Its time for them to go, and i was wondering what the best approach would be. My graphics have been on the car for over two years, and they are on GOOD, meaning a pressure washer cant take them off. Can i use a hairdryer to heat the glue or will that kill my paint? Also, i know that there will be fading with the paint because the graphics have been on for so long, i dont really care. Will goo gone tear up my clearcoat, or will that be ok to use to remove the glue residue? Thanks for your help

Id just use a hairdryer (heat gun will be faster but you have to be more careful) then just use a good citrus based adhesive remover like goo gone

i used the above method just today on some smaller decals i've had on for at least a year, you can't even tell they were there. of course after the googone i took a buffer to it and buffed the living hell out of it with some scratch-x (made by meguires)

cool, now i have to wait a few more days..the sky just took a white shit on my town

hey rev, I do this at the shop and we use a good heat gun. And we also use a liquid called rapid remover. Like goo gone but better. Not much to it tho.

I just removed ALL my stickers this past two days... Hair dryer to soften the adhesive shit a little... then peel. As for the inevitable residuals...the most effective combination = Goof Off 2 (water based in a spray bottle) and a little 2x2 square of sponge (with a light scouring pad on the back) ... the goof off is really gentle, but I was paranoid about washing it off quickly with a ton of water. Left my clearcoat looking perfect. Also used this on my center section (taillight) to remove wahtever residue the letters left behind.

...using any scratch remover (like scratch-x) is nearly the same as using goo-gone...you gotta wax the spot again because that's gonna be gone, and if you use those products (such as scratch-x) too often your clearcoat will be gone too...as it kinda takes clearcoat from point A and moves it over to point B where the scratch is....

all of those products are not wax/clearcoat friendly, so wash em off and re wax the small section when you can---

but i've used them all and had no problems.

Tip: pull off all glue by hand as much as possible, as goo gone takes such a small layer that it just spreads around clumps. Before you know it, you've got a square foot of thin glue where there used to be only an inch of thick stuff...

Vandy

this is what i do for work so if your anywhere near mass let me know and i'll take them off for nothing but if you arent just use a heat gun or blow dryer, be careful not to burn out your moms blow dryer.(i've had lots of people come in and tell me they did that) heat up the corner and start to peel. heat and peel as you go, till its all off. if you have allot of residue or if you cant get the sticker off by heating it there's a product called airplane vinyl remover, they sell it at autozone. spray a little and rub vinyl off with a soft rag. if you get it off by the heat gun method and have little residue use paint prep to clean the surface, that should take off anything left from the sticker.

good luck it can be a pain in the ass some times especially when they've been on for so long, just remember to not over heat because you can either 1. burn the paint or 2. burn the vinyl into the paint

im kinda excited about removing my graphics, now it seems to be pretty easy, thanks for your help guys

I second the hairdryer/heatgun thing, BUT don't use too much it or it will make your paint bubble off. Goo gone and rapid remover both suck IMO tho, they leave streaks, i use rubbing alcohol, it's just as safe on paint, but it works faster and gets the sticky residue off ALOT better. Try it, you'll see.

Aren't you worried about the paint being faded? I was thinking about taking off my stripes a couple times but was super afraid the paint underneath would be much brighter than the rest of the car and look stupid. I've had the stripes on for about a year and a half.

yeah, but im kind of interested to see the ghost effect that it will leave. Since its not a stripe like yours i think my design would look pretty cool. Theres no way to tell until i take them off, and then its too late if i dont like it. I tried peeling a small peice off yesterday, but im guessing the vinyl is cheap so its just cracking away. Pressure washer and five bucks here i come

The paint WILL not be faded underneath the vinyl, So you will see a shadow effect. Major wax job IMO afterwards because you will NEVER EVER get rid of that, but yeea ur right. It might look cool cause its a squigly design.

polish is what will bring the color back to the faded paint. wax is just a protectant basically so just wax AFTER polishing the paint back out. people seem to think wax is a fucking miracle thing when it really only just protects the finish after its been polished and prepped.

i'm kinda glad you're taking them graphics off, i didn't want to say anything, but them graphics look like some guy came buy and smeared spunk all over your ride. good decision, it'll look WAAAY better now.

Originally posted by optikal
polish is what will bring the color back to the faded paint. wax is just a protectant basically so just wax AFTER polishing the paint back out. people seem to think wax is a fucking miracle thing when it really only just protects the finish after its been polished and prepped.

o makes sense. sorry dOOd

id like to say my car has a little spunk, but not in that way..lol. I do think the car will look alot more tunerish and a little less ricey, and thats exactly what im going for now. Final plans include a 97-99 front, turbo wing, and full exhaust. After all, ive always wanted a 99 gsx, and it looks as though this is as close to the look/feel that i'll get for a while