- Joined
- Mar 8, 2020
- Messages
- 279
- Points
- 138
Hi,
Well with the exhaust behind us and replaced today we decided to tackle the roof faded 500 stripe decal.
Assuming all kinds of problems underneath ie faded or rubbed down to key we decided to pre purchase the new stripes. The ebay aftermarket copies were 100mm wide and our original was 110mm so were concerned that any issues underneath the old stripe it was no good narrower.
After searching we could not find stock of the kit for a sunroof model and the only one available original old stock was a non roof kit clearly stating 'not suitable for cars with a sunroof':bang: and was double the price of the copies
Well it did not take too many grey cells to work out we only wanted the 500 part of the roof decal as our car has a sunroof so could surely just cut off the rest so we bought what was advertised as the last one of original factory stock.
I had already asked on another post about removing the old decal and got a couple of ways. Firstly it was a hot sunny day so a good start but pouring boiling water over the decal did nothing to assist. Next turned to the heat gun and yes it softened the vinyl but did not allow peeling off and just came away in pin head bits.:chin::chin::doh:
So came up with the ice scraper for the fridge combined with heat gun so stage one simplified albeit it did not remove the glue just the vinyl easily scraped off.
So then tried white spirits on glue with no effect, did not have acetone but tried Panel Wipe and also no effect. Then got some petrol and hey presto it softened the glue but still had to be scraped off until just a fine surface residue that was then washed off with a petrol soaked rag.
The roof paintwork was absolutely perfect underneath no fading but the car is white but also no surface damage to the paint.........on looking at the finish we questioned did we really need the roof 500 decal and pondered whether it looked better without it.
So decided now for the daughter to think about it for a few days. I am sure we can resell on the kit so it is not wasted.
Farrah
Well with the exhaust behind us and replaced today we decided to tackle the roof faded 500 stripe decal.
Assuming all kinds of problems underneath ie faded or rubbed down to key we decided to pre purchase the new stripes. The ebay aftermarket copies were 100mm wide and our original was 110mm so were concerned that any issues underneath the old stripe it was no good narrower.
After searching we could not find stock of the kit for a sunroof model and the only one available original old stock was a non roof kit clearly stating 'not suitable for cars with a sunroof':bang: and was double the price of the copies
Well it did not take too many grey cells to work out we only wanted the 500 part of the roof decal as our car has a sunroof so could surely just cut off the rest so we bought what was advertised as the last one of original factory stock.
I had already asked on another post about removing the old decal and got a couple of ways. Firstly it was a hot sunny day so a good start but pouring boiling water over the decal did nothing to assist. Next turned to the heat gun and yes it softened the vinyl but did not allow peeling off and just came away in pin head bits.:chin::chin::doh:
So came up with the ice scraper for the fridge combined with heat gun so stage one simplified albeit it did not remove the glue just the vinyl easily scraped off.
So then tried white spirits on glue with no effect, did not have acetone but tried Panel Wipe and also no effect. Then got some petrol and hey presto it softened the glue but still had to be scraped off until just a fine surface residue that was then washed off with a petrol soaked rag.
The roof paintwork was absolutely perfect underneath no fading but the car is white but also no surface damage to the paint.........on looking at the finish we questioned did we really need the roof 500 decal and pondered whether it looked better without it.
So decided now for the daughter to think about it for a few days. I am sure we can resell on the kit so it is not wasted.
Farrah