D O D G E badge install

One of the previous owners of my A100 removed all the Dodge badges from the van. The original holes have been filled in and painted over. I just purchased a set of the "D" "O" "D" "G" "E" letters off eBay to mount to the front of the van and would like to know if it might be possible to spot the original location of the holes from inside. If so I'd like to drill them out so the letters can be installed in their exact location once again. So what needs to be removed to find the location where these holes used to exist? Does the heater assembly need to removed to gain access to them? Anything else? Just hoping to save some time instead of pulling everything out if I don't have to.

Also, how are the letters affixed to the sheet metal? Do the posts need to preened over? Are they tapped for a screw? I'm guessing I'll find out once the letters arrive but I'm still curious none the less.

don't think you will see anything behind the heater. double wall of metal. the letters are just pushed into round retainer clips in 1/8 holes through the front. these little clips do take a hold and sometimes you break a pin off removing a letter. i know the fargo set i have i broke a couple off . depending how many are left in place you might have to use 3-m double sided tape to affix them to the front. after much measuring and pondering the thought of drilling a bunch of holes back into the nice paint on your vehicle the double tape will probably look like the best option.

So are you suggesting I remove the tabs from the back of the letters and use 3M tape to affix them? Does anybody in the Michigan area have an A100 that I could stop by to do some measuring off of for placement?

NOT if they are all in place. but the little holding bushing / retainer that push through the body first then the letter goes into them are gonna be hard to find. hope they come with them. i'll send some measurements if nothing else when i got a few minutes.

Restoration Specialties has those retainers I think. You'll just need to peruse their online catalog.

Worst case scenario to find the original holes is to sand the paint off. Yikes!

Hey Lostwire, I put my Fargo emblems on 2 summers ago so this is kinda fresh in my head. I don't run a heater in my truck so you are probably gonna want to take yours out to do this. If you get down under the dash and can look under the air box that the vents go into right up and under it you should be able to see the area where the emblems us to be. You will probably be able to find the welded holes pretty easy. It will probably be a really big bitch to drill them out from inside though. If you can get measurments of the hole it would be your best bet to drill them from the outside. DO NOT use the old style barrel clips on the emblems. They are good for holding them on but if you try to take them off it is pretty hairy and you will probably end up with broken pins. Get some speed nuts from Home Depot or something. I used them on my Fargo emblems and they work great!! You can take them on and off if you need to. Are there any junker A-100 around your area that you could get exact measurments off for the hole location?

hope you can make this out. i needed help posting the pic and now it's lost inside my computer somewhere.

Thanks for all the info and advice everybody. That pic with the measurements is great - thanks for taking the time JKR to do that. I've been thinking I might want to paint the heater assembly along with the dash so I'll see if I can make out where the filled holes are. I might be better off waiting to install them until I have the van painted again.