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Removing decals

General Tech Talk

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Removing decals

Post by brhandas »

I plan to buy a white rodeo and it has decals down the sides, there all faded and look crap so I want to pull them off. I have a few questions about this.

1. What can I use to remove the glue that won’t damage the paint after I have removed them?.

2. Has there been a noticeable difference in color die to sun fade etc when you removed decals? can it be fixed with a cut and polish?

Thanks guys.
Last edited by brhandas on Thu May 18, 2006 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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decals

Post by klrevo »

brhandas,

when i bought my paj, it had very 'hairdresser' style decals down the side that i wasnt a big fan of :lol: and i boguht it regardless. 15 mins after i got home, the hairdryer was out, and 10 mins after that the cut and polish was out, so in answer to your questions:

1. i used the hairdryer and pull method, get a rhythm going and youll soon have those decals off in no time. heat up a long section and youll get heaps off at a time. hairdryer shouldnt get hot enough to affect the paint, just dont let it get that hot, doesnt need much.

2. after a cut and polish it was very hard to tell the difference....until the fist time i went out in dry dusty conditions and the dust settled on where the decals used to be. give it time, wont take long to blend and become the same as the rets of the paint,

dean ;)
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Post by GOT MUD »

iam doing this now on the gq ive bought using the hairdryer trick i used to detail cars so i ve got some tricks i use but if you are left with some glue on the paint use some unleaded fuel on a rag and wipe along it which will break it down ;)
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Post by plowy »

use eucalyptus oil to remove the glue , seen the old girl in action with this stuff
it actually has many uses
Last edited by plowy on Wed May 17, 2006 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HotFourOk »

Yep, hairdyer is the best way to go... Use Big Kevs goo remover for the sticky stuff... works a treat! (R.I.P Big Kev) :D

Make sure to not use anything sharp to lift up the decals... coz it will scratch the paint... just be careful!
You can often lift up the corner of the decal by rubbing your finger over the edge of it
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deca;s

Post by klrevo »

yeh for sure, with any stickys left over, eucalyptus oil for sure, the tiniest bit on a rag will almost do the whole car, its good shi7 :D

shouldnt need anything to lift the decals, use a fingernail, youll get it

dean ;)
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Post by Bad JuJu »

I used a gurney that heats water, then some thinners for any gunk left behind.

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Last edited by Bad JuJu on Tue May 16, 2006 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Goatse.AJ »

Hairdryer and eucalyptus oil, but make sure you wash the eucalyptus oil off asap coz it doesn't do wonders for paint or plastic.
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Post by GOT MUD »

HotFourOk wrote:Yep, hairdyer is the best way to go... Use Big Kevs goo remover for the sticky stuff... works a treat! (R.I.P Big Kev) :D

Make sure to not use anything sharp to lift up the decals... coz it will scratch the paint... just be careful!
You can often lift up the corner of the decal by rubbing your finger over the edge of it
hmmmm yeah for a novice but blade held at 30 degrees to the panel an go steady you ll be fine and anyway it wont do any more scratching than running around the bush ;) :lol:
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Post by HotFourOk »

Yeah I spose hey... I'm too worried about keeping my 4x4 shiny!

Get that out of my system hey! :D
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Post by Sneddo »

plowy wrote:use eucalyptus oil to remove the glue , seen the old girl in action with this stuff
it actually has many uses
How many Stu??
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stickers

Post by Sneddo »

And just i tip if you want to put stickers onto your paint at some stage a trick passed on from the old man is use normal car polish on the area and dont wipe the it off (leave the white dry stuff there) and put the sticker on. They will stay on but leaves a barrier over your paint. Many racing stickers on the Phase 2 falcon over the years and the paint is still schmik :D
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Post by 4x4Monkey »

yeah the hair dryer method
then i whent over it with a solvent called "solewipe" kinda like a thinners. then i just polished it
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Post by mrx78u »

Have been trying to remove them from the old pajero, hairdryer method sort of works but not really well. Managed to get about 10cm off in an hour, and burn my fingers as well. I think they may have been on the car for a while... 18 years or so.

Any ideas guys? Would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: Removing decals

Post by Mick. »

brhandas wrote:I plan to buy a white rodeo and it has decals down the sides, there all faded and look crap so I want to pull them off. I have a few questions about this.

1. What can I use to remove the glue that won’t damage the paint after I have removed them?.

2. Has there been a noticeable difference in color die to sun fade etc when you removed decals? can it be fixed with a cut and polish?

Thanks guys.
Mate it really depends on the age of the car and how long the stickers have been on there. Being a white car and only having the decals on for about 2 years or less you will be fine but anything over 2 years I garrentee you will still see it a bit.

The best way to remove pin strips is with a heat gun or hairdryer. To remove the glue use wax & grease remover. This can be bought at super cheap auto etc or any automotive paint store. Don't use thinners on Rodeo paint work[/b] The paint on these cars arn't the best of quality and thinners will soften it easily.

After that give the car a good buff & polish and it should look alright but you will probably to see it a bit though.

Cheers Mick.
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Post by Mick. »

mrx78u wrote:Have been trying to remove them from the old pajero, hairdryer method sort of works but not really well. Managed to get about 10cm off in an hour, and burn my fingers as well. I think they may have been on the car for a while... 18 years or so.

Any ideas guys? Would be greatly appreciated.
when its that old there is no easy way just persistance. :finger: Another option is to wait till summer and put the car in the sun for a few hours than get a heat gun onto it but it will still be hard. ;)

Cheers Mick.
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Post by 4x4Monkey »

eucalyptus oil Blows chunks, i tryed it and its crap, just spreads the shit every were
Use big kevs goo remover
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decals

Post by def90 »

go the hairdryer, on my white defender 1st thing i did was rremove those dodgy defender decals! h'dryer and slow pull. polish, i could still tell i'd removed the stickers for a little while but faded out in month or so ;)
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decals

Post by badger »

angle grinder works fine
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Post by bradley »

you could use what the cops use down here in vic, they use a buffing wheel from 3M for decal removal, dunno how much it costs but it sure works a treat, my 03 jack was a full dress cop rig, after they buffed the decals off you wouldnt ever know, there was a little bit of crud thrown up onto the panels that was easily removed with a bit of prepsol and a rag.
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Post by dancewiththebear »

the 3m 'caramel wheel' is the way to go, less trouble, we use them all the time to get decals off the aircraft
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Post by mrx78u »

I'll look into these. Any tips, or where to get them?
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Post by Mick. »

mrx78u wrote:I'll look into these. Any tips, or where to get them?
You can only use these on 2 pac paints. Even cheap 2 pac paints can be removed with caramel wheels. Your pajero wouldn't be 2 pac so if you used one you would rip the paint off as well.

Even on some late model cars that are painted in 2 pac I sometimes rip the paint off with the caramel wheels and I use them everyday. :lol:

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Post by mrx78u »

So, any better ideas mick? They're not coming off with heat that's for sure.
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Post by Mick. »

mrx78u wrote:So, any better ideas mick? They're not coming off with heat that's for sure.
Not really mate just persistance. You could try heating the panel a little more and if that doesn't work you could just try a really strong Wax & Grease remover from an automotive shop. Ask for a 2pac Wax & grease remover because they are the strongest. You will have to soak the rag and hold it on an area at a time for maybe 5 minutes than keep trying to peel it off.

BTW if you have a silver pinstrip on your car sometimes the only option for these is to remove with an orbital sander than repaint. :shock: For some reason they seem to eat into the paint for than other pinstrips.

I'm starting to think that that because your 4wd is painted in acrylic the pinstripes have eaten into the paint. The reason for this acrylic softens up with heat so over the years the 4wd sitting in the sun the acrylic softens up which causes the pinstrip to eat into the paint. So if heat isn't removing the strip I don't think you will get it off whichout repainting it.

So try the above options and if that doesn't work than sanding off and repaint is the only option.

Good luck ;)
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Re: Removing decals

Post by bushpig59 »

brhandas wrote:I plan to buy a white rodeo and it has decals down the sides, there all faded and look crap so I want to pull them off. I have a few questions about this.

1. What can I use to remove the glue that won’t damage the paint after I have removed them?.

2. Has there been a noticeable difference in color die to sun fade etc when you removed decals? can it be fixed with a cut and polish?

Thanks guys.
Hello brhandas try also this thread and note my suggestion :) :) :)
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Post by brhandas »

i ended up using a hair drier, turps and a mixing saptula and it came up well. there was know colour difference so i am very happy. thanks for all the replys guys and gals.
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Post by Patchy »

i just brought an MQ patrol SWB :D the old girl is 20 years old its silver metalic paint isnt the best for fading. is it going to look sh#t house after i remove them, faded metalic paint against near new shiny paint. . . dont know if anyone knows of them but they are the really big stickers that run down the side in bright orange.

can anyone tell me if after they have done this the vehicle looked just as crap as with the stikers on, im thinking it might be a case of ya dambed if ya do dambed if ya dont
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Post by slowLux »

i have the same problem, just bought am 88 GQ and it's got these two fat as block lines down the sides, and theyre startin to fade so it looks tacky. The cars white aswell so they mega stand out, will doin the old hairdyrer trick stuff the paint up a bit cause of the age? and will the decals even come off?
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Post by Patchy »

slowLux wrote:i have the same problem, just bought am 88 GQ and it's got these two fat as block lines down the sides, and theyre startin to fade so it looks tacky. The cars white aswell so they mega stand out, will doin the old hairdyrer trick stuff the paint up a bit cause of the age? and will the decals even come off?
HAHA good im not alone. the hair dryer will work with out screwing your paint. if you have to, just use acitone or nail polish remover on any glue. thats all we do at work quick and easy no harm to paint wat so ever. but people.



please people any experiaces
i just brought an MQ patrol SWB the old girl is 20 years old its silver metalic paint isnt the best for fading. is it going to look sh#t house after i remove them, faded metalic paint against near new shiny paint. . . dont know if anyone knows of them but they are the really big stickers that run down the side in bright orange.

can anyone tell me if after they have done this the vehicle looked just as crap as with the stikers on, im thinking it might be a case of ya dambed if ya do dambed if ya dont
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