Removing hood stripes
 

I have iced chocolate metallic paint with vinyl hood stripes I'd like to remove.

I'll take any tips... DIY? bring it to dealer?

Leave the car out in the sun to heat up, then slowly peel back.

You may be able to find a striping shop that will remove the stripes very inexpensively.

The sun works well as mentioned above. Then peel back across the stripe ( not up into the air ) slowly. Lighter fluid works well for getting any leftover adhesive off.

A hairdryer could work too. A good thread here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-stripes.html. Another good one here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-done-it.html. Good luck!

I've replace my stripes twice. A hair dryer does the job quickly and easily. As stated, pull back rather than up and don't rush. Depending on how long they've been on don't be surprised if you see ghost stripes where they had been.

How can you get rid of the ghost stripes?

Can't, they are a product of the sun bleaching the exposed paint. Well, you can, actually, by repainting the bonnet. Some have had a little luck by extreme polishing or so they say.

Yeah, i`ve been trying everything but with no good results

polish til the cows come home and all you are doing is polishing the clear so unless the color change is in the clear and not the base coat ya ain't gonna make a difference

you MAY find that in time the fade balances out.

IME the worst colors for sun fade are reds and dark greens

p.s. another vote for a hair dryer for a lil heat ... and pull slow. Goo Gone is safe to clean up the glue so long as you don't let it sit. Believe or not, WD-40 works great too . . .

My takeaways are sun heat or dryer, peel back not up, then either goo gone or some other adhesive remover to finish it off.

I'm going to give this a shot Sunday and report back. Thanks, everyone.

Hair dryer, quick and easy
Sun heat, sit in the shade and wait with a fine craft brew.

You can use a heat gun on low setting, but don't burn your paint. Peel the strips back slowly while constantly re-heating as you work. Dental floss is a good way to keep working if the stripes are fighting you.

You will need to machine polish with at least a Porter Cable and a good finishing polish to balance out the newly-exposed paint.

My friend just had his removed so he could have different graphics put on. He found a guy who wraps vehicles and had him remove the stripes and apply the kit he bought for $150-200. But keep in mind he graphics put back on so that upped the price a bit. Some sun damage was visible but he was able to buff it out. Having it down professionally did not disappoint. Something worth looking into.

Update: Removed the stripes with just the heat of the sun. Full detail job by the dealer was great at removing grime, but there is a slight difference in the shades of color on the hood now. Oh well, hopefully they will blend better over time.

Some sun damage was visible but he was able to buff it out.

polish til the cows come home and all you are doing is polishing the clear so unless the color change is in the clear and not the base coat ya ain't gonna make a difference



just sayin . . .

Removing Stripes
 

I'm in the process of taking mine to a body shop to remove my cheap aftermarket "viper" stripes that have cracked from the Sun. So no peeling off for me. I just hope they come off fairly easy with the eraser wheel. Then I need to decide if I want better quality decal stripes or have them painted on. With that being said, does anyone know where I can get HIGH quality stripes in a Gold color ??

spent TOO long removing a set yesterday .... dunno if the material in the 'silver' sport stripes is different but kept breaking and breaking and breaking. Was using a hair dryer but after hours had only gotten up about 1/3 of a top stripe (the bits on vertical surfaces came off easily, the flat top pieces did not want to let go).

finally decided to get out the 'big dog' and used a steam cleaner with a 'wet head' usually recommended for stain removal. A few passes and the glue was soft and no damage to the paint .... had all remaining material off in 30 minutes.

That aught to be a 'sticky'. Good to know for those that need to know.

Had a body shop take mine off. Took 5 hours ( $300 ). They were cheap stripes. Where can I order good quality vinyl striping for a good price ?

Try these guys on the link below. I haven't, I got mine from a guy who somebody bad mouthed for no reason so he folded up his tent. His were laminated, been on for like 6 years and don't show a scratch.

https://www.mightystripes.com/

I looked at that site before. Seems pretty cheap price for quality vinyl. Although I don't know how much quality vinyl should cost. :confused:

I'd like to be able to choose the width I want in the VIPER and Pin Stripes. They only have the one size.

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add one more thing. I removed the clear bra off of our '06 MCS a couple of years ago. I left it on too long really. Thankfully, I had kept the car waxed all those years, and the bra was in good shape. There was one place on the lower passenger door where it took some clear coat with it. I know a clear bra is not like vinyl necessarily, but the clear bra goo is why I'm posting this. I can only assume the sticky goop left behind would be similar.

I used tea tree oil to remove the residue, and it worked beautifully. I then used paint prep to remove the tea tree oil. I didn't see any effect on the paint. Of course, the clear bra was from 2006, so I'm not sure if the adhesive would be similar or not. If anyone else is ever in this situation and has tea tree oil lying around, it might be worth a try. (I wouldn't leave the tea tree oil on the paint for an extended period. The stuff is natural, but it is also potent. I'm not saying it could hurt the paint, but I wouldn't risk it. :no:)

Removing BASTARD STRIPES
 

OMG...crazed and baked on silver stripes are a BASTARD to remove...heat, WD40 and PATIENCE seems to be the only way to get them off:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:!!!!! Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

Ive got one of these that i use for stripe, baked on clear bra and some emblem removal. You can take off the stripes as well as clear bra with no peeling in minutes with minimal effort and ive yet to see any damage caused. If youre in atlanta and need it done i always work out special deals for the mini community!