I Thought I'd ask this Q here. I tried on the XK8 site, but not sure the expertise is there.

For detailers/paint guys:

I want to remove the door guard strips on my 2002 XK8 (carnival red). Will I have a paint match problem because of fade? The car has been mostly garaged its entire life, but has lived in the Sunny SW USA.

 

Thank you for the question Steve....

Allow the vehicle to sit in the direct sunlight one side at a time so the mouldings have a chance to warm up. Then using a heat gun (on a low setting) warm up the moulding slowly and start to peel it back. USE GLOVES, MOULDINGS AND ADHESIVE GET VERY WARM TO THE TOUCH. I HAVE MELTED MANY OF MY FINGER TIPS DOING THIS IN THE PAST. As the mouldings lift, you will be left with some of the adhesive residue, which can later be removed. For adhesive removal I would recommend 3M's product or Stoner "Tarminator" or even WD-40 works. Be prepared for some fun times removing this crap, have a chilled cold drink near by!!!!

You will notice as you mentioned that there may be a discoloration of the panel where the moulding was removed. This area will need to be ROTARY polished to blend with the surrounding areas. This way the difference will not be as dramatic as the depth and color will then be restored to both sides where the trim was removed.....

Hope this helps you!

 

David,

Thank you very much. I don't want to screw this XK8 up because it is in cherry shape. I wanted to remove the door bump strips because the later model years came without them and the look is cleaner, but I don't want to do it at the expense of a "two-toned" paint job because the color under the strips is darker. The car is "Carnival Red" (maroon like red color, not bright red).

All the best,

 

Hi, you can check out this similar thread from here:
http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums...ml#post2891248

 

Thanks for the additional info - much appreciated.

 

I have the first small dent guard strip off successfully. I used a heat gun and dental floss. Luckily, there is no apparent discoloration, although I have about a two inch strip of glue to remove. I've started with WD40 (only material I have right now) and, as David said, you really need a cold drink...something high proof!

David - The other products you've mentioned, 3M and Stoner, can you suggest where they are available? And, do they work faster than WD40? At this rate I'll be here another 3 years getting all six strips and glue off.

Any other ideas to remove the glue from anyone?

 

goo-b-gone ?

 

Someone suggested Goof Off. My experience with that stuff was awesome. My cat used to always jump up on the kitchen counters, so my wife bought this double-sided tape stuff at the pet store that is supped to keep cats off the counters. It's kinda like that clear packaging tape except it's sticky on both sides. She stuck it to the countertops, and a week later the cat had learned to stay off. We peeled the tape off, but the sticky bottom part stayed stuck to the counter! I tried acetone (nail polish remover) and it didn't work. I tried alcohol. It didn't work. I tried mineral spirits and WD-40 and lacquer thinner. None of them worked. Finally I bought some Goof Off. It took a little elbow grease, but it actually worked! Now I swear by the stuff.

I don't know what it will do to your paint, though, so don't blame me if it eats through to the primer.

 

Steve,

For the Stoner products you can visit http://www.stonersolutions.com/

I recommend the Tarminator and the Xenit Natural Citrus Cleaner (definately better than WD-40).....I just removed an Invisible Bra last week on a 07 Porsche Cayenne and having some acetone handy also helped to remove some of the stubborn stuck on adhesive (took me 3hrs to remove the bra and all the adhesive) and it did not damage the paint. With any of the products mentioned above, different reactions can occur with different OEM paints. Always test a small inconspicuous spot using a soft MF towel and after using any of the above chemicals be sure to follow up with a quick detailer and wax....Let me know if you need any further assistance!

 

Hi David,

As Always, I very much appreciate your help/knowledge! I have some acetone on my shelf and know of its properties to remove adhesives, but I was not comfortable using it directly on clearcoat. So you had success using it and no melting of the clearcoat? What kind of car? Maybe I'll try it.

 

Update - OK, I'm done with one side. strips (3) are off and the glue is off. I now need to use a light abrasive paint cleaner/swirl remover, then polish and wax. With an 8 year old car and a dark color, there was absolutely no color difference under the strips - Good News!

I worked my A$$ off on the glue, and my fingers are all burned and very sore. I'll need to recover before doing the other side Took a total of about 6 hours. I tried a few products, only one of which worked pretty well. That was the Goo Gone. WD40 really didn't do much. I tried acetone in an inconspicuous place and found paint color on the rag the first wipe, so I strongly recommend NOT using acetone on Jaguar's paint.

The process I used to remove the strips - A heat gun on high is used to "heat up" about a 2" length of the strip, then, while hot, use a heavy waxed dental floss to "slice" through the glue strip. Once the strip is off, then a big slow job working the glue bead off - CAREFULLY scrape the very thick sections with a single edge razor, being careful NOT to make contact with the paint. Once the clue strip is very thin, soak with Goo Gone, heat up with the heat gun, rub with a micro fiber cloth or your thumb or finger. Rub in one direction and "push" the glue ball along.

You'll be left with either a pretty clean, paint matching area, or maybe a slight "line" where the strip end was. This will be rubbed out either with an abasive cleaner or polishing compound.

The results are impressive! I know it will vary with different taste, but the look is far cleaner with the door strips reomved. Worth the work!

 

can we get a pic of the finished side, after you 'polish' it up a bit, that is?

 

Yep - I'll photo after I get the other side done. Car is disabled at the moment with air bags removed.

 

I didnt use any heat... just started pulling it off with my fingers. Rolling the adhesive tape off really hurt after all four doors. They are held on with double sided tape. If you apply heat to them with a hairdryer, use a credit card to start lifting the end of the moulding, then pull it off while still applying heat to the tape.

 

I've finally finished removing the door strips and all the glue. I am completely satisfied with the outcome and prefer the look of the car now w/o the door strips, although I'd have to think very seriously about doing this job again just because of the miserable experience removing the glue.

Past that, the finish underneath is perfect. The pic shows the door rubbed out with swirl marks removed, but I have not polished or waxed yet.

 

I've finished cleaning up both sides now. I used Meguiar's swirl remover followed up by their polish, then a coat of Zymol.

The look is far better w/o these strips.

 

I totally agree. It looks great!

 

Updated the look! Fantastic!

 

I would really like to do this to my X-type, but NO ONE seems to know if it's just adhesive-mounted or if there are rivets..... Anyone?