the dogs potatoes. Everyone takes the pee outta Skoda's. but look at their rallying heritage.

Me, I'm proud of my Fiat, and if anyone asks me what I drive I say 'a Fiat'. F*ck them if they think that it's a sh!tty brand, most probably I will have had 100x more fun in it than their repmobile 2.0 L GLE with multi airbags & cupholders.

Oh, and don't get the new style Fiat badge - it won't look right stuck on the surface of the bonnet, it will need to be sunk in a little. Also, the 'slashes' of the badge mirror the coupe styling.

If anyone is gonna debadge, try putting the new round fiat badge recessed in the grill - that could look
Rant over

Do it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v57/adyr5/r1.jpg

Deffinately going to do it

I would (and intend to in the future) purely if nothing else than NOT to have to plish around it HE HEE kiddin

Seriously I do think it looks the nuts (like the others have said) if it's done properly (get it weilded and be done with it)

R00

Quote:

---

Also, people are wrong to say that the FIAT badge is not something to be proud of, Fiat has a strong racing pedigree that pans back to the dawn of racing.

---

It's not something I'm proud of then. If someone told me five years ago that I'd own a Fiat I'd have laughed in their face, sorry but they're not my cup of tea. The Coupé is in a completely different league compared with other Fiats IMO. I'm not embarrassed to own a Fiat, far from it in fact (I buy some of my clothes at Asda & Tesco so I'm not a brand logo junkie), I just quite like the unbranded, mystical look.

Each to their own I guess

I think a bonnet needs a badge or something to break up the huge panel.
There are other ways of making the fiat slashes look good, you could colour code the blue parts of the badge to the same colour as the bonnet.

How about removing the fiat badge, filling the hole and fitting the pininfarina badge like on the dash ?

Fiat has made a few classic cars 30 odd years ago but in recent years and certainly right now the Fiat brand is very much at the bottom end of the market in terms of price, kudos and desirability.

Current line up:

Panda
Punto
Idea
Doblo
Stilo
Croma
Multipla

Doesn't exactly set your heart racing The coupé was a breath of fresh air and to this day stands out as being something better and unique from the usual Fiat affair. The fact remains that if you say Fiat to someone they don't think top draw sports coupé

Anyway, Eskimo has seen the light that doth reflect back from a highly polished debadged front end

I think front de-badging is wrong.

Flea, correct, but that's more down to the Fiat group doing a lot of market segmentation these days which is a shame.
People tend to have very short memories of good things, and very long ones of the bad (Fiat, that'll just rust away in 2 minutes )

Ok guys! The car is booked in on Monday to be debadged and have the whole bonnet resprayed (Removal of all chips and dings). Thanks to those who have helped giving me their opinions. I have spoken to the bodyshop, and he advised me that he can put a smoke tint on the front headlamps its like a tint spray(free of charge), what do you guys reckon should I......., and also he can do the back lights for me.. any ideas on that...

Oh Yeah! When i get the car back i shall put up some pics... let me know what you guys reckon.

I watched a DVD recently about Enzo Ferrari's life and its
kinda nice to see him being inspired by racing Fiats
early in his life.

Fiats were racing when Enzo was a child.

Kinda puts things in perspective.

i had mine done but it does have to be done properly!

it needs a plate welded over it a few skims of filler and a thick 2k primer!!

when i bumped the front end of mine it didnt ripple or crack so aslong as its done properlly it should look the dogs nads!!

Here it is will be putting up better pics as it was getting dark and was taken with a phone camera
http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i65/electricbluefiat/?action=view&current=Photo-0036.jpg

see i told you its the way to go ...looks mint mate

just take that smelly tree off your mirror

Kev

how much did it set you back looks great imo

Paul R

now you just need to sort some decent wheels out and a grill and your look will look even better

Thanks Guys! I will be investing in some wheels and a grill, and then hopefully see how it goes.