Removing 3M Body Moulding Tape residue?

kb798

New member
I removed a lip kit off of my car earlier this year, and I still have the residue from the body moulding tape. It's not a glue residue, but rather the tape is so strong that the it tore in half thus leaving the foam portion of it on the car.



I've thought about using dry ice to freeze the adhesive to crack it (like removing tar from interiors), or Goo Gone. I could try and remove the tape by hand, but that'll take years before all of it comes off. Anybody have a better solution?
 
wd-40 will take car of it!



put some on a rag and hold it over the area

and let it dissolve what adhesive is there



then just wash to remove the wd-40!



p.s. try dental floss to cut the foam off

first to let the wd-40 at the adhesive
 
I'd use 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover, it's made for that sort of job and works great.



The trick is to keep the tape saturated long enough for the solvent to effect its solvent-action on the adhesive that's behind the foam; you need to let the solvent dwell for a while. I'd saturate a rag with the Adhesive Remover and then find a way to hold said rag against the panel. Like maybe put a yardstick against the rag, pressing it against the panel, and then wedge the end of the yardstick under a brick to hold it in place.
 
I have the same problem, but for my rims. When I balanced by wheels, the original weights were removed and replaced with new ones. The weights weren't those little clip ones that are attached to the lip of the wheel. They were a strip of small weights taped to the inside of the rims. When the balance guy removed the old ones, he didn't bother to take all the foam/tape residue off. I guess that's a good thing because he probably would have scratched the h*ll out of them.



I tried soaking the residue with degreaser, but that didn't help much. I'll try the wd-40 route. It's difficult to get to the insides of the rims without removing the wheels, but I'm too lazy to do that. Definitely the trick will be keeping enough of the solven on the residue to soften it up.
 
Accumulator said:
I'd use 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover, it's made for that sort of job and works great.



The trick is to keep the tape saturated long enough for the solvent to effect its solvent-action on the adhesive that's behind the foam; you need to let the solvent dwell for a while. I'd saturate a rag with the Adhesive Remover and then find a way to hold said rag against the panel. Like maybe put a yardstick against the rag, pressing it against the panel, and then wedge the end of the yardstick under a brick to hold it in place.



+1 For the 3M Adhesive Remover.
 
kb798- I dunno :nixweiss Long enough...and I'm not being a smart-aleck, you just never know how long it'll take. I've never had the 3M Adhesive Remover cause damage to paint, so IMO you'll get tired of waiting and try peeling/rubbing it off a little too soon anyhow. I'd start with maybe 2-3 minutes. I had to leave it on for nearly 15 (!) minutes when removing a sticker from my mechanic's BMW, so you really never know.



hooked- yeah, I'd rather they leave stuff alone so I can do it right. That sounds like another job for the 3M stuff. I've taken off weight adhesive that I didn't think would *ever* come off. Honestly, I think it'll be easier to take 'em off to do the work, at least in the long run...but then I seem to pull wheels off more than most normal people anyhow :o



Zrex61- That could be, never looked into it. It sure works better than any of my other (numerous) solvents though.
 
I've had great luck with an "Eraser" brand wheel ...It removes the tape residue and most of the glue too ....As with any orbital keep it moving and don't burn your paint

Small touch up's with the adhesive remover will clean it up since it strips wax rewax
 
I've tackled this type of thing tons of time and I don't think anything out there will melt down the foam. The glue - yes. It can make a real mess too. The easiest way to do this is to use a heat gun/hair dryer to warm the glue and then peel it off with your finger nail. Then use 3M to disolve the residue.
 
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