Removing Pinstripe

F

ffamousamos

New member
I have a black 2005 Cadillac CTS that I want to remove the pinstripe. You can feel that the pinstripe is above the paint, I believe it is a dealer installed pinstripe. the pinstripe has small cadillac logo on the front fender. I think the car would look alto better without it.



Thanks
 
heat gun with an adhesive remover, such as 3m or goo gone maybe. but its possible the paint may not match under the pinstripe, due to weathering and UV rays
 
ffamousamos said:
I have a black 2005 Cadillac CTS that I want to remove the pinstripe. You can feel that the pinstripe is above the paint, I believe it is a dealer installed pinstripe. the pinstripe has small cadillac logo on the front fender. I think the car would look alto better without it.



Thanks
Click to expand...



3M Pinstripe Removal Wheel
 
Why do dealers (especially domestic) insist on putting that garbage on cars? I could see it maybe back in the day, but now with all this "edge" styling, you already have a body line down the side of the car...



I've seen it done with the wheel and with the heat gun, both of them worked pretty well.
 
Are these painted on or decal stripes?



If they are painted on you can try wet sanding or a heavy polish/compound.



If they are sticker / adhesive just use a hair dryer to heat them up and start peeling them back. Any left over adhesive can be removed with a good adhesive remover.



I don't recommend that pinstripe removal wheel. Just because we used to use them all of the time on boat trailer pinstripes when we would get a trailer in for repair or repaint. Most of the time it worked well but some times we'd burn the paint. It didn't matter for us since it was a repaint anyway.
 
I prefer the heat gun to the stripe removal wheel, less messy, but they do the job equally well.



I work at a dealer, and there are a few reasons why they put them on...

1.) The customer can order them on some vehicles.

2.) They can 'enhance' the look or lines of the car; especially if the vehicle has been on the lot for a long time :)

3.) And I hate to say this but I have seen dealers, not mine, put them on to hide body damage. I only know this because we usually remove them if they look bad and in doing so discover the "hdden truth".
 
[quote name='Danase']Are these painted on or decal stripes?

If they are painted on you can try wet sanding or a heavy polish/compound.

QUOTE]



I believe they are decals because there is a tiny Cadillac emblem on the front fenders that runs with the stripe and is the same color of the stripe.
 
I have a customer wanting the same thing, I got people suggesting I do oven cleaner? What are the thoughts on this idea?



Cheers,

GREG
 
Oven cleaner? If its anything like the oven cleaners I have used, its pretty caustic or agressive etc. Id be a bit wary of that..



I was going to suggest the hairdryer/plastic razor blade method.
 
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