How to remove unwanted decals

[shoutforjoy]

Hi

Our newest mini has had a horrendous multi-coloured stripe added at some point. It runs centrally along the length of the mini from the bonnet across the roof and down the rear. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Needless to say we want to remove this. I've had a couple of suggestions about the easiest way to do it: -
1. Poor hot (or boiling) water over the decal to soften the glue then it should lift off.
2. Use a steam cleaner to achieve the same effect.

I just wondered if any of you fine people on here have any other suggestions?

Paul

[(minisniper)]

Hiya Paul
Had a quick look on another site that I am a member of and they have suggested the following

Hair drier to soften then peel off

Clean off residue with white spirit or WD40


Also my partner who owns a 4x4 used a pressure washer to remove some on his but I'm not sure about using a pressure washer on a mini

[asahartz]

I'd agree with Minisniper on this one; hairdryer, peel off, then a solvent to remove the residue. The best stuff I've found for this job is called "plaster remover" and it's used in hospitals to remove sticking plaster residue from skin, so it's safe to use on almost any surface!

[clambod]

Yes, hairdrier to soften and allow it to peel off. You could use panel wipe to remove any excess adhesive. You may find you have a "ghost stripe", when removed, depending on how long it's been on.
T cut or similar should sort that

[shoutforjoy]

Thanks everyone. I much prefer the idea of using a hairdryer than either boliing water or a steam cleaner.

The mini is red and the paint is quite badly faded in some places so I wlll be cutting it all over and polishing afterwards. Hopefully it will come up ok.

Aiming for a respray eventually.

[clambod]

I hope all goes well with the removal

[sweetdreams]

use a heat gun and remove residue with a glue and tar remover. that's how i always do it and how they did it at the bodyshop where i used to work

[(minisniper)]

Hiya
Any luck with removing your decals?

Lea

[shoutforjoy]

Hi Lea

It's a bit of a sore point

The day before I asked the question the new mini was delivered to me by the previous owner. However on the way to me it developed quite a nasty oil leak. He beleived that it was coming from where the gear selector cable enters the gearbox and took it in to a local garage to be fixed at his expense

The garage promised to fix it next day so when I asked the question I expected to be picking up the mini later that day. However... one week later and the garage haven't fixed it - in fact not even looked at it - you may have seen my other posting about the oil leak. When I got a bit cross with the garage they did take a look and discover that the leak is not coming from the cable but 'higher up' - possibly the convertor seals. They immediately declared the repair to be beyond them and recommended an auto gearbox specialist nearby. I have now collected the mini from them and it's sat on my drive It's not going to the local specialist but to MRA Minis in a couple of weeks as Martin is very busy right now.

When it's fixed the previous owner has agreed to negotiate some monetary compensation

Sorry, that's a bit of a long tale. The short answer to your question is that we've not been able to look at it yet. I am hoping to begin next Monday or Tuesday. After the stripe is removed we are planning to cut the paintwork over the whole car (using Farecla G3) and polish it up as the paintwork is quite faded in places and no doubt there will be a 'ghost' stripe to remove.

I will let you know how I get on. I expect they'll be pictures too. I might even start a project thread for this one.

Paul

[dan]

at least the car is getting sorted, once its in the capable hands of martin

[(minisniper)]

Hiya Paul
Sorry to hear about your problems with the oil leak and I hope Martin is able to sort things out in a couple of weeks. Would love to see pictures of you removing the decals and sorting the paintwork. Perhaps you could do a how to guide??

Just out of interest what is Farecla G3? is it like t-cut?

[shoutforjoy]

Hi Lea

Farecla G3 is like t-cut only much better

Restoring old, faded (oxidised) paintwork is a 3-stage process - compounding, polishing and sealing.

G3 is a compounding (or cutting) paste. Here's a demonstration video www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsWqREdnkmA

After the G3 I will use G10, which is a finishing (or polishing) liquid. Here's a demo of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-r468_wlHQ

Clambod has used G3 and G10 this very weekend on the roof of Greenie - see his project thread autominiregister.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=others&action=display&thread=111&page=7

And finally sealing will done by using a wax polish (turtle wax or similar).

I'm not expecting my car to come up as well as Clambod's - he has brand-spanking new paint and mine is 25 years old!

I will get lots of pictures and see if I can put together a how-to guide for this too.

Paul

[clambod]

Yes G3 is like T cut only finer. It can be used by hand on a soft cloth but I'm told it takes longer than T cut to get the desired effect. It's best used with a compounding head, which is made of foam. The G10is so fine it can only be used with a compound head / mop.
G6 is relatively coarse and can be used by hand. I've no experience of G6 so I cannot comment on what it's like.
Using a compounding mop makes a mess. It chucks stuff all over, even on a slow speed. So mask off, cover up and be prepared to clean up after.
G3 / G10 Leaves a cracking finish though.

[asahartz]

Don't forget, when using G3 or G10 and a compounding mop, *use plenty of water!* Keep it wet. In fact doing it in the rain is quite good! Generally though I use a squirty bottle or sometimes a hosepipe on a slow spray.

My former neighbour was a paint sprayer by trade and he always emphasised this to me.