Help Removing Vinyl Stripe

[dbj216]

Okay, our 1986 Classic has a "dark gray" with "wood grain" stripe around the belt line of the trailer. It is badly sun damaged. I would like to remove it during my polishing project, and eventually replace it.

It is STUCK bad. I've tried heat from my shop iron, but the adhesive is stronger than the old vinyl and I just get little chunks of it. The packing tape is not strong enough to peal it away. I have not found any solvent that will disolve the adhesive behind the vinyl.

Anyone have other tips I might try?

David

[kevin242]

Auto body supply stores sell rubber "eraser wheels" that go on a drill for just that purpose and it does not harm the finish underneath. I have a 25 year old car that had a stripe in the same condition you describe and the wheel took it off no problem.

[raveson]

Great solution to register in the back of the mind four future!

[ALANSD]

I have "striped over" the old one on three Airstreams now.Looks good.

[MrBeast]

+1 on the eraser wheel, that and a little heat from a heat gun will go a long ways. It is best used on an air powered die grinder, but you can use a high speed drill as well. They arent that expensive, and they are more than worth the money, I have seen eraser wheels take vinyl off that had been sun cured over 400k miles on one of my dad's vans and leave the paint underneath looking brand new.

They are very worth the money.

[boo_n_sue]

I started out using an eraser wheel and heat gun and made fairly good progress but I just felt it was going too slow. I then decided to use Jasco Paint Stripper, a paint scrapper, and some 200 grit sandpaper and liked the results much better. It's really messy and burns if you get it on your skin so be careful - wear good gloves. I have a timelapse video and more information on my website that you can watch to see how it works. 1981 Excell II - Blue Decal Removal There's also a more in-depth explanation of what I tried. You might also check out this thread as it has a lot of other suggestions: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f474...pes-61218.html

Good luck.

[Mike Eagle]

I removed the blue vinyl stripe on my 1988, 34' Excella this past weekend. I purchased a quart of a product called Aircraft Stripper from Pep Boys. Followed the instructions (it works in 5 minutes). I painted a 4' section of the stripped area and immediately started scrapping off the vinyl and adhesive residue. It works that fast. After the bulk of the vinyl was removed with a PLASTIC scrapper (metal will scratch the aluminum), I applied a second lighter coat and wiped this second coat with rags immediately. I then used MEK (from Lowes or Home Depot) to remove any residue left. I worked in 4' sections and completed that section, including the application of the MEK before I moved to the next. Do not allow the stripper to dry completely - it stops working once it is dry, so work fast once your apply the stripper. The entire removal of the 7" wide stripe from the entire TT took about 3 hours and I used about 3/4 of the quart. The bare area now looks like the bright shinny virgin aluminum, needs no buffing and is ready for whatever you want to apply. Mine looks so good I don't think I will do anything else to it. Good luck.