Is it safe to remove the door decals?

[89mulletbird]

I have a TTA that has been garaged with 55k miles and has had the door decals on its whole life. Would I have problems if I removed them. Would the paint look brighter underneath the decals?? If so, could I just color sand the door panels?

 

[2QUIK6]

If its been garaged and not out in the sunlight much, its probably ok. I'd just remove something small like the dash or the comma or something and see if you can tell a difference before removing all of it, or leave them on if in good shape. Without the decals no one will give the car a second look...which may be good to keep the theives away

 

[j13smiley]

depending on how much the paint has faded - is may show. only way to tell is to remove part of it like posted above and see what the paint looks like underneath. garaged or not i would assume it is not going to match if the dacals have been on the entire time.

if it doesn't match - it will fade and match the rest of the car pretty quickly. no need to color sand (i'm not even sure that would really help it any).

 

[89mulletbird]

I think I'll leave them on. I didn't like them too much before I bought the car, but people are always asking me stuff about if it was a pace car.

I'm guessing it's not safe to buff over them though so I'll have to go around them when I polish my paint.

 

[j13smiley]

what type of "polish" are you using?

 

[89mulletbird]

1500rpm rotary buffer wool pad with 3m Perfectit rubbing compound. I think it might damage the decals.

 

[j13smiley]

yes - that's definatly an abrasive - do not use that on the decals.

 

[chicagoTTA]

First, 1500 RPMs really isn't TOO much... actually a little more would produce a much better polish. The reason to use a wool pad and higher RPMs is that it heats (slightly you hope!) the clear or top coat. That's what produces the high shine.

I'd be surprised that you produce results with 1500 RPMs. Now, that being said... a wool pad is a FIRST step in a MULTI step process. It's NOT a 'cutting' pad. A waffled foam pad is. Sounds like you're using a VERY mild compound that's really more meant for polishing. And, being a white car, do yourself a favor and use a waffled foam pad. Or, use a wool pad with a (little) more aggressive compoud (assuming there's VISIBLE blemishes or oxidation) and then use a polish and a foam pad.

Or, if your paint is in decent shape (white is the EASIEST car to detail) to start off... just use a foam pad and nice polish.

Also, about the decals; go to Home Depot or any hardware store and pick yourself up some blue 'painters' tape. It's more like a post-it note and doesn't leave sticky residue. But, it WILL protect the edges of your decals while you're buffing. Still be REAL careful near the decal, but this will absolutely help.

HTH

Michael

 

[89mulletbird]

rotary polish

Michael,

Thanks for the input. The TTA paint is still very good. I will probably just use my foam pad and polishing compound on it.

For more faded cars, I use the wool pad and PerfectIt II rubbing compound to start(it is a rubbing compound made for taking out color sanding scratches up to 1500 grit); it seems to do OK. If the oxidation is thick, I color sand it first with 1500#. Then I use the foam pad and polish, then wax it.

I have the Makita variable RPM polisher. I do go up over 2k rpm if I'm doing the hood or roof, but anywhere that has edges and lines, I bring down the speed. I'm pretty new to polishing and have burned a couple edges so I try to be really careful!

What polish do you recommend for foam pad. I use the 3M polishing compound, I think it is also called perfectit II.

 

[trading t/a]

Haven't put it to test yet but soft scrub is said to work. I plan on peeling them off soft scrubbing if the shadows show up then buff with a good polish........

 

[89mulletbird]

soft scrub

Can you elaborate on removing the decals and how you use the soft scrub?

 

[chicagoTTA]

Sounds like you're learning quite a bit! Good so far!

If you haven't burned a few edges, you're not a detailer! We ALL have...

To your question. The answer is difficult, since there's SO many products out there. It depends on the car color. The darker the color, the better/more expensive the compound needed.

First, if you haven't already figured this out, NEVER buy "detail" products from an auto supply store. Not that they're all that bad, just not professiona grade. And that's the shiznit there...

Look online, and you'll find many suppliers of high quality products.

I too use 3M for cutting. But, different ones for different color cars. Again, darker cars get MUCH higher grade stuff. You'll NEVER see the difference on a white, silver, light tan, etc. car. But on a Black, Dark Red, blah blah blah car... oh yea.

I'll go out and dig up my detail stuff to give you a more direct answer.

Also, NEVER wet-sand a car that's not in DESPARATE need. A white or light car never really is. I say that because you're really just taking micron-layers off of the clear coat. Never a good idea, but widely done to correct flaws that don't extend down to the paint.

IF and WHEN wet sanding is needed, be gentle! Start with 1500, softly. Finish with 2000 and maybe even 2500 on darker cars. Then, use agressive compound and wool wheel. Then Foam pad with 2 additional steps of increasingly softer compound.

And, Trading... kick whoever told you to use SOFT SCRUB on a car SQUARE IN THE STONES.

Compound (in theory) is close in feel to soft scrub. But COMPLETELY different...

Anyway, sorry to randt. I just know a LOT about this subject and am always happy to help. I owned a detail shop on the Gold Coast here in Chicago, and worked exclusively on Porsche's, Ferrari's, MB, etc for the famous here. Radio, TV and Sports personalities (MJ, Pippen, Gayle, etc) were my clients... Nothing to brag about AT ALL. I still 'cleaned' cars for a living. Point is that I have some valuable advice to lend. That's all. Just trying to help and lend a little credibility to what I say.

Again, sorry to babble a bit!

HTH

Michael

 

[chicagoTTA]

And as for removing decals...

This is what I (most good detailers do) do. Even on 150,000+ cars that have a dealership sticker or two... Peel off what you can using a flexible straight edge (cheap spatula works).

Whatever sticky residue that remains can EASILY be removed with 'goo be gone' or carb cleaner.

Now, that being said... IF you use carb cleaner... REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY and rinse. Don't let it sit. You'll be hatin' life. It's effective, if the proper precautions are taken. SAFEST bet is to use 'Goo Be Gone' and a little elbow grease. That would work perfeclty fine, just a little more effort.

But do remember, you're (and I hate 'em too) removing an 'original' piece of the car. So think long and hard before doing it. I would, since I really think it looks like sh*t. But, it's still original!

We should probably have a thread in the detailing/appearance area for this, so again sorry to babble in a tech thread!!

Michael

 

[trading t/a]

Ive seen it work first hand, buddy had his white car painted, just the nose though same color but didn't quite match. used a thin film of soft scrub on it then polished it and it looked damn good to me. There may have been a step i'm missing but thats as i recall it.......

 

[trading t/a]

Ive seen it work first hand, buddy had his white car painted, just the nose though same color but didn't quite match. used a thin film of soft scrub on it then polished it and it looked damn good to me. There may have been a step i'm missing but thats as i recall it.......

 

[chicagoTTA]

No, you're probably not missing a step. I'm NOT saying it WON'T work... I'm just saying it's like putting muratic acid on your paint. Will it get the cra*p off? sure. Will it F up your paint? Usually, but if not don't make a habit of it. That's all. Just didn't want you (or anyone) to think that's what you SHOULD do or use.

Glad that worked... I've used it once or twice myself. Just not something you SHOULD use... EVER. That's all!!!

It's all good... Just trying to help.

Michael