found a nice car im considering buying but it has a vinyl stripe kit below the doors ( like this: Mustang Rocker Stripes w/ Mustang Lettering - Black (79-10) ) . its a 2000 model, who knows how long they have been there. did ford ever put these on a car factory? my question is have any of you guys had experience taking vinyl stripes off and how visible are the lines where it was? i would get the car professionally buffed and before that, a good dose of rubbing compound. would it be visible afterward of where it was? or would it hurt the paint attemting to take these off? thanks
paint would be fine... its the rest of the car fading you need to worry about what color is the car i think the 35th anny cars had them and other 99-01's think it was a dealer option or something
silver. mainly concerned if the outline of where the stripes use to be will be visible after the removal
you should be alright... might see it when it rains or something with a silver car the chances are less then say a red car.... just take it off and buff it.
I think you'll be ok with silver. Although...you may not get it to be perfect so hopefully it wont be a deal breaker for you. On red or black it would probably be noticeable. I imagine if you keep it buffed, you'll be good to go!
There is a tool you can buy at Napa I think. It looks like a big eraser that you can chuck into the drill. It will peel those stripes back like butter.
id be interested in that tool .know a part # or have a link by chance? luckily, as others have previously posted, i think silver tends to hide imperfections a little better than some colors
That tool would scare the crap out of me. I'd start with the old hairdryer and straight razor technique. Gentle hand with the razor, so as not to dig into the paint. I'm no expert on clearcoats, but I'd also be very wary of using rubbing compound on a 2000 paintjob. I would think you'd run the risk of cutting through the clear, not to mention the possibility of swirls, etc.
dealerships use those erasers all the time to remove stickers and stripes, works like a champ, just don't use too much pressure.
when i had my 95 buffed last year, he used rubbing compound on it. that, in combination with buffing and a good quality wax, help take the swirls out of my car. i would never try it. ill leave it to the pros
I can see you burning through the paint...anything spinning that builds heat can. But a razor? I'd rather deal with swirls than scratches!
id be very tempted to try this but i ain't got the guts. i'll let the guy that always buffs my cars take care of it if i decide to get the car. he hasnt seen it but told him about it. he seems pretty confident it would be removeable with minimal notice of where it was. he mentioned the hair dryer idea, as stated above
I've seen it done by the secretary at a body shop. She does the minor detailing prior to the car leaving the shop. practically fool proof
Used them at work all the time, mostly on old police cars(takes a long time) Biggest thing is to watch around door handles and other edges. You also might be able to use a hairdryer and try and peel the sticker off; might be too brittle though.
