Alfa Romeo 4C Forums banner

Just got vandalised!

6K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  Ivanivnk 
#1 · (Edited)
Need some help guys, some MF just vandalised the boot lid of my spider,

Ripped out the rear badge and some damged to the paint and underneath,, al that is left is a bent bolt sticking out the hole

(No picture as yet) was just getting ready for auto italia on sunday,

The bolt seems to be maybe where the badge would screw into,

Can anyone help me with a picture of the rear replacement badge and maybe workshop manual so i can work out how to repair it,

As yu can understand, i want to kill them,,,
 
#2 · (Edited)
Man, so sorry to hear! What worthless pile of shit could do this? Any CCTV in the area? Don't the AFP do death squads? If you find him you could always sew a few drugs into his pocket linings and send him on a flight to Indonesia or the Philippines (they do there). Seriously, I hope you get it rectified asap and it becomes just an unpleasant memory.
 
#3 ·
That absolutely sucks. And those people who do that are absolute scumbags. Rest assured though that he is somehow paying for it, because his life is clearly shit and he damaging other people's property makes him feel better about his own pointless worthless existence.

I had someone crash into my Z4M and drive off whilst it was parked and another bastard keyed my M3 front to back all the way to the metal.

Living in a city, unfortunately, you're surrounded by twats and it's almost inevitable someone will fk with your stuff. You just gotta repair it, try not to think about it too much and move on.

And if you ever see someone doing that to another car, as a matter of courtesy, smash his teeth in.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I think caving his nose in with my size 12 leather wedge boot would do the job, im pissed because its a day out from showing, and now i cant do it,, damn it
 
#5 ·
Damage you described doesn't seem too bad though.

A bodyshop should be able to sort it in less than a day. Just gotta find a badge and I'm sure dealers will have them in stock.

Here's a pic of the rear end. Sorry can't get a better pic as my car is pretty far from where I am at the moment. I'm sure someone else will come through with a better image.
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Photos of the damage
 

Attachments

#7 ·
I just tried turning the bent bolt,, it spins freely,

Meaning that the new badge will have a bolt attached, and affixed with 3m with a nut that will have to be held secure after undoing the felt covering the boot lid, no doubt,

Not being a sook, but, screw me,,not what you need a day before showing...
 
#9 ·
Hi Ivan, I'm really sorry about the damage to your beautiful car. Such idiots... Where did it happen?

Did you try asking the guys at Gulson for help? They should be around on Saturday.

I hope to see you at Auto Italia. I won't be showing my 4c this year as I'll only be able to come in for an hour or so, with my 3.5 years old son. He saw your car outside the Fyshwick markets last weekend and loved the colour...
 
#29 ·
All good alexi, they fixed it for free, badge was $140 aud,

Ps drop me a line, we go for a (police special route no speed camera) cruise through tharwa and cotter road trip

Free this weekend, apart from anzac day
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alfanut
#12 ·
So sorry this happened - at any time, much less before this weekend's show.
This happened to an LE owned by the local dealership owner here - only the tw*t did more damage to the SMC boot lid trying to pry the badge off IIRC.

Happened while they were using the car in the fall.
I noticed it when they had the car on display on the showroom floor for the winter.
They actually displayed it wth the boot lid up "to show off the engine (cover)" while they were waiting on the part. LOL.

The moral of the story is that just missing the badge itself isn't maybe so bad, if they didn't wreck anything inside.
Fingers crossed that everything inside is OK, and that they can get you the replacement part quickly and painlessly.
 
#17 ·
This really sucks. I'm trying not to imagine how I might feel if this happened to my car. Anger would be a polite word for how I'd probably feel.

In looking at your pictures and my car, it seems the center hole is the main support that holds the badge on. The two smaller holes would be indexing holes so the badge can't spin be installed upside-down.

It seems that the felt liner of the trunk lid needs to come off to access the badge bolt. It looks like plastic poppers to me. To remove the plastic popper (it's a rivet of sorts that pops in and out) you need a panel popper tool. That is a wide flat tool with a slot in the center. It's thin and slides under the rivet head with support to not damage (usually) the rivet or the (usually) the panel.

Not that I ever buy anything from Amazon, but to give you an idea:
https://www.amazon.com/Panel-Removal-Tool-pcs-Upholstery/dp/B00LUPOSD4

Your local Alfa dealer should be able to order you a new badge. As mentioned, a decent body shop can fix the paint. But I would not trust them to replace the badge.


I'd show my car anyway. It's not like you're at fault for neglecting your car. As 4Canada mentioned, open the trunk at the show the engine. Few people will lift their heads to look up. The few that do will (hopefully) console with you about how sorry they are for your loss.
 
#19 ·
I'm so sorry to heat this Ivanivnk - you must be really pissed off.

There was a fashion in the early 80s (which was started by a band called the Beastie Boys) of wearing car badges as necklaces. They started with VW badges, but it rapidly spread to all brands of vehicle and the more prestige the badge had, the more street cred it had for the wearer. I'm hoping that what has happened to you is not a repeat of this fashion.

At the time, I was living in the UK and serving in the RAF, I had two cars - a Fiat and a Saab (yea - I know, not trendy motor brands, but sensible family-man cars & all I could afford on NCO's wages). The Fiat had its badge prised off one night and I was really pissed about it, but glad it wasn't the other car which was immaculate and my pride & joy. I reported it to the Police and advised them to have a chat with the local youths and let them know that I wasn't happy and that if it happened again that I would come looking for them. He advised me not to do that as it would be illegal & I just smiled at him and said "yes - but so is damaging my property" he could tell from the look in my eye that I was serious. The Police increased patrols for a while and had a friendly chat with the local youths and my cars weren't touched again.

At the time I was willing to beat the living daylights out of the vandal(s) over a Fiat badge that only cost a few pounds, for a badge off a 4c the penalty has got to at least be crucification for a first offence.

I hope that you can get your car fixed up soon and that you aren't out of pocket too much.

I also hope that you will still be coming to the car show on Sunday, where hopefully we will be able to cheer you up and, if needed, give you a hand to bury the bodies of the offenders.

Cheers,

Alf.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4Canada
#20 ·
Copy, thanks for that bro,

Ill be there, and , im like liam neeson in taken,

I will find them, and i will kill them,,ha

Thanks for the support
 
#21 ·
Say no more
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: 4Calgary
#22 ·
I'm so sorry it happened, I feel your anguish/anger. Stupid uneducated ********.
If it's any consolation I caught the guy trying to break into my VR4 a few decades ago. And managed to do everything you'd imagine.
Now if you could only wire up the badges to 240v.
 
#26 ·
As beautiful as the ALFA badges are, I am surprised that they don't get stolen more. On the other hand I had my 1970 ALFA spider for over 40 years and never had them stolen. For a period of time when I was living in California around 1980, it was a fad for kids to steal those emblems from pricey cars to put on chains around their necks. Luckily that fad died out. Some of those older badges and trim for all brands of cars are very rare and expensive, if even available, so the purist and restorers are willing to pay exorbitant prices for them so I expect them to show up on Craig's list or EBay...and sources are shady ;-)

I knew some ALFA owners that would pull their badges off the car except when using it...and would use autobody clay to temporarily hold it in place.
 
#27 ·
Hey Ivanivnk, did you source these and get them ordered?
I noticed that Jamie has them on his site, although the lead time is pretty long.
Hopefully your dealership parts departments down there aren't as clueless when it comes to ordering stuff like this as I'm afraid ours might still be.
 
#28 ·
Got it thanks mate, was $135 aud,, started at over $300?

I pulled the felt off the boot lid thinking it would give me access to the bolt that holds the badge in (a small hex bolt)

For future rreference, is a waste of time, no need to pull the felt off, doesnt give any better access on the spider boot lid at least,

But the hext nut inside keeps spinning intot the remnants of the plastic badge, so i gave up, and will leave for the dealer,

Pain in the rs,, but seems to be the same recess and badge as guilietta and 159, so,,

Will book in soon,

Prob is with the badge off the rear, i keep getting

"What model lotus is this mate?"

Kill me
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4Canada
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top