how do I remove hardened super glue from panits surface?

H

hdsalinas

New member
Hi I own a dark metallic blue 04 Hyundai Santa Fe.

The other day at a car wash they stripped two or three letters off from the "hyundai" logo badge on the rear gate.

I did not notice it until later so I dont have the missing plastic chrome letters anymore. I decided to take the rest of the letters off while I buy a replacement set. (it looks really bad, something like H_UN_ _ y.)

While taking the rest of the letters off I noticed that it was very easy to do. It turns out that the car's previous owner at one point reglued the letters using superglue. Now there is a hardened silohuete of the letters and looks really bad.

I tried to use some rubbing compound but it did not do anything to it. Scraping it with my finger nails only took little bits of paint off the surface.

I want to remove this residue from the paint. I am tempted to use Acetone but I am not sure it will do anything at all.

What do you recommend?
 
Have you tried an adhesive remover? Goo Gone?
You can pick up any adhesive remover @ any auto store and goo gone at any drug store.

Give those a try.
 
I am with joyride here, try an adhesive remover, hardware stores and autoparts stores carry it.
 
Not that asking here is a bad idea, but you can also check Google for advice on unsticking superglue from things. That is where I found that superglue linke that was just posted as well. It's definitely a detailing related question, but zillions of people have been faced with gluing things together that they didn't want to glue. ;) Acetone seems to be the product of choice to remove it, so that is probably the first place to go.
 
Re: how do I remove hardened super glue from paints surface?

Acetone would be more likly to remove it than anything
Acetone is also an excellent paint remover.
It will remove single stage paint in a heartbeat but it may take awhile before it softens the clearcoat.
my guess is that sanding and repainting is the way to repair this.:wall
 
My recommendation would be some body prep solvent or laquer thinner. They can be found at a local paint store. Just be careful I'm thinking that if the letters fell off that the tailgate might be repainted. Just take your time and use a terry cloth to do the job.
 
Acetone, Prep Solv or lacqer thinner (as mentioned) and Q-Tips worked for me nicely in the past. Limit the exposure of the acetone to only the super glue if you can (thus the q-tips). Completely rewash the entire area and i then use an AIO product to finish.
 
Pander has a good point. Harsh solvents like these are not good for any painted surface so the more you can limit it's contact with the paint the better.
 
Plus I flush the heck out of the area with a good wash when I'm done just to take care of any residual harshness of the product used.
 
All these suggestions are great but one that I can add that will make what you use faster and more effective, is heat!

Use a blow dryer or heating gun if you have one on the area, this will help to soften the glue, you don't have to get it real hot just keep playing with it a bit and when it start to move then the goo gone, solvent or what ever else you use to remove it..One that I like is mineral spirits that is at any home depot type of store...it will not harm the paint in anyway

Once you are done a good chemical polish or paint cleaners would be good to get the rest of what you use off and then clean up the paints surface which will also help to blend the colors under the letters
 
I would first use a blow dryer to get it hot. Peal off any thing easy first. Then use GOOF OFF or product like that. Then just elbo grease and wax. Keep rubbing!
 
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