Stripe Removal

[BRZN]

The 2012 Ashen Grey Metallic 1LT my daughter purchased two springs ago had issues with the Rally Stripes when she bought it. I believe the car was washed with a very harsh chemical, like an industrial fallout remover prior to sale that damaged them. I was able to keep them looking okay until last fall. I removed the stripes from the spoiler one nice fall day to find a good process of removal and figured I'd take care of the others this spring.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

The process is pretty simple.
Start by heating a corner with a hair dryer, pick at a 90* edge to start to lift them, pull while continuing to use the hair dryer where the stripe's lifting. The driver's sides came off as almost one full piece while the passenger's sides, both hood and rear deck lid came off in pieces. Goo Gone on a lint free paper towel, the type used for wiping a vehicle down prior to paint removed all the glue residue that remained, and it wasn't very much.
Clay the surface.
Polish using my Rupes 15 Bigfoot MarkII
Adam's Heavy Correcting Compound on a Blue Microfiber Pad
followed by Adam's Paint Correcting Polish on an Orange Foam Pad
followed by Adam's Paint Finishing Polish on a White Foam Pad.
Adam's Brilliant Glaze.
Adam's Americana Premium Paste Wax.
Finish with a beer!

If you'll take notice I'd already begun to remove the smaller outside stripe before I thought to grab the camera.















I was able to polish out most all of the ghosting from the stripes. It appears the black vinyl had gotten so hot in the sun it melted itself into the clear. There are marks in the paint where the stripes were. Time will tell if this will settle out or not. If the don't correct over a little time she's going to have to decide if she wants to live with it as it is ( they're not that visible, and you have to look for them to see them) or have stripes reapplied.

As for now Michelle's quite happy!

[crazy4camaro]

great job , car looks very nice she is a very lucky young lady to have a Dad like you

[redcoats1976]

looks good.im mulling whether i want to remove the stripes on mine next year,they were applied last summer.would go with the hood lazer stripe instead.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

I don't see any car in that last pic

[Ponchonutty]

I used something like this to remove my stripes. Makes you nervous but after you are done just wash it then polish and you are good

http://www.tcpglobal.com/TCP-SR-400....B#.WPO9eDz3b7o

[Mdipinto]

I'm thinking on removing my stripes, but it's a hard debate.
The Camaro looks good, your daughter is very lucky to have you.
And those erasers work but I seen them burning the paint, leaving a greenish stain on black paint(didn't see anything like that in other colors)

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

Never use an eraser for a job this big. Do it the way the OP did. That's the proper way.

[Ponchonutty]

Actually I used it on mine. Mine were worse than pictured above.I do vinyl for a living and the only time you shouldn't do it is if you know the vehicle's paint looks suspect. Never had an issue with any car I've used it on. It is messy but using a heat gun on sun baked or cheap vinyl is a pain then to deal with all the goo. It is only to be used on base/clear systems. Can't use it on single stage paints. Here's how my stripe swap turned out.

[BRZN]

I've used the eraser wheel on painted pin stripes along the vehicle sides, couldn't imagine using one on these large vinyl stripes.

I didn't used a heat gun, but a hair dryer, and there was hardly any adhesive residue left. The large driver's side rear deck lid strip lifted as one large piece, with just one little piece torn off to pick at, and the driver's side hood large stripe pulled off in about five rather large pieces. Again, Goo Gone removed all the adhesive that remained on the paint finish rather effortlessly.

[Deputy347k9]

What a nice job! The results are night and day and very much worth the effort! Hats of to you! Larry

[HDRDTD]

And here I thought you were supposed to START with a beer.??