You may be able to get away without removing the rear seat(s) but I am not sure if you will be able to remove or slide the bottom metal trim out of the way, enough to remove the panel. There will probably be some black adhesive goo (waterproofing) in the holes, just something to watch out for. Classic Industries offers 1980 Ford Thunderbird Fender Emblems. If you have the birds, you can use a panel tool or needle nose pliers to gently remove the barrel nuts. In response to the sales downturn of the 19801982 Thunderbird, the Thunderbird underwent an extensive model revision for the 1983 model year. If you have landau emblems, they unscrew, 4 nuts. The ninth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury coupe that was manufactured and marketed by Ford for the 1983 to 1988 model years. This should expose the backside of the emblem, you may have to move a bit of insulation and tar paper out of the way.

Finally, there are 3 clips, holding the panel in place, it just pops off. Then the remove the metal trim, surrounding the interior C pillar panel and the courtesy light.

Introduced to commemorate the 25th year of the Thunderbird, the eighth generation was substantially downsized, transitioning further into the mid-size segment. So your rear seat bottom, then the seat back(s) need to be removed. Ford Thunderbird (eighth generation) The eighth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury coupe that was manufactured and marketed by Ford from the 1980 to 1982 model years. The only way they could be removed, from outside of the car, would require breaking the emblems and the tabs etc.

I'm not sure if there are any actual 'tricks' to remove them? You will absolutely have to take apart some of your interior to get to the backside of the emblems.

1980 thunderbird emblem