Rep Power: 305

Well I have been struggling with removing the pinstripes from my civic for about two years. I never had the patience to do it little by little and the different things i tried never seemed to work.

Hairdryer- Helped loosen the glue but made the stripe too soft to pull off and it would break.

Goo Gone- Didnt help at all

Pinstripe removal kit (from autozone) - Same as goo gone with several sealed applicator pads and a small plastic card. I followed the instructions but no luck.

Tonight I was playing with a steam cleaner to see if it had any effect on the engine bay (trying to clean it up) and though it did a pretty poor job of cleaning there I found out this is the perfect tool to remove pinstriping. All I had to do was start it peeling enough that i could pull it, then at half throttle I pulled and followed about 2inches behind with the steamer, every section of the larger stripe (it has a small stripe on top and a larger below) came off painlessly and quickly in a solid strip, I was pretty amazed.

I still have to figure out how to get the smaller strip off but if anyone is looking to do this and happens to have a steamer available its a great tool.

 
Rep Power: 252

Just the info I was looking for!

I've got the Rallye Red civic with gold pinstripes. They gotta go. They're peeling in some spots and I am sick of looking at the wax built up around them that makes them look fuzzy instead of straight lines.

One question, after you removed them was there any noticeable paint fading or marks of any kind?

 
Rep Power: 305

Yes there was, its not very apparent and once i waxed i cant notice it unless I really look, but its much better than those ugly stripes.

 
Rep Power: 275

If you have any paint fading, grab a bottle of Meguiars ColorX and that should blend it all right in for you.

 
Rep Power: 276

I asked for stuff like that to be removed from my car before I picked it up.

me - "Can you remove the dealer sticker from the back?"
salesman - "Sure, we'll put a new one on there for ya."
me - "Uh, could you not?"

Picked it up, no sticker.

 
Rep Power: 252

I was afraid to ask for anything else from my salesman... I already got him to throw in a timing belt change, a spoiler, and retint the windows on the 01 I just got used. Probably would've shown me the door if I asked for the stickers taken off.

 
Rep Power: 0

I had the dealer remove my pin stripes after having the car 2 yrs. Kept mostly in the garage, but anyways they did a good job can't really see them. But the dumba$$ nicked the paint everywhere they started the pull on the stripes. Didn't see it after they washed the car cause it was a clean and dark, but when the sun hits i can tell.

That about the kit brand scratch removal any suggestions?

 
Rep Power: 275

Removing a scratch depends on how deep it is. The only scratch remover that I have ever gotten results from was Meguiars ScratchX. If your doing it by hand make sure you have plenty of energy though, its tough work.

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah exactly, its to very hard to remove by hand use a terry cloth applicator as it will give you more bite machine applying a polish(or compound as it should be called) is much more effective. remember that you to really remove a scratch, you are removing paint. depending on the depth of the scratch you might be sacrificing to much clear coat and thus risk burning threw the clear coat....yes you can do this by hand if you car is not a show car but a daily driver, imo you are much better making the scratch less visible..for example some ******* keyed my dads 00 accord, instead of removing the scratch i did it 80%-85%, it can only be seen under the right angle at the right light....and 1 more thing, removing pin stripes or any stickers after its has on the paint for a long time, be careful as the the edging could be permanetly imprinted in the paint and leveling the paint could be very risky....put it like this, dont be surprised if once you remove the pinstripes, you can see the imprints looking at the the paint at an angle..fair warning

 
Rep Power: 0

i was in home depot to day and happen to look at the heat guns. one of them in there said it removed decals, and that it had to temp settings, 750 and 1000 degrees F. after i bought it i was talking about removing the pen stripes with the wife when i remebered about this thread, thinking i was in the clear like this would help me... well once i got here i relized that its a steamer ry used. no biggie i got the reciept but do you guys think it'll work or fubar my cars paint. if it does im riding on crap color cause i cant afford a p.j. right now

 
Rep Power: 305

When I tried a heat gun it was too hot and the stripe would melt/break off

 
Rep Power: 346

I don't know what you guys are talking about, Using a hairdryer worked like magic.

Driver's side pinstripe, removed by hand, NO aid whatsoever...Took a good 30 minutes

Passenger's side, used hairdryer, following in front about 6 inches and holding it about 3 inches away...Less then 5 minutes

After buffing the areas out with some wax and terry cloth, you couldn't tell they were there until you got at just the right angle...


I was thinking about following the crease on the side of the car with a glow in the dark pinstripe. I have the kit here that I got for free, might as well use it. Just have to decide where to start it at on the front

 
Rep Power: 0

I really can'r describe the item other than a rubber plate looking thing that goes on a drill...
We use it at the dealership to take off the dealership stickers for people that don't want them.
Just use the drill thing, wax, and they're gone.

I'll find out the name tomorrow.

 
Rep Power: 0

tagged

 
Rep Power: 252

I had a bitch of a time getting my pinstripe off. It was very brittle and fell apart every quarter inch. Took me total of about 3 hours to do the whole car.

I used a heat gun to heat it up and then scraped at it with a plastic bondo applicator (did not scratch car unless I wasn't careful). I also used Prep-Sol to liquify the glue that was left over.

I do have a very noticeable line on the car from where it was. But it really had to go. Gold stripe with red/black/silver car makes no sense. Plus whoever put it on, on the right side the small stripe was above the large stripe and on the left side it was reverse. The person that owned my car before me was a total idiot.

Here's my car now:

 
Rep Power: 264

i did mine by hand, with no heat gun cuz flordia is a heat gun lol. Took me like 2 yrs to do it.