Removing Side Graphics

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LAVA

LAVA

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Dec 14, 2006
Threads
25
Messages
159
Location
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I've been procrastinating doing this for months..... but Canadian Tire has heat guns on sale for $14.99 so I bit the bullet and purchased one.....and an electric buffer, some turtle wax, and one of those kick ass lollipops they sell at the cashier :grinpimp:

When I got home I used the gun to heat the vinyl graphics and started peeling it......about 20 minutes into it i realized that this was going to take me a long....long time. The vinyl lifted and peeled decently, but there was glue left behind that wasn't as easy to remove.

I used Goof Off and was able to get the front fender done.....it took me close to 2 hours for that one panel. I spent an hour on the door removing the grahics...once removed i started scrubbing with a cloth and Goof Off.........10 minutes into scrubbing my brain snapped.

there has to be an easier way to do this? I googled around for a bit and found this

Eastwood Co. - Vinyl Eraser 3 1/2" Diameter

so i ordered it....and now i wait for 2 weeks........I was wondering if I should remove the rest of the graphics with the heat gun and use the wheel for the glue residue?? OR should I just wait, not use the heat gun, and try the wheel on the graphics?

any thoughts/advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

thanx

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So far everything I have ordered from Eastwood or bought at KMS which has a lot of Eastwood stuff, has turned out to be great. Did you check with KMS to see if they have that product? we do have an account there for CC members that gives us a decent discount.
I would wait for the stuff.
 
napa had those wheels too.

I think the heatgun is the safest. Also if you can be super careful I would try using a razor(flat style) with a handle. Be gentle. Using some windex may help as the amonina might loosen the graphics. Get an edge up and spray and warm it up.

Most of the the JDM graphics are pretty dated looking things, so post a pic up eh....
 
FWIW Lordco sells those wheels and there's no two-week wait :D. For the $15 or so it'll cost you, it's worth trying. I haven't used those wheels on large graphics, but I removed a full-body pinstripe in about a half-hour and left no residue to deal with.
 
I removed all the side graphics on my BJ74 with eraser wheels from Lordco. Buy the cheap $12 ones (should take about three of them) as opposed to the $40 3M one (it melts the vinyl a little) It took me about an hour and a half for the whole truck. Good luck!
 
re

Thanx for the feedback folks

these graphics are stock 21 years old.....even with the heat gun applied for a long time i can't get the glue to lift......the stuffs stuck on pretty good......i'm going to use the gun to remove the graphics and then take the wheel to the glue residue......hopefully it won't take me too long.

Alan
 
canucksafari said:
You can always leave them on for pin stripe protection. :hillbilly:
Click to expand...

Actually, on my buddy Shane's HJ, he's been taking the pin striping (factory) off. He's getting all kinds of rust forming underneath.
GG
 
re

i've been lucky so far.......when i removed the graphic on the front right fender there was no rust or anything underneath....i was worried about the discoloration but there was almost none.....once i wash and buff the vehicle you won't even be able to tell that there were ever graphics on them.
 
the guys at work who remove the vynl graphics from the trailers both sides front and back of a 53' trailer use heat guns , takes two guys 1 to 2 days , its time consuming , i would not use the rotary tool unless you arent concerned about possibly leaving burn marks from pad .

i have also seen a body shop guy using an infared light on a paint section to get it to dry faster , i dont know if you could rent one , maybe the heat gun you have is insuficent for the job .
 
I have used one of those eraser wheels. They work really well, and you don't need to peel the vinyl off first. It'll take the whole works off quite easily. I used it to erase the small decals on the rear panels of my truck, and I've also used it at work to remove HUGE decals. Works great for either. You do have to keep it moving to keep the heat down, but as long as you move around with it, and don't push too hard it'll make short work of the decals on your truck.

Good luck!
 
Frustrated as **** right now.......I went to Lordco today to see if i could pick up the rubber wheel and start removing the graphics....its a decent enough day, i don't have any plans so i figured i'd get started on it.......i get there and explain to the the staff what i'm looking for and why I need it. He walks me over to an aisle and gives me 2 wheel attachments from 3M....they don't feel like rubber, they feel like plastic....i says:

"this feels like plastic...won't this ruin my paint?"

to which he replies

"it should be fine"

Not feeling 100% but trusting that Lordco staff know what they're talking about I bite the bullet pay $19 for the 2 wheels and go back to my truck. Apparently I parked in the wrong spot.....$50 parking fine from the parking lot attendant.....for about 5 mins of parking in the wrong lot.

I'm pretty choked at this point.......I go to my father-in-law's house and he takes one look at the attachments and says:

"these won't fit my drill son.....you're gonna need an adapter or something".

I go back to Lordco.......i ask for an adapter.....$38.....also from 3M.....i parked on the street this time.

I go back to the house......try the wheel......guess what......it strips the paint, its no better than using sandpaper.

I go back to Lordco......take everything to the front counter......and tell them what happened...I used one of the wheels and wanted to pay for that...but asked for my money back for EVERYTHING ELSE....the wheel stripped the paint.......they hee'd and hawed but finally decided to return my money.....the attendant that helped me looked dumbfounded.

I've already ordered the rubber wheel from Eastwood......i friggin hope it works....am I doing something wrong here? is there a liquid solution or something that I should be using? I still have one of the plastic 3M wheels at my disposal.
 
post a pic of the wheel. All the wheels I have seen for this have been soft and wear very fast.

I honestly only remove stripes with a heat gun and razor(carefully). then I use kleansol or some other non paint damaging solvent to remove the adhesive.
 
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