My Carnival Red X-Type has a dealer-installed ivory pin stripe down the side to match it's leather interior. Ugly as sin! Really cheapens the look of the vehicle. I wish I could remove it, but I'm afraid to damage the paint.

Not my car, but identical to this: http://images.gtcarlot.com/gtgallery...hp?id=70867041

Anyone have experience with pin stripe removal on an X-Type? Advice needed.

Thanks!

 

Hi,

All you need to do is use a hair dryer to warm the stripe then peel it away once removed you can use a bit of methalayted spirit to remove any glue marks and just polish after

Good luck

 

So, the stripes are, in fact, just vinyl stickers? Not under the clear coat? They are so thin it's hard to tell. Thanks!

 

There's three levels of pin stripes or coach lines as they are known in the UK:

1. a roll of stick-on vinyl
2. a painted line applied with a wheeled guide machine to get it straight
3. the Rolls Royce method - by hand with a squirrel hair brush!


Only one man does this job. I wonder what they do when he's on holiday?

Graham

 

If you can't feel an edge on the stripe then it's painted on. I have the same problem on a Jeep Grand Cherokee. My wife had a little shunt in it and I had to replace a fender. The new fender is not striped and I'd rather not have it on the rest of the vehicle either. The good news is that it will be on top of the clear coat. If I come up with a solution I'll post it. Better to let me experiment on the Jeep since it's basically a farm vehicle now and it won't be the end of the world if its not perfect.

 

If its in fact vinyl, a heat gun would work. They also make a rubber "eraser" that goes into a drill. It will take that decal right off with no residue left on the car - Works great and easy. I used it to take a huge decal off my boat with ease. If it is painted on, but on top of the clear coat, you can get a good buffer with cutting cream compound and should be able to buff it off. Light wet sanding could help. *You must be careful not to sand through the paint or burn the paint with the buffer*. If it is under the clear coat, it makes removing this stripe much more of a task and may involve needing clear re-applied.

 

3M Adhesive Eraser Wheel, 03612 - Detailing.com

Look around and you can pick similar items up for around 15 to 20 dollars.

 

The closer I look at them , the more I think that they are painted on top of the clear coat. I'm kind of afraid to mess with them. Damn.

 

You might want to stop at a body shop to see if they'll tell you whether they're painted on or not. If they're painted on, don't mess with them, if not do as others suggested BUT don't use a heat gun unless you're very careful -- a hairdryer will work just fine.

In 1999 I bought a Honda CR-V "over the phone," and I told the salesman to make sure there was no pin striping. He promised, I drove 100 miles to pick up the vehicle and it had pin stripes!!!! I backed out of the deal, he didn't think I would so he almost let me walk. He made the poor guy from the shop spend about an hour and a half peeling them off! I was happy, he wasn't. Oh well, I was very specific and he lied thinking I'd just take the vehicle with the stripes - he was wrong!

I've seen some Jaguars with stripes that don't loo too bad, but others are hideous, especially when they get old and faded.