Adhesive removal, any easy way to get it off?
 

1994 Base with T-tops


I picked up this car last week and decided that because of missing pieces the aftermarket side panels had to go. A couple of screws to remove and a gentle tug here and there and they are now in the trash. These puppies were stuck down with double sided sticky tape and a HARD glue and now I have to remove that. Sticky tape won't pose a problem it is the hard stuff that concerns me.


Anybody have any suggestions for something to soften it up so I can gently scrape it off? Right now I can chip it off with a putty knife, but there is a lot of it and I don't want this project to turn into a career. Will Goof Off or Goo Gone work? How about acetone or lacquer thinner? Anything else? Mayonnaise (don't laugh, it's supposed to work)? WD-40?


Meanwhile, you'll find me chipping away with my putty knife.


Thanks for your help.

Heat gun and/or alcohol.
Solvents, such as lacquer thinner and acetone, soften paint/clear coat.

Thanks. Hadn't thought about alcohol. I'll give it a try.

goo gone works the best for me ,if it did not take away the clear over time ,if that happens,find a good emblem an put it over the spot ,couse until you paint it will be there ,or a good decal can last a few years,let is soak,an down below no there are related threads about panals an glue

It looks like this is going to be an ongoing task. I used Goo Gone, alcohol, WD-40, Formula 409, and a heat gun. The only thing that seemed to provide the fastest results was the heat gun on low held about 4 inches from the glue. Even then, the paint got soft in several places and due to my heavy handedness with the scraper, some of it found it's way to the ground leaving rock chip size spots where it used to be. If this were a pristine example of a '94 I might be upset. It ain't, so I'm not too ticked off. Both sides of the car will need polishing just to get it to looking good from a few feet away. I did find that using a pocket knife and WD-40 on the smaller bits seemed to provide good results. The WD-40 acted like a cushion between the paint and the stuck on glue so I could feel when the glue bits were removed and the knife didn't leave any heavy scratching. They should polish right out.


I spent about six hours on this task yesterday and am about 2/3 done. I did get some 3-M General Purpose Adhesive remover to use on what's left. It's not supposed to hurt the paint. We'll see.


Touch up paint will hide the errors.


I'll keep you posted.

carefull try to get the right razer blade in there an trim it off,mabey a carpet blade,i have trimed 3 mm off with razor blade then used goo gone then did not know there was anything there on a decal .? you dont mention what trim where is it located ,what is it

Update: I used the 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner on both sides of the car yesterday. The results were pretty good in that it did a good job on the double sided sticky tape and appeared to soften up the "Hard" glue. Still a tedious process to get every speck of glue off and it still needs polishing. Looks pretty good from 10 ft. away.


Still have some small spots to take care of, but they'll have to wait for another day.


Thanks for all the suggestions.

the razor blade may have been better ,btu if your happy all that matters