Question on taking stripes off a car

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iMuf

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Hey guys, I apologize if this is the wrong section for this. So I just got a new new car that has stripes on it. I think it will look better without them. So I'm going to take them off. Which is not a big deal I don't think. My question is how do I deal with the paint afterwards? It's a 2004 Mustang GT so I assume being that old, the spots where the stripes are are going to be in "perfect" condition due to them being covered for 10 years. So how would I get those spots to look like the rest of the car. Would a simple cut and polish get the job done or would I need to go into something a little harsher such as wet sanding? Thanks for any help and again I apologize if this isn't the right spot for this.
 
You most likely will have a outline after you remove the stripes
Therefore you will need to compound the area/try to blend it in with the rest of the paint work a combo like meguiars m105, and m205 should do the trick....good luck
 
iMuf said:
Hey guys, I apologize if this is the wrong section for this. So I just got a new new car that has stripes on it. I think it will look better without them. So I'm going to take them off. Which is not a big deal I don't think. My question is how do I deal with the paint afterwards? It's a 2004 Mustang GT so I assume being that old, the spots where the stripes are are going to be in "perfect" condition due to them being covered for 10 years. So how would I get those spots to look like the rest of the car. Would a simple cut and polish get the job done or would I need to go into something a little harsher such as wet sanding? Thanks for any help and again I apologize if this isn't the right spot for this.
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That's a tough one to answer! Chances are, the color pigment of the paint under the CC has probably faded evenly over time and the area under the stripe hasn't. You won't be able to fix this after removing the stripe.....if this is the case. What color is your mustang?
 
You might have to wet sand the area we have a yellow 04 Mach 1 that had a clear bra on it an polishing alone wouldn't get the stain off the paint I wet sanded the area and it came off
 
Billand said:
You might have to wet sand the area we have a yellow 04 Mach 1 that had a clear bra on it an polishing alone wouldn't get the stain off the paint I wet sanded the area and it came off
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Any tips for wet sanding?
 
Take your time I used 2000 grip sprayed the spot on the car down then the sand paper go in multiple directions after wet sand you will need to compound then polish is your new to wet sanding try it on something you don't mind messing up there's lot of videos from autogeek on you tube that you can watch
 
Billand said:
Take your time I used 2000 grip sprayed the spot on the car down then the sand paper go in multiple directions after wet sand you will need to compound then polish is your new to wet sanding try it on something you don't mind messing up there's lot of videos from autogeek on you tube that you can watch
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Thanks, I appreciate it. I may go get a junk panel at a junk yard and practice on that. I appreciate all the help
 
Hey iMuf

Every vehicle I've had that's one of the first things I would do, is take off any pinstripes/decals & emblems if they didn't have holes through panels (made that mistake once!)

Anyway the way I would go about it is to get me some plastic razor blades, a heat gun and some gel type adhesive remover like goo gone.

Like everything else least aggressive product/way to get the job done! And on this is no different. After washing and drying I would use my heat gun on low setting and keep back 8'' or so and keep moving as to not get to hot (you just need warm enough to help loosin glue residue to help aid in releasing decal) and I would start trying to get the plastic razor blade under the edge just enough to grab with fingers and then with my heat gun would go in front of the decal/pinstrip and heat up about a couple foot or so and pull decal very slow and easy. (you don't know if the decal is stuck over a chip or a soft spot/so go easy and slow!)

After I got all my decals/pin strips removed I would use a micro fiber towel and place under the area with the glue residue still left and spray the gel goo gone over and let saturate so as not have to add any more scratches from rubbing against the surface of the paint.

On some of the older decals I would have to use the plastic razor blade to help scrub the old glue residue from surface. Check which way your using the edge of the razor blade so as not to use the dull end against the paint.

After I removed all the glue residue I would spray area down with a qiuck detail and remove with micro fiber towel and inspect surface good and under good lights to see what I was left with. Use the least aggressive cleaner you have for this as well to help in cleaning area and to check and see if you can bring the finish back to the color that was under decal.

Be careful also! I once had a 95' ford ranger splash and removed all decals and strips. started on passenger side and when I got to the drivers side cab, I found out that the strips was a bear to remove. It was to late when I finally fiqured out that it was a repaint and they clear coated over the pinstrips.

Alot of wetsanding and buffing to get everything blended in together. Hope I've help, just becareful, take your time and inspect everything closely! Take some pics and post up this will make a great how-to:dblthumb2:

I don't think you ill have to wet sand but you never know? Here's a great video of Mike showing his technique of doing a test spot on the hood wet sanding. I've been doing this for some time but I learned some great ways and better technique for wet sanding. I know it's long but that's what's great about mike's video's they show everything down to the finish.
[video=youtube_share;_i_rmKAUa1Y"]Part 1: How to Wetsand, Cut & Buff Custom Paint - YouTube[/video]
 
stang_krazy said:
Hey iMuf

Every vehicle I've had that's one of the first things I would do, is take off any pinstripes/decals & emblems if they didn't have holes through panels (made that mistake once!)

Anyway the way I would go about it is to get me some plastic razor blades, a heat gun and some gel type adhesive remover like goo gone.

Like everything else least aggressive product/way to get the job done! And on this is no different. After washing and drying I would use my heat gun on low setting and keep back 8'' or so and keep moving as to not get to hot (you just need warm enough to help loosin glue residue to help aid in releasing decal) and I would start trying to get the plastic razor blade under the edge just enough to grab with fingers and then with my heat gun would go in front of the decal/pinstrip and heat up about a couple foot or so and pull decal very slow and easy. (you don't know if the decal is stuck over a chip or a soft spot/so go easy and slow!)

After I got all my decals/pin strips removed I would use a micro fiber towel and place under the area with the glue residue still left and spray the gel goo gone over and let saturate so as not have to add any more scratches from rubbing against the surface of the paint.

On some of the older decals I would have to use the plastic razor blade to help scrub the old glue residue from surface. Check which way your using the edge of the razor blade so as not to use the dull end against the paint.

After I removed all the glue residue I would spray area down with a qiuck detail and remove with micro fiber towel and inspect surface good and under good lights to see what I was left with. Use the least aggressive cleaner you have for this as well to help in cleaning area and to check and see if you can bring the finish back to the color that was under decal.

Be careful also! I once had a 95' ford ranger splash and removed all decals and strips. started on passenger side and when I got to the drivers side cab, I found out that the strips was a bear to remove. It was to late when I finally fiqured out that it was a repaint and they clear coated over the pinstrips.

Alot of wetsanding and buffing to get everything blended in together. Hope I've help, just becareful, take your time and inspect everything closely! Take some pics and post up this will make a great how-to:dblthumb2:

I don't think you ill have to wet sand but you never know? Here's a great video of Mike showing his technique of doing a test spot on the hood wet sanding. I've been doing this for some time but I learned some great ways and better technique for wet sanding. I know it's long but that's what's great about mike's video's they show everything down to the finish.
Part 1: How to Wetsand, Cut & Buff Custom Paint - YouTube
Click to expand...

Thanks man, that was a lot of good information. I'll give it a try as soon as I get some decent weather and I'll let you know how it went.
 
iMuf said:
I assume being that old, the spots where the stripes are are going to be in "perfect" condition due to them being covered for 10 years. So how would I get those spots to look like the rest of the car..
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Got it a bit backwards here, ^^^ first thing after removing stripes and adhesive will be to attempt to get the rest of the car to look like the perfect paint that was under the stripes. Once this is accomplished make your assessment as to what needs to be done next. I would not encourage jumping right into wet sanding anything until you get to this point and then see how everything looks,

So basically you'll need to do a paint correction on the entire car to make it all look as perfect as possible. At 10 years old, I'd expect that it may take some heavy compounding and a few additional steps such as an intermediate polishing step and a finish polishing step depending on how perfect you want to make it.
 
I removed the pinstripes off my truck and was left with faint ghost stripes. They were on for about 1.5 years. They're only noticeable if I tell you, but I'm stuck with them. The paint under the clear was faded, so no amount of polishing can fix it.
 
hollerstiltner said:
I removed the pinstripes off my truck and was left with faint ghost stripes. They were on for about 1.5 years. They're only noticeable if I tell you, but I'm stuck with them. The paint under the clear was faded, so no amount of polishing can fix it.
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Hey hollerstiltner, the paint under your clear is faded?

Help me out maybe I'm not understanding your comment. Did they apply a clear over older paint?

You've tried to buff out around on each side of your pin strips, what was your process and technique?

Any pics?
 
The basecoat under the stripes weren't exposed to the UV rays that the rest of the vehicles paint was. So that area has a deeper color, even than freshly corrected paint.

A lot of factors come into play. The age of the paint, how much exposure to UV rays, and how it was cared for, will all affect how noticeable the old stripes blend in.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
stang_krazy said:
Hey hollerstiltner, the paint under your clear is faded?



Help me out maybe I'm not understanding your comment. Did they apply a clear over older paint?



You've tried to buff out around on each side of your pin strips, what was your process and technique?



Any pics?
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I think ken summed it up really well.

The paint is all OE BC/CC. My truck is outside 24/7 and sees a lot of UV exposure. So under the stripes didn't get as much. It's not very noticeable on my truck because the difference is slight and the pinstripes were fairly fine.

No pics are available and I have a lot of flake in the paint that helps mask it so it'd likely not show up.

I was lucky that it's not very obvious, but on a different car it might be more obvious. There's only one way to find out though.

Chris
 
A 3m eraser wheel does wonders on old stripes. I would say before doing anything since car is new to you make sure a lazy painter didn't try and hide a paint line under the stripe.lfso, maybe you might wanna try a diffrent color stripe Lots of good suggestions though.
 
hollerstiltner said:
I think ken summed it up really well.

The paint is all OE BC/CC. My truck is outside 24/7 and sees a lot of UV exposure. So under the stripes didn't get as much. It's not very noticeable on my truck because the difference is slight and the pinstripes were fairly fine.

No pics are available and I have a lot of flake in the paint that helps mask it so it'd likely not show up.

I was lucky that it's not very obvious, but on a different car it might be more obvious. There's only one way to find out though.

Chris
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I understand what your saying but if they have only been on your paint 1 1/2 you can buff the rest of your paint and make it match what the color under where your pin strips were.

I've done several and only had to wet sand one vehicle to get to match up, just trying to help you out buddy, with the right technique and products your can blend it all together easyly.
 
stang_krazy said:
I understand what your saying but if they have only been on your paint 1 1/2 you can buff the rest of your paint and make it match what the color under where your pin strips were.

I've done several and only had to wet sand one vehicle to get to match up, just trying to help you out buddy, with the right technique and products your can blend it all together easyly.
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Under the sun's UV rays, the sun's effect will essentially lighten the color of the majority of the base coat (Similar to how the sun can lighten one's brown hair to blonde by the end of summer) in relation to the base coat that was protected for a length of time under the stripes.

The sun's UV rays at the same time can degrade and yellow the clear coat on areas of the car where there were no vinyl stripes protecting the clear.

This yellowing can usually be leveled off of the clear coat by polishing, compounding or even wet sanding if it's deep enough into the clear and you have enough clear film build to do so.

No amount of wetsanding however, will darken the base coat again to remove the contrast of colors that are now beneath the clear coat.

I know you're just trying to help but perhaps you haven't actually encountered the problem these guys are speaking of, or you're just not thinking things through on a deep enough level.

Now if we were speaking in terms of a single stage paint system, you'd be absolutely correct.
 
tuscarora dave said:
Under the sun's UV rays, the sun's effect will essentially lighten the color of the majority of the base coat (Similar to how the sun can lighten one's brown hair to blonde by the end of summer) in relation to the base coat that was protected for a length of time under the stripes.

The sun's UV rays at the same time can degrade and yellow the clear coat on areas of the car where there were no vinyl stripes protecting the clear.

This yellowing can usually be leveled off of the clear coat by polishing, compounding or even wet sanding if it's deep enough into the clear and you have enough clear film build to do so.

No amount of wetsanding however, will darken the base coat again to remove the contrast of colors that are now beneath the clear coat.

I know you're just trying to help but perhaps you haven't actually encountered the problem these guys are speaking of, or you're just not thinking things through on a deep enough level.

Now if we were speaking in terms of a single stage paint system, you'd be absolutely correct.
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Hey tuscarora I see you have alot of experience but what I am getting at is a vehicle that is only a 1 1/2 old and O.E. paint and the pin strips has been removed, there's not going to be any yellowing and the paint (that has not been covered by the pin strips) shouldn't be that bad and very easily cleaned and polish to look like the paint that has been covered by the pin strips.

Clear that is yellowing is often repaint and to many coats and/or to heavily applied. Years back I used to powder coat and started applying the clears when they first come out. And every time I applied clear to heavy or to many coats, it would always cure up with a yellowing hue. And you can see this easily over a white pigmentation of automotive paint as well.

I have also been polishing paint, metal, and powder coating for years not saying I know every thing but have a understanding and alot of experimenting with techniques and different methods on various things and again just trying to help and not making this a hard question after all it's just paint.

Thanks tuscarora for your explanation:props: Appreciate it.
 
hollerstiltner said:
I removed the pinstripes off my truck and was left with faint ghost stripes. They were on for about 1.5 years. They're only noticeable if I tell you, but I'm stuck with them. The paint under the clear was faded, so no amount of polishing can fix it.
Click to expand...

Is that your daughter as your avatar? She is adorable! :-)
 
Depending on the color, and considering only 18 months of the stripes, it may end up looking almost unnoticeable after a few months. My son's 4Runner is a 99 and the first thing I did when we bought it was take a stripe wheel to it and pull all the old dried out stripes off of it. It's a silver metallic truck and was noticeable right off the bat back then which was 15 or so months ago. Now you can hardly see it. Still there, but you really need to be looking for it.
 
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