Jul 28, 2019
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I don't know about anyone else, but that clear strip on the tonneau cover has been bugging me since I bought the car a few weeks ago. Its got wax residue trapped under it, it's ragged and just generally looks like.....well, pooh.

I'm just taking mine offand not replacing it. The car never sees rain and the top is down 98%of the time. Ususally, the only tim ethe top goes up is if I run intothe store and want to lock the car. If I do have to put the top up when driving, I'll just throw one of the "cling wrap" style ones on there or maybe a temporary felt strip to protect the paint against excessive rubbing.

First, I tried a heat gun. That made it pull off easily, but it left behind the adhesive and the plastic got so soft and pliable it would just tear and shrink.

I ended up just working an edge up with one of my plastic interior tools and then it would peel:

fr_4125_size880.jpg


You DO NOT want to use anything metal (IE: scraper, razor blade, etc) to remove the clear plastic, there's too much chance of putting a deep scratch in the paint. You want a soft (or mostly soft) plastic tool, thinner the better.

You have to go SSSLLLLOOOOOOOOOWWW when peeling.

The clear plastic is old and anywhere the top pressed on it with any real force will be "extra stuck". Remember, this thing has been stuck there for many years, if not a couple decades. It will occasionally rip in those "extra stuck" areas, or anywhere the plastic has gone so old it has cracked/deteriorated:

fr_4126_size880.jpg


Just take your plastic tool and work the rip back up:

fr_4128_size880.jpg


The worst spots will be around where the latches were as there was more pressure in those spots:

fr_4129_size880.jpg


fr_4130_size880.jpg


Once you get it off, there's still going to be lots of adhesive on the paint. I'm going to have to pick up a bottle of "goo gone" as my paint prep wipe won't even touch the adhesive. It will turn it soft, but it still won't move. Worst case scenario, I'll get the 3M eraser wheel out and make sort work of that old goo. The 3M wheel is fantasticand I've yet to have it even scratch a paint job, but I still find it a little too aggressive for my comfort.

Stand by for the next installment; removing the left over adhesive and do the paint correction.
 
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Well, that adhesive is some tough stuff!

I finally had to resort to laying a rag over a section of the adhesive and soaking it with goo gone. I let that sit for about 5 mins and then it was almost soft enough to scape off with the orange trim tool. Several applications in a spot followed by scraping with the tool or my fingernail finally got the last of the residue off.

Then, a good compounding with the rotary buffer and:

780812CA-2F61-4800-9F67-9C4CA43AFEA1.jpeg


Looks pretty good! But, there is some paint damage from the top. There is a faint “rub line/scratched” in the clearcoat. There is also a faint “line” where the edges of the clear protector was.

I do believe, however, that I can make the line dissapear with some wet sanding. The scratches are a different story. They don’t go through the clear, but they’re deep enough that I don’t think I can sand them out. I may try filling them with some clear and then wet sand and polish.

But it looks 10x better than it did with that clear protector on there. No more white dried wax lines.

But the take away here is that if you intend to remove your clear protector, it’s not going to be easy. You also have to square yourself with the fact there is going to be some paint damage. Either from you trying to remove the plastic or just time and age doing thier thing.

Good thing is if you keep the damage you inflict in the removal to a minimum, you can probably fix the rest with a good paint correction process.

:)
 
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