Road Paint on bottom of Aviator

[mhoffman]

Question:
I am doing a detail this weekend for a customer who had driven through some freshly painted lines on the road and it has gotten all over the bottom of his Lincoln Aviator. He claims that he can scratch some of it off with his fingernail. I want to be prepared so I know what I'm getting myself into this Sunday. I've removed tar before with Gold Class Tar Remover but never actually paint. What process should I use to get this stuff off. I just got a ton of new products including All Purpose Cleaner Plus, Citri Multi Cleaner, Final Detail, Clay Bars, #83. Hopefully this is all I need but I can always buy something new. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Matt Hoffman

[rusty bumper]

Hi Matt,

If it were me, I would try to dissolve the paint with some WD-40...The WD-40 is safe to use on auto paint...Just get some old rags to wipe it off with, & then wash it off with car shampoo.

[mhoffman]

Awesome! That makes sense. I've used Wd-40 to remove the residue from stickers on windows before. I'll have to go pick up a can this week. Thanks!

-Matt Hoffman

[rusty bumper]

Originally posted by mhoffman
Awesome! That makes sense. I've used Wd-40 to remove the residue from stickers on windows before. I'll have to go pick up a can this week. Thanks!

-Matt Hoffman

You're welcome Matt

Good Luck!

[mirrorfinishman]

Matt,

If that road paint is a latex based paint it can easily and safely be removed using a product called Goof Off. It's available at most home supply stores, such as Home Depot. Just follow the label directions and keep it away from plastic and rubber parts. If it's an oil based paint, then Goof Off may not work.

http://www.goof-off.com/index.html

[rdarwa]

Sticker on tinted glass

I have a factory tinted glass on my 4runner. I bought the vehicle used and the dumb people at the car dealer put a window sticker in the rear glass to show the features and price of the vehicle. The car is in Las Vegas and I know the dealership had the car for a while. Because of the heat here the tape that they used melted. Does anyone know what I can use to remove the sticky strips? I don't want to harm the factory tint. I might have to take a picture. This tape is MELTED into the glass. I tried glass cleaner and it didn't even budge it. Let me know if anyone has an answer....

[rusty bumper]

Re: Sticker on tinted glass

Originally posted by rdarwa
I have a factory tinted glass on my 4runner. I bought the vehicle used and the dumb people at the car dealer put a window sticker in the rear glass to show the features and price of the vehicle. The car is in Las Vegas and I know the dealership had the car for a while. Because of the heat here the tape that they used melted. Does anyone know what I can use to remove the sticky strips? I don't want to harm the factory tint. I might have to take a picture. This tape is MELTED into the glass. I tried glass cleaner and it didn't even budge it. Let me know if anyone has an answer....

Inside or outside?

[rdarwa]

inside

[rusty bumper]

You might want to check with a glass expert 1st, but I would think that a little WD-40 on the tip of rag would remove the old tape residue without hurting the tinting...I've used it many times to remove sticker adhesives from plastic & glass containers.

But I would double check 1st, just to be safe...Call the 800 number on a can and ask them for advice before trying it.

[mhoffman]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. The Goof-Off worked amazing!! I picked up a bottle at Lowe's today before I did his Aviator. The road paint on the car's paint came off very easily, however, he had paint on the plastic/rubber running board too. I was hesitant to use the stuff on the running board but it didn't harm it much. With about 20 minutes of brushing the majority of the paint came off. It dulled the plastic a little bit, but I put some Tire and Trim Dressing Gel on and it came back to life. The guy was very impressed and decided to overpay me. Goof-Off is a great product. Thanks again!

- Matt Hoffman

[rusty bumper]

Thanks for posting back Matt, I'll have to check out Goof Off the next time I go the home stores.

Great Thread...

[mirrorfinishman]

Originally posted by mhoffman
Thanks guys for the suggestions. The Goof-Off worked amazing!! I picked up a bottle at Lowe's today before I did his Aviator. The road paint on the car's paint came off very easily

The guy was very impressed and decided to overpay me. Goof-Off is a great product. Thanks again!

- Matt Hoffman

Matt,

Thanks for the update. I've had very good results with Goof-Off. It's now part of my supplies that I normally take with me (just in case) to all my mobile detailing jobs. You just never know when there's going to be a few specks of paint on the surface of a customers vehicle.

[2000]

did you try clay, just to see if it would work? glad you found a solution.