Alpahbet Soup !...Need Help !!

[TKDDAD]

My friend gave me his car to detail this weekend and the plastic lettering on the doors was missing several letters so he told me if I could take them off to go ahead...well, they all popped off with just light finger pressure...PROBLEM...what they left behind is black glue or adhesive that I'd like to remove before I clay and clean the paint..what can I use to remove this stuff ???....

[Mike Phillips]

There are all kinds of ways to remove this, a product that works pretty well and seems to be safe on automotive paints is a product called, Goo Gone.

Your fingernail might get most of it off and any residue that's left ScratchX should take care of. More than likely the adhesive residue will have left a visual impression wherever a letter was attached, sometimes you can remove this sometimes you can't, but you can always try.

Best of luck...

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
There are all kinds of ways to remove this, a product that works pretty well and seems to be safe on automotive paints is a product called, Goo Gone.

Your fingernail might get most of it off and any residue that's left ScratchX should take care of. More than likely the adhesive residue will have left a visual impression wherever a letter was attached, sometimes you can remove this sometimes you can't, but you can always try.

Best of luck...

You're the best Mike !...thanks for the quick response...I'll get some Goo Gone tomorrow and give it a try....any residue will be better than 4 out of eight letters stuck to the car ...gonna be a long day tomorrow ......I'll post pics of my progress...thanks again..

[Lt1Corvette]

I have used 3m general purpose adhesive remover several times to remove emblem glue left over also road tar. Go with GOO GONE first. But if you can't find it, something else to look into.

[gb387]

Goo Gone very gentle yet works very well!



Walmart has it... Goodluck!

[romulus]

one cheap alternatiove is to use wd-40, but you have to clean the oil and wax the paint after that. Simply spray some in a rag and apply it to the area. Let it soak for a bit then spray some more and work it. I tryed that when some low life decided to steal my brother in law car's emblem.

[dnoraker]

Don't be surprised if the paint under the lettering ends up brighter after cleaning. I removed the dealer decal that was on since the truck was brand new and though it came off quite nice with Goo Gone, if one looks closely, one can see that there is an outline of the lettering because the decal kept the paint under it from fading with the paint around it! But, again, one has to look VERY closely.

[Ranger72]

My buddy asked me to remove the "3.2" from the "3.2CL type S" run of badge. Being is it was attached the the 3.2 and was chrome dipped, sat there with a razor blade and sawed imbetween the 3.2 and cl. Anyway, to take the glue off, I just gently used my fingernail as well as rubbed it with my finger. This took the heavy glue/ foam off but there was still a residue. I used a W7000 and 83 with my Makita (after taping off all the other letters like a champ) to remove any residue as well as taking out the slight imprint left behind. hope this helps. [/IMG]

[TKDDAD]

Thanks for all the information on removing the glue...GOO GONE did the trick...that, plus a plastic putty knife, and an HOUR !
you can even tell there were letters there!..anyway, 8 hours after I began this job, here's the outcome...it was about 90 here today and very humid but I had to get it done today so I parked it in the garage and went to work...products used:

1. NXT Car Wash
2. Clay w/Final Detail
3. Speed Glaze #80 applied with PC removed with terry and
microfibre
4. Scratch X on hood, roof and trunk lid applied by hand
5. NXT Tech wax (liguid) applied with PC removed with microfibre
6. Quick Interior after thorough cleaning
7. Hot Shine on tires
8. NXT Glass cleaner on all glass surfaces
9. PlastX on headlights

I think the results are ok considering the age of the vehicle, the mileage (106,000) and the neglect the paint received. There are scratches that I could not deal with as they were too deep and my time was limited. The sun was not out all day and it poured pretty much the whole time I was working but stopped long enough for me to get some pictures...All in all, I think it was brought up to a better level than it started. You can decide....man, am I tired BUT IT'S A GOOD TIRED !!

Headlight before PlastX


After


Roof Before:


Roof After:


Hood Before:


Hood After:


Side Shot Before:


Side Shot After:


Other AFTER Shots:





THIS ONE SHOWS BOTH A REFLECTION AND IS ALSO SHOWING THE SPOT WHERE THE LETTERS WERE REMOVED..GOO GONE WAS GREAT !!...YOU CAN"T EVEN TELL WHERE THE LETTERS WERE...

[rusty bumper]

Nice work TKDDAD!

I really like that body style, but it's a shame that the hood is rusting.

BTW, how much effort did it take to clean up the headlight lens, and what kind of applicator did you use?

[gb387]

Removing emblems can take some time to do it properly, its better to take a little extra time and make sure you don't damage the paint.

That is a big improvement... Looks very nice, even with the heat the work was well worth it!

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
Nice work TKDDAD!

I really like that body style, but it's a shame that the hood is rusting.

BTW, how much effort did it take to clean up the headlight lens, and what kind of applicator did you use?

Thanks Rusty....yeah, Buffalo winters can do that to a car...actually, the headlight was not that difficult...i used a terry applicator and a lot of "passion"....since I was new to the G100 and I didn't have enought foam pads to use on with PlastX, I decided just to do it by hand...I think it's much better than it was...thanks again for your comments....

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by gb387
Removing emblems can take some time to do it properly, its better to take a little extra time and make sure you don't damage the paint.

That is a big improvement... Looks very nice, even with the heat the work was well worth it!

Thanks gb837....yep, that was a painfully slow process but well worth it...