How risky is it to remove old factory stickers and tape Pin Stripes?

[Contradiction]

Hi everyone,

So I`m going to take my 1984 VW Rabbit GTI to a higher end detailer soon with the intent of giving it the first real thorough detailing on it since I bought the car. It`s old single stage paint and it`s in generally good shape, but it could definitely use the detail.

Since I`m really intent on keeping the car as original as possible and most likely not having it resprayed anytime soon, I kind of want to give it a minor exterior refresh to make the other trim and badges reflective of the condition I hope the paint will be in when they are done. I`m going to replace the badges with brand new ones (they attach with posts so they`ll be easy to relocate to the proper spot) and I`d really like to replace the faded old pin stripes and the "UNLEADED FUEL ONLY" sticker above the gas filler.

I`m a bit leery of trying to remove those though.

The Detailer replied to the request and had 2 things to say.

1) The UNLEADED FUEL ONLY sticker may have etched the paint over the years so there`s some risk in that. Realizing that it`s been on the car for 32 years I expect the paint underneath it to be much brighter (not swirled, faded, etc.) should I remove it so I would plan on replacing it with a new one anyway. I just want one that looks fresh.

2) He said that while he would be willing to remove the pin stripe tape, he`d have to charge me extra labor for that. I get it, he has to make a living and it`s extra work.

So What I`m wondering is this.

Do you guys think that there is risk to paint damage underneath a sticker like this?

I`m almost more worried about the pin stripe. It`s only 1/8" wide, but I`m afraid of removing any adhesive or sections of it that may not come up easily. As you can see in this picture a piece of it flaked off, it looks like there`s still tape material left behind. Like the surface layer flaked off, but the backing to it stayed on. It isn`t sticky or anything in that spot.

So how risky is it to try and remove this?

Should I quit being a chicken and just hit it with Goo Gone, or is this a big ordeal if these are also decades old?

If there`s a greater risk that I could mar the paint in the process or not remove it all I`m more inclined to leave it.

 

[Raymoche]

If you want to remove it... just remove it and do a light compound or polish as necessary... I`ve never encounter a sticker/vinyl removal that required more than compounding....

edit: didnt read your post thoroughly, apologies. I say remove it, since he is compounding, and its not about making a living or not, its just more work (possibly a lot more work and risk).

 

[Contradiction]

Forgive my ignorance here, but how agressive of a compound would he probably need to remove this? What if the paint is already generally thin to begin with?

Keep in mind it`s single stage and when he checked it with a digital paint depth gauge when we first talked it was averaging about 60mm in most places and as low as 40 in some spots. I`m afraid that I don`t have much paint to remove here.

I`m afraid that if the stripe doesn`t come off cleanly I`m going to have a bunch of random chunks of it that he`ll have to power off with a buffer. I don`t know if I want to double my cost her for that or if I could risk some paint damage.

 

[RaysWay]

Have you tried removing any of it yet? I`ve seen some pinstripes that were ridiculously easy to remove, and others that were ridiculously difficult. If you have a drill, the 3M Stripe Off Wheel is amazing.

Along with an adhesive remover and plastic razor blades.

After scrubbing away stubborn adhesive, you might be left with scratches, just be prepared to buff those out.

These pics were from a Dodge Durango detail: Dodge Durango Detail - Album on Imgur

 

[thenewvessel]

Have you tried removing any of it yet? I`ve seen some pinstripes that were ridiculously easy to remove, and others that were ridiculously difficult. If you have a drill, the 3M Stripe Off Wheel is amazing.

Yeah these eraser wheels work wonders. They work super well even on badging adhesive. Just be sure to hold the eraser at a 45 degree angle and don`t push to hard on the material.
Just let the eraser do the work and gradually apply pressure when needed.

 

[Contradiction]

Thanks Vega! That sounds like a great idea. Most of the reviews I`ve read of the stripe off wheel so far have been really positive. I think I`ll give that a shot.

 

[PRND[S]]

If you are going to replace the sticker with an original one, any etching or lack of fading behind the sticker shouldn`t be a problem since the new sticker should cover it up exactly.

Also, for vinyl, try heating it before removal to soften the adhesive. In the summer you can leave the car out in the sun to make removal easier, but a heat gun or hair dryer work also. Use a non-scratching plastic razor to pick up the edge of the sticker or pinstriping, then peel it off. I find that folding stickers back 180 degrees (so that the adhesive side faces away from the surface of the paint) works best.

 

[Accumulator]

contradiction- OH MAN do I think your car is wonderful!! I`m a bit of a nut regarding originality and certain cars from that era, and that GTI just DOES IT for me

Noting that I`ve had a scad of cars from that era, including VWs, and debadged quite a few of them...

I myself would`ve probably removed the stripe when it was new, maybe even considered it for the first 2-3 years. Maybe. But not after that. It would show too much.

I wouldn`t remove/replace that stuff now for anything, not if you held a gun to my head. NEVER. No way would I expect things to go well...the chance of ghosting alone would discourage me from trying that. It`s only original once and to me that`s a huge part of that wonderful car`s appeal.

At this point I consider the "defects" to be "patina" and thus a FEATURE that adds character and speaks to the car`s originality and unmolested condition.

If I were a gambling man, I`d wager *anything* that removing/replacing such stuff will make things worse instead of better. The removal wheel wouldn`t get within a mile of that car if I had anything to do with it (note that I`d have no problem using it in some other situations).

And OH MAN do I hope your detailer is familiar with that specific ss paint. This is no time for on-the-job training. "So how many pre-b/c German cars frm that era have you worked on?" would be one of my first questions. IMO it`s better to have (even highly imperfect) original paint than a repaint and it`s just so easy to have an "oops!".

There, hope I`ve been sufficiently forceful in expressing my opinions and have gotten my intent across Sorry if I gave offense to anybody but I feel so strongly about this....

 

[Contradiction]

contradiction- OH MAN do I think your car is wonderful!! I`m a bit of a nut regarding originality and certain cars from that era, and that GTI just DOES IT for me

Noting that I`ve had a scad of cars from that era, including VWs, and debadged quite a few of them...

I myself would`ve probably removed the stripe when it was new, maybe even considered it for the first 2-3 years. Maybe. But not after that. It would show too much.

I wouldn`t remove/replace that stuff now for anything, not if you held a gun to my head. NEVER. No way would I expect things to go well...the chance of ghosting alone would discourage me from trying that. It`s only original once and to me that`s a huge part of that wonderful car`s appeal.

At this point I consider the "defects" to be "patina" and thus a FEATURE that adds character and speaks to the car`s originality and unmolested condition.

If I were a gambling man, I`d wager *anything* that removing/replacing such stuff will make things worse instead of better. The removal wheel wouldn`t get within a mile of that car if I had anything to do with it (note that I`d have no problem using it in some other situations).

And OH MAN do I hope your detailer is familiar with that specific ss paint. This is no time for on-the-job training. "So how many pre-b/c German cars frm that era have you worked on?" would be one of my first questions. IMO it`s better to have (even highly imperfect) original paint than a repaint and it`s just so easy to have an "oops!".

There, hope I`ve been sufficiently forceful in expressing my opinions and have gotten my intent across Sorry if I gave offense to anybody but I feel so strongly about this....

Thanks! If you`d like to see more of the car I`ve got a build thread here:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/f...rabbit-gti-survivor-build-thread/79456/page1/

I do intend to replace the pin stripe since it`s factory and probably the Fuel sticker as well if there`s still a noticable "ghosted" outline from it.

I guess my intent is basically to give the paint a good "refresh" as much as I can and I`d like to do new badges on the hatch and replace the pinstriping and the fuel sticker because that would really add to the whole "WOW this car is well preserved" aspect of it. The pinstripe is faded and has some breaks in it like the one you see in the picture above so that`s my motivation for replacing it.

The detailer works for an exotic car dealer that has detailed a lot of high end cars and has a good reputation so I expect that he`ll do a good job and he`s much better then a hobbyist turned Detailer that`s doing this on the side. He does know that it`s SS and he has a digital paint gauge as well so I trust that he won`t be too aggressive with it.

 

[Accumulator]

Contradiction- OK, I sincerely hope he proves me wrong! Eh, I`m just a paranoid nutjob when it comes to stuff like this

I`ll be interested to hear how he matches the new stripe/sticker to the artifacts from the original ones..that`d be a challenging job to say the least.

Enjoyed the build link, IMO you`re just so fortunate to have found that, and it`s fortunate to end up in the hands of somebody like you. Hope you drive the wheels off it

Oh, and speaking of wheels.... despite my, uhm... originality fetish, those BBSes are great on it.

 

[Poorboy]

contradiction- OH MAN do I think your car is wonderful!! I`m a bit of a nut regarding originality and certain cars from that era, and that GTI just DOES IT for me

Noting that I`ve had a scad of cars from that era, including VWs, and debadged quite a few of them...

I myself would`ve probably removed the stripe when it was new, maybe even considered it for the first 2-3 years. Maybe. But not after that. It would show too much.

I wouldn`t remove/replace that stuff now for anything, not if you held a gun to my head. NEVER. No way would I expect things to go well...the chance of ghosting alone would discourage me from trying that. It`s only original once and to me that`s a huge part of that wonderful car`s appeal.

At this point I consider the "defects" to be "patina" and thus a FEATURE that adds character and speaks to the car`s originality and unmolested condition.

If I were a gambling man, I`d wager *anything* that removing/replacing such stuff will make things worse instead of better. The removal wheel wouldn`t get within a mile of that car if I had anything to do with it (note that I`d have no problem using it in some other situations).

And OH MAN do I hope your detailer is familiar with that specific ss paint. This is no time for on-the-job training. "So how many pre-b/c German cars frm that era have you worked on?" would be one of my first questions. IMO it`s better to have (even highly imperfect) original paint than a repaint and it`s just so easy to have an "oops!".

There, hope I`ve been sufficiently forceful in expressing my opinions and have gotten my intent across Sorry if I gave offense to anybody but I feel so strongly about this....

I agree ... taking off pin stripes that old is going to leave a ghost or shadow, I have done way too many to say otherwise ... if you replace them use a slightly wider tape or even better, you need to find someone in your area that can paint them on and use the original shadow as his guide... the gas one should be fairly easy..

:funnyatina ...sorry can`t help myself

 

[Accumulator]

:funnyatina ...sorry can`t help myself

Heh heh, yeah...too many people just say "hey, that`s "patina"...it`s so original" to excuse something being an utter POS. BUT...[INSERT usual lecture about stuff only being original once and how anybody with $ can have a perfect car but it takes something different to keep one nice through decades of use]

The original vs. restored thing is bugging me more these days because the paint they`re using now is just *SO* different from how the vehicles looked originally and usually looks awful to me.

 

[davidc]

The original vs. restored thing is bugging me more these days because the paint they`re using now is just *SO* different from how the vehicles looked originally and usually looks awful to me.

Ever since the EPA stuck their nose into everything paint wise it went to crap. When cars were clear coated up to the 90`s I never saw clear coat failure and the actual clear peeling off. Then came the period when the actual clear and color would actually peel off the vehicle in sheets. Last time I checked the Tor Red was 65.00 mid 80`s and now 450.00 a gallon. The common problems in the pre 80`s were crows feet in most GM Lacquers along with fading on all paints as other companies were using enamel. These were mostly all single stage and eventually would need repainting because the color died and was now primer. As you can tell I have absolutely no love of today`s paints at least from the vehicle manufacturers. Sorry for the rant.

Dave

 

[Accumulator]

davidc- Yeah, it seems every manufacturer had a sweet-spot where their ss and/or their b/c was OK, but then something always changed.

 

[Contradiction]

Well, at the urging of the Detailer I`m going to leave the stripes alone. He said he hasn`t seen good results from the eraser wheels before and it might require paint correction to fix so I`m just going to leave them as is. Thanks for your advice though everyone, much appreciated.

 

[Poorboy]

Heh heh, yeah...too many people just say "hey, that`s "patina"...it`s so original" to excuse something being an utter POS. BUT...[INSERT usual lecture about stuff only being original once and how anybody with $ can have a perfect car but it takes something different to keep one nice through decades of use]

The original vs. restored thing is bugging me more these days because the paint they`re using now is just *SO* different from how the vehicles looked originally and usually looks awful to me.

lol .. my cousin is a dealer of classic vehicles and has had a few rat rods come through with "patina" .. honestly they looked like rusted junk with a clear on it .. unless you are talking about a barn find of a vehicle over 50 years old, old cars/ trucks look better with a clean paint job, even if it isn`t quite the "look" of the way it was made originally .. just had my 67 painted this past year and it looks a million times better than when it had rust and discolored sections ..

 

[Accumulator]

Poorboy- Yeah, there are some, uhm...wacky-extremes in the RatRod world.

You and I will just have to agree to disagree on the Patina Issue Though depending on what it is, I might like your `67 in modern paint too, just depends on the car.

I simply WOULD NOT WANT TO OWN my Jag with a different paint on it. I want it a certain way, which happens to be how it was when delivered new. Like... as soon as I saw my pal`s MKII Jag with its perfectly color-correct b/c paintjob, I thought it looked like [crap]...that model looks completely different in ss lacquer and that`s how I prefer it. But !?Who Cares?! what I like, my pal thinks his b/c paint looks perfect on it and it`s *his car* so that`s what counts Heh heh, I wish I *did* like it, detailing a car that looks wrong to me is a drag, takes the fun right out of it for me. I actually tried to "tone down" the b/c-look to make it look more like ss, which somehow resulted in some "expert" thinking it had DodoJuice on it!