My I30 has fugly brown and tan pin stripes that are painted on. Whats the best way to remove them? Will brake cleaner cut right through the clear coat?

thanks a lot,
Drew

 

do not use brake cleaner!!!! repeat, DO NOT USE BRAKE CLEANER!!!! on mine, i just peeled it off. you have to go slow and easy, maybe heat it up with hair dryer or park it in the sun for a few hours to loosen up the adhesive. after you peel it off use goo gone to get rid of the sticky stuff. you can buy it at any auto parts store.

 

thats the thing, the pin stripes are PAINTED on. not just the stick on ones that u can heat up and peel off. I really hate the look of them. I was told my someone who worked at a detail shop and checked my car out last night that I could either use 2500 grit sand paper or buff the hell out outta the car till they came off. Either way he said would damage the top layer of the clear coat. Any suggestions guys??

thanks again,
Drew

 

use touchup paint over the whole stripe

 

forget it, those things aren't goin to come off if it's painted... either way by the time you're done sanding or something, you'll see an noticable strip (whether it be faded or off-color) running on the side of your car.

 

will break cleaner eat through the clear coat?

 

dude you DO NOT want to use brake cleaner on your paint! If i was hella ****ed at someone and I was ****ed up in the head to do something to their car, i'd throw brake cleaner all over it... wanna know why?? it EATS paint.

don't get that **** near your paint or you'll be screwed.

 

yea, i think i am just going to pay a professional to really buff the car out with some moderately abrasive polish. The car has quite a few swirl marks and light surface scrathes all over the finish anyhow. Any recommendation on the strongest stuff I can use to really get the car back to its original shine? I will pay a professional to really do it correctly and if I have to lose a little of the clear coat, i'm willing to do that and become religious about keep the car waxed all the time.

thanks,
Drew

 

Mine peeled off without a hassle..(most of it) I used goof off for the residue.

And a credit card to scrape

 

yeah, but as his earlier posts state his pinstripes are actually painted on, not stickers.......he is screwed.

 

well, i got real bold, and i dont know what i was thinking...but I used brake cleaner and the pinstripes came right off. Luckily it didnt hurt the clearcoat at all. The only problem is that the car was in an accident a few months ago and the rear passenger door was repainted. When they repainted they clearcoated over the pin stripes! So yea, now I am basically screwed. The car looks great except for that one door and a part of the rear quarter that was repainted too! It kinda funny looking because there are no pin stripes except on the rear passenger door about a foot of the passenger quarter panel. I guess I'll just go ahead and have that part repainted again. It didnt match perfectly when it was repainted originally and it's always kinda bugged me, so I now I have an excuse to have it redone.

 

Sounds exactly like my car. My car was in an accident so the white doesnt match perfectly, plus when they repainted it, they painted over the pin stripe so there is no way to remove it without repainting.

 

well, i'm getting the entire care repainted in a week, so no more pin stripes at all!! wahoo!