Diesel Badge Reproduction - gauging interest (1 Viewer)

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Update: I received the first prototype from @bhicks yesterday and shared the fitment photos with him. He wants to tweak it a little more and will send me another prototype based off the pictures.
 
Update: I received the first prototype from @bhicks yesterday and shared the fitment photos with him. He wants to tweak it a little more and will send me another prototype based off the pictures.
Version 2.0 is on it's way to you.
 
This project has not died off in case anyone is wondering.

@bhicks is sending me a third prototype as we have been trying to get the best possible fit on the OEM grill pictured earlier on this thread.

Making a badge for this type of grill is not as easy as the flat grills.
 
I finally got the first complete prototype back from my painter today. This project took WAY longer than expected. We had a really hard time machining these as one solid piece in an affordable way. The machining time on these was insane and our cost was insane to make them. We were able to do it but the labor price for machining was pushing the badge price into the $100 range which is not acceptable. We finally decided to do a 2 piece design. The top plate/badge is machined aluminum which mounts to a 3D printed backing plate. The backing plate is sanded smooth to remove any 3D printing lines before primer and paint. Overall it am happy with how it turned out and with a 2 piece design we can keep the cost in the same range as our other badges. Probably around $35. This is still a prototype so there are a couple tiny issues and flaws we have to address but overall this is VERY close to the final product. Here is what we have right now. This is going out to @FJ73Texas in the morning for test fitting and installed pics.
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Thank you @bhicks for taking this project on. When it arrives, I will update the thread.

Just from the pictures you shared with me and of my original one,

I say it doesn't get any better than this BH3D product for an upgrade to replace your old, crumbly plastic 30+ year old OEM badge that has been discontinued for awhile.

My original one on top and the BH3D one on bottom in the first pic below.

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As you can see on my original one in the second pic below. The mounting locations of the plastic screw housings will just crumble or break no matter how mint the rest of your grill and/or cruiser may be.

badge 4.JPG
 
I got the first complete prototype from @bhicks a few days ago but due to a lot of crazy things happening at work, I did not get a chance to really test it until today. It is a really nice prototype that fit perfectly on my grill and love the way it looks.

It is up to @bhicks if he wants to tweak it some more or not.

Here are some pictures I took today.

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I got the first complete prototype from @bhicks a few days ago but due to a lot of crazy things happening at work, I did not get a chance to really test it until today. It is a really nice prototype that fit perfectly on my grill and love the way it looks.

It is up to @bhicks if he wants to tweak it some more or not.

Here are some pictures I took today.

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Thanks for posting those pics. I did make a couple super minor tweeks to improve appearance and my machinist cut a batch of them last week. They go to my painter tomorrow. I should have pics of the first batch of 20 by the end of this week.
 
I was following up with Brad today on the next batch of badges to be made (I plan to get 1 or 2 of the final product myself.) but was not aware that the California fires has put a hold on that. Will be keeping him in my thoughts.

If you want one of these badges, I would recommend getting one once they become available.

Prior to getting the working prototype from Brad for test fitting (the adhesive used to put it in place is still holding very strong), I had been keeping an eye out on the yahoo auctions but they usually go for $100, usually more than that if used examples show up there.

Here is one that just recently sold after 5 bids for almost $200. Link: 超希少品 ランクル 70 STD LX ZX グリル用 ディ... - ヤフオク!

It is a lot of money to pay for a piece of old, used, and brittle plastic.
 
@bhicks

I am reaching out to you to see if you will still be offering these on your site? I know myself and a couple others that asked me directly are interested in the badge for sure.
 
@bhicks

I am reaching out to you to see if you will still be offering these on your site? I know myself and a couple others that asked me directly are interested in the badge for sure.
We actually have a batch done and ready to ship. We just had to put product releases on hold for a few weeks. We had been evacuated for multiple weeks in August for a huge forest fire and then ANOTHER huge fire in September from the opposite side of town rolled in and evacuated us another 3 weeks. We got buried in orders and just finally got all caught up last week. We doing product pics and building the website pages now. They should be up on our website and our ebay and etsy page by the end of the week.
 
I'm working on the webpage for these badges right now. Was this "Diesel" badge only offered on the 70 series cruiser? Also, what years was it offered for the grille? I want to get my facts correct on the listing.
 
According to ToyoDIY parts reference of the badge p/n 75311-60050, it appears to be a 70 series badge only.

Japan 1/1990-07/2004 LJ7*,HZJ7*,PZJ7*,KZJ7*
General & N. America 1/1990-12/2006 HDJ,HJ,HZJ,KZJ,LJ,PZJ,RJ7*
Europe 1/1990-07/2001 BJ73,LJ7*,RJ7*,HZJ7*,PZJ7*,KZJ7*

@Onur can probably confirm the badge is indeed 70 series only. (A polite request Onur by me, :) )
 
Hey Brad,

Thanks for working on these, and all the other cool badges that you offer. I'm sorry you have been displaced multiple times this year, and coming from a hurricane zone I can appreciate how hard it is to be evacuated multiple times in a short time period.
 
Hey Brad,

Thanks for working on these, and all the other cool badges that you offer. I'm sorry you have been displaced multiple times this year, and coming from a hurricane zone I can appreciate how hard it is to be evacuated multiple times in a short time period.
I just had to chalk it up to the 2020 suckfest were all in. It's always nice to have that standard for how low the suck meter can get. Once it's behind us we can always look back and say, "Well....this at least isn't as bad as 2020".
 
I just had to chalk it up to the 2020 suckfest were all in. It's always nice to have that standard for how low the suck meter can get. Once it's behind us we can always look back and say, "Well....this at least isn't as bad as 2020".

I definitely hope that 2021 will be better than 2020. I am sure many of us feel that way.
 
Finally got the listings set up. Here is the Diesel Grille badge listing for our website, ebay, and etsy. For international orders you need to order through Etsy or Ebay. We don't do international shipping on our own website.



 
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Just bought one. Thank you Brad.
 

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