Removal of roof decals

[southwestie]

Hi,
Can anyone recommend best way to remove the Auto Free Top decals from the roof, prior to painting a matching bodywork colour?
I've been teasing at the edges with various chemicals and scourers, but have begun to remove small areas of the gel coat, so I've downed tools before I really mess it up.

Thanks.

[dave_aber]

If you are respraying the roof anyway, how about just sanding through them?

You could also try a caramel wheel.

From posts on here, it seems that over the years the adhesive can bond very well with the paint / gelcoat and become a right bugger to shift without damaging the underlying surface.

[Simon Jones]

A really powerful jet wash will often remove decals when you hadn't intended it to . A hair dryer will help soften the adhesive and shouldnt be too hot to cause a problem with roof itself.

[Bainsy]

I used a hair dryer to soften the glue and then peeled the decals off the side of mine. I then used Auto Glym intensive tar remover to soften the glue and an old credit card to scape it off. I understand petrol is even better. Be careful with the tar remover, inhalation resulted in dizziness! If you search 'removing old speed stripes' there is a lot of advice.

[southwestie]

All good advise. Thanks to all.
I'll try a hairdryer first as further abrasion to the roof is something I want to avoid if possible.
Can anyone tell me if a loss of gelcoat will result in damage to the fibreglass through exposure to the elements?
I will be respraying it but delayed until I recover financially from alloy wheel modification.

[Simon Jones]

There has been some discussion before about what the roof is actually made of. This seems to be quite useful: http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... bs#p238974

[southwestie]

Thanks chaps

The hairdryer worked well to soften glue and I managed to tease them off. The remaining glue came off easily with acetone and a scraper.


Cheers