Styling Removing old stripe?

[skimpy]

My girlfriend has a stripe on her 500 (the bonnet and roof) and it has faded pretty badly. We have been looking around and have found a replacement one. I have done a fair bit of signage vinyl work but have never wrapped onto a car.

Any suggestions on the best way to remove the old one (heatgun?) and any tips on applying the new one or do you think it would be best to let the pros do it?

Cheers,

Tim

 

[griff74]

Removal use a hairdryer, they peel right off, to apply a new one, pay someone to do it!

 

[Sweetsixteen]

Don't use a heat gun - too fierce and easy to make a mistake.

As stated, use a hair dryer, wait for the end of the stripe to get warm and then begin to peel it off, playing the hair dryer in front of your fingers as you progress.

A sticky residue may be left. White spirit is best to remove this, and it will not damage the paint. Make sure all the residue/white spirit is removed before applying the new stripe.

Sweetsixteen.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Don't use a heat gun - too fierce and easy to make a mistake.

As stated, use a hair dryer, wait for the end of the stripe to get warm and then begin to peel it off, playing the hair dryer in front of your fingers as you progress.

A sticky residue may be left. White spirit is best to remove this, and it will not damage the paint. Make sure all the residue/white spirit is removed before applying the new stripe.

Sweetsixteen.

Totally agree about the hair-dryer instead of the heat-gun - you've very little margin for error with a heat-gun. I would add that you should try to do it on a warm day and in the sun.

Depending on the age, the colour and how much sunlight the car's been exposed to you may find the paint under the decal is a different shade from the surrounding. OK if the new decal is going to cover it but otherwise...

I removed the Twinair badge from the boot of my black car over the weekend and although the car's only about 2 years old (since manufacture) after cleaning you could still see an image of the badge on the body in certain light. A creme polish for removing fine scratches has pretty well eliminated it and I expect it'll fade completely in time but on an older vehicle, especially one on which, as you describe, the decals have deteriorated, it may be more of an issue.

There are a lot of 'how-to' videos on Youtube that might be worth taking in.

 

[skimpy]

Great, thanks for the advice. I am quite confident at applying new decals so hapy enough to do it myself but I usually just put them on, not take them off.

But good to know a hair dryer will be sufficient as I don't actually have access to a heat gun. Going to get a genuine stripe so hopefully paint fade underneath wont be too much of an issue.

Another question, going to get the car a proper valet and wax, do you think it is best to removed the stripe, then do the valet and then reapply or remove, reapply and then wax over the top?

Thanks again,

Tim

 

[zanes]

I'm not sure I'd want wax and shampoo residues underneath a sticker, to say the least.

Remove old sticker, clean extremely scrupulously (using solvents only as mentioned above, no shampoos or other such things), apply new sticker and then clean/valet/wax to your hearts content.

 

[Sweetsixteen]

As has been said ...
Don't wax before applying new decal, or it will surely peel in time.

Clean as above, wet area to be striped, and apply stripe to wetted surface (gives you a little wiggle room). Smooth out any trapped air with plastic spatula, credit card, or similar.
Job done.

Sweetsixteen.

 

[griff74]

Great, thanks for the advice. I am quite confident at applying new decals so hapy enough to do it myself but I usually just put them on, not take them off.

But good to know a hair dryer will be sufficient as I don't actually have access to a heat gun. Going to get a genuine stripe so hopefully paint fade underneath wont be too much of an issue.

Another question, going to get the car a proper valet and wax, do you think it is best to removed the stripe, then do the valet and then reapply or remove, reapply and then wax over the top?

Thanks again,

Tim

I'm about have both our cars fully valeted (decontaminated, clay barred, machine then hand polished and waxed, full interior clean etc) and I am removing my Abarth's side stripes beforehand, I want to change them anyway!