Hello All,
I got a nice set of letters to install for the hood of my 445. The problem is the p.o. filled in the holes before he painted the car. :(
Any tips on how best to redrill these holes so the letters are located as close as possible to their original location? I removed the front grille & can see where the fill is but I don't drink drilling from the inside out would be successful.
Any thoughts? I want to do this right.
Thanks in advance for any/all recomendations.
Regards,
Jim

Thanks to all for the tips. They worked perfectly!
Jim

If the holes have been bondoed, others below have already described how to reopen them, but they left out an important step---paint the edges of the newly reopened holes before mounting the letters to prevent moisture from getting to the exposed edges of the bondo and the metal underneath. This will prevent rust or bubbling from appearing a few years down the road.

If the holes have been welded, you will either have to do some careful measuring and tricky drilling (the welds will likely be very hard and difficult to drill through---the bit will want to skate around and mar the paint) or you could cut the pins off the letters and attach them with double sided tape, like most emblems are mounted on newer cars. If you go this route, go to a body shop supplier and get 3M emblem mounting tape, as it is about the only thing that is long-term durable in this application. If they don't have 3M there might be other kinds that are OK, the important thing is that you want the real professional-grade stuff so the letters don't fall off in a few months.

You might be able to push the filler out with an icepick from the inside.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

If they've been "filled" with bondo there's probably a tiny blob on the back. Skim these off with a razor blade. Then use the smallest drill you can find, say 0.5mm, in a pin chuck to make a tiny pilot hole. You can then enlarge the holes from the front. Drilling by hand rather than using a Dremel or power drill will give you much more control. Hopefully you won't crack the paint. A couple of layers of masking tape on the outside is a good idea.