Tfvesquire

Hi All.

On my son's 1985 944 we are removing all of the side molding trim on the center of the doors and short sections on the fenders and quarters panels. I understand the original pieces were mounted with double sided tape that is easily removed.

I believe over the last 3 decades these trim pieces started to come loose so some owner had the brloiant idea to reattach them with what appears to be Ultra Black gasket type adhesive or some other black rubberized adhesive. It is stuck to the paint literally like glue and extremely difficult to remove without destroying the original black paint I'm doing my best to preserve and buff out.

I've tried a plastic razor blade with barely any success. Then I tried Goof Off with no success. I thought about trying a heat gun but once again I don't want to heat up the original paint and have it start coming off along with this rubberized residue.

I read online that isopropyl alcohol dissolves permatex type adhesive which is what this stuff left behind resembles. Does anyone know what I can try to get this stuff to loosen its grip on the paint without taking the paint with it? I have gotten only the Left fender off successfully after almost two hours of picking with my fingernail. The driver door shell is a replacement black door that did not have a rub strip. I had to bodywork the door shell repaint and clear it so it's already done.

The right fender had to be sanded bodyworked and resprayed too. I tried to remove the right quarter 4 inch section and peeled the paint off using Goof off so I had to touch that up and will now have to blend in the repair.

The largest section is the passenger door and I am not keen on touching up the entire middle of the door but if that is the only way to do it then please advise.

The passenger door only has a few minor dings and just needs some paint chip touch up and minor wet sand of faint orange peel to be presentable. If I have to now refinish the passenger door I might as well bodywork everything, shoot it and clear it.

Any suggestions from.members who have actually dealt with this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Ted V.

peanut

have you tried Isopropanol IPA 100% Alcohol ? that worked quite well for me when removing masking tape residue from paintwork

yugami

I'm interested, I have the same thing on my car, but they glued the passenger side mirror on with it.

931guru

Permatex makes a product called Permatex Gasket Remover.... Instructions say you have to let it sit. One review said that he removed 50 year old head gasket residue.

Tfvesquire

Thanks for responding. IIRC you cannot get any ofvthat remover on paint. That is my dilemma. I woukd like to try the 100% alcohol method. Can I get that sourced locally or via Amazon or online only?

Ted V.

orig944

If rubbing alcohol doesn't do anything, I doubt 100% will either. Try some on it before spending on the full strength version.

3M makes a variety of adhesive removers, likely one of them will work. Which one? Who knows, but you can read the descriptions and make a best guess.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/clea...ners-removers/

peanut

why don't you try using a steam cleaner on it to soften it up and then rub it off with a course textured cloth like a piece of towel and 100% Isopropyl.

As a last resort nail varnish remover will remove it but you would need to tackle a small piec at a time and then immediately neutralise the Acetone before it has a chance to damage the paintwork.
Dispite a previous comment, Isopropyl is hardly expensive at less than $8.00 in your part of the World and is useful for cleaning all sorts of things around the house and car.
Rubbing Alcohol is usually less than 70%, if you are lucky ,and nowhere near as effective.

yugami

I just tried lacquer thinner around my mirror mount and it was taking it off (slowly) I don't see any issues with the paint around it.

Zirconocene

Have you tried mineral spirits? They're sort of on the other side of the spectrum from acetone and may help to loosen things up. Good luck, this sounds like a bear of a job.

Cheers

MikePellegrini

A heat gun and a plastic scraper may get a lot of it off.

My last resort - spray gun cleaner. Works great!

It will dull the paint, somewhat, but that can be polished afterwards. If you use it, make sure to wear heavy, chemical impervious gloves. This is extremely nasty stuff! I think I only paid about $40 for the gallon.

Tfvesquire

Hi Mike.

I thought about the heat gun truck. I still have the original drivers door with the rub strip so anything I try will be tested first on that door and paint.

I also thought about shaving the thick sections down and then using a 3M decal and adhesive e remover wheel with a drill. They run about $40 each so if I do attempt this method I'll post my results.

Ted V.

walfreyydo

WD40 works well to dissolve adhesive, then you can gently remove with a plastic scraper, especially stuff like old double sided tape, etc