Stone Guard removal update
01-05-2011, 06:57 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Stone Guard removal update
Over the years there have been a slew of Stone Guard removal posts, and in my experience on an '96 951, none worked very well. These include heat gun*, hair dryer, eraser wheel*, Goo Gone, 3M adhesive remover, fingernail polish remover, credit card or plastic putty knife scraper, etc..
Here's another tool, which I just bought and tried, and which worked better for me than any above:
"Hot Blade Decal Remover" tool, Harbor Freight item #65057, ~$8.
This is essentially a 110V soldering pen with tip that holds and uses an ordinary single-edge razor blade. Slip razor blade into the fitting, plug into wall socket, blade gets hot, angle it ~30 degrees to Stone Guard surface, apply gentle pressure, and hot blade slips under and peels off crappy Stone Guard. Leaves a bit of adhesive residue, most of which can be scraped off in a second pass.
I'm not done yet, and hope that one of the solvents will help remove the adhesive residue, which was protected and buffered by the now gone Stone Guard film. Stay tuned.
*Heat gun and eraser wheel mostly just melted the old Stone Guard, which of course then hardened and stuck even better to the substrate, and/or left even tougher residue. Too much heat made too much mess, and probably didn't do the paint any good, either.
PS: No more Stone Guard for my car--not that good, not that much protection, way too expensive, and as well all sadly know, too hard to remove. Better to use SEM ChipGuard spray on urethane, much less expensive @ ~$18-20/can, better coverage and protection, clear or black, comes off with solvent.
Here's another tool, which I just bought and tried, and which worked better for me than any above:
"Hot Blade Decal Remover" tool, Harbor Freight item #65057, ~$8.
This is essentially a 110V soldering pen with tip that holds and uses an ordinary single-edge razor blade. Slip razor blade into the fitting, plug into wall socket, blade gets hot, angle it ~30 degrees to Stone Guard surface, apply gentle pressure, and hot blade slips under and peels off crappy Stone Guard. Leaves a bit of adhesive residue, most of which can be scraped off in a second pass.
I'm not done yet, and hope that one of the solvents will help remove the adhesive residue, which was protected and buffered by the now gone Stone Guard film. Stay tuned.
*Heat gun and eraser wheel mostly just melted the old Stone Guard, which of course then hardened and stuck even better to the substrate, and/or left even tougher residue. Too much heat made too much mess, and probably didn't do the paint any good, either.
PS: No more Stone Guard for my car--not that good, not that much protection, way too expensive, and as well all sadly know, too hard to remove. Better to use SEM ChipGuard spray on urethane, much less expensive @ ~$18-20/can, better coverage and protection, clear or black, comes off with solvent.
