Well I took the plunge today and bought a heat gun to remove my factory stripes. The front fender and the front door came off effortlessly like they were vinyl.. However when I got the back door it left behind the glue and that stuff is not coming off!! Rubbing alcohol won't even phase it. Goo gone will kinda take it off.. I spent 30 minutes and managed to get an inch cleaned off. I need something more powerful!!!! Any ideas.. My truck looks pretty funny with 1.5 pinstripes on it!!!! I am starting to worry about hurting the paint! Please help!

 

3M Adhesive remover works well.. just get some type of adhesive remove and try.. stinks like crap and it prob will take a while but you'll see it will loosen the glue gunk and will be easier to scrape off.

 

Dang it!! Still no luck on the glue here's what I've tried so far:

Rubbing alcohol (didn't even phase it)

Goo Gone ( worked a little but pretty much worthless)
Peanut Butter ( nothing)

Tar remover (melted the glue a little but not much)

Went to the local body shop and he poured me some stuff in a bottle that they use and it worked some. I got about 6 inches of one door done after much scrubbing

Even tried a little good ol Gasoline.. That seemed to be the best but since it is dark and I can't see very good I didn't persue that for fear of screwing up my paint for life if I haven't already done that!!!!:eek:

I'm really at loss of what to do here. I thought this would be a quick and painless process but I guess I should have known better than that.

What do you think gas will do to my paint?? Anybody have any other ideas??

It's really strange that the ones on the front doors and front fenders came off so easily. You can see in the pic there is no difference in the paint. If all of them would have come off like the first two it would have taken me about 20 minutes to do the whole truck.. Boy was I wrong.. I like the look without the stripe I just gotta get that damn glue off....

 

Use gasoline. Its not an acid just use it with caution Also use a good soapy sponge to wide off the gas after the sticker has peeled away.

 

Thank god someone said that! Anyone else?

 

Joey, have you also tried the Rosignol ligher fluid that comes in the little yellow plastic bottle?

I use that for taking off sticker residue, and it works great.

Your case though, I'm not sure.

 

Joey,
Have you tried T-Cut ?

Its pretty good for removing most things

This is what to LOOK for

Kerr

 

Kerr ya I had my bottle of T-cut there with me and it didn't phase this stuff.. I mean this glue is serious!!

 

i use to work at a sign shop and have encountered that problem way too many times, especially if its baked into the paint caused by age or coated with wax over a period of time. the only thing to do is be patient and slowly work the adhesive off. even with an industrial heat gun and industrial fluids; its still hard to remove. you can go by your local sign shop and see if they will sell you a bottle. its the same stuff as GOOP OFF cept way more concentrated. ive also used surf wax remover, hand goop with the citric acid will work. sort of. gasoline?? i dont know. good luck.

 

Be careful with the heat gun. It can take your paint off too. :eek: Sounds like the glue has baked on. Try heat a section. Use one of the solvents to soften the glue, an use an old credit card to gently scrape the goop off. Take your time, you got lucky with one part of the removal , don't muck up your truck because ya got impatient. Wax your truck under the stripe to give a little more protection from the solvents. Good luck.

butnut

 

Well I did it. What a freaking pain that was!!! 1 hour for each back door to get the glue off.. I'll tell you what seemed like 1 day for each one. Ended up using the stuff from the body shop. I still have the factory decals on the back by my TRD. That will have to wait for another day. Them are going to be the worst since they are the thickest part. Both sides have the same amount removed so it shouldn't be too Ghetto looking. Awwww my poor elbow!! There's gotta be an easier way to do that!

 

Isn't lighter fluid Naptha? In that case would charcoal starter fluid work?

 

If you can't get an end going with the HG, try the long edge in the middle. A body filler plastic squeegie thing will help it along. If you can get it started, soak it with WD40. Let it sit a while. It will breakdown the glue. That's what I typically do. HG then WD for the stubborn goo.

 

Yay you're finally taking it off. I've looked at your rig for a while and wondered why you never removed it.

 

Elbow Grease Man.... Took me about a day to remove my stripe, elbow grease and goop off. It was pretty slow going but I kept patient so I would not phase the paint.

 

Anybody tired this on a Black or dark color.. If soo how much difference in the paint color do to faiding? I want to take off my factory pin stripes but worries about the pain matching (the rare times it is seen )

 

I have found lacquer thinner to be the best solvent for most types of decal adhesives. I've used it a lot on auto paint and have never seen any paint damage on a good surface. You can find it in any hardware store in the paint department, and it's cheap! It's probably worth a try. I've been planning to take the stripes off my 91 runner one of these days. Let us know if you try it.
jimber

 

What year's your rig? Are these pin stripes or wide stripes? I have a red 95 myself and removed the 2nd gen stripe in september. With all the elbow grease and actual grease (WD40, 3M, and others) i got it off. The color difference was only visible by staring at short distance (1 foot). Beyond that, our eyes have a good sense of color blending and it shouldn't be noticable to the average viewer. All i mostly notice now is a hair thin line where the stripe's edge was. however, the color on both sides of the line is the same. I've drivin' by black rigs with the 2nd gen stripe removed and i couldn't notice a discoloration. And since i've only noticed stripe removals recently, i think that the owner did it within' the past 2 years. So that's 5+ years old fading and discolorization.

 

i've got a '94 , and the stripe is wide,the typical on that is an most 2nd gen runners. it is not that bad looking but I still don't like it

 

Jtree you can't tell at all on my 94. Mine is white though.. Might make a difference.