Grayeagle

Hiya;

I used 3M's adhesive remover and a teflon spatula to remove the Body Side Moldings ..pulling them up a bit and usin the spatula to sever the glue 'ties' and working my way along them ..worked great.

However ..the glue itself .. grr.
Much as I would like to spend the day on my knees working the adhesive off with my thumbnail and use 4-5 cans of 3M Adhesive remover .. there has got to be a better way that you car care guru's use.

What do you do?

-Frank of the sore knees and worn out thumb

mrosa65

My GF had vent visors installed on her 07 Explorer. Two of them had a problem because the 3m adhesive tape didn't stick properly in a few spots so the local auto parts store said to remove them and bring them back for an exchange.

We were able to get them off ok, but the 3m tape was a mess to remove.

I tried 3m adhesive remover, goo-gone, goof off, WD-40 and a few other products but it was a major pain in the butt to get this stuff off (as you've found out). A good friend of mine told me to go to Sam's club and go to the eyeglass clinic and pick up a bottle of the "Members Mark Lens Cleaner" in a spray bottle. At first I thought he was hitting the crack pipe but I figured I had tried everything else so why not. They sell them in a 2 pack. I picked some up, squirted some onto the paint/3m tape and some onto a clean cotton terry towel. Sure enough, it worked better than all of the other products I tried. Within an hour I had a 4 areas done and no damage to the paint at all.

I would have never thought to use lens cleaner to remove glue but it sure did the trick.

Grayeagle

Thanks!

-wobbles off to the store-

-Frank

IAIA

Wouldn't it come off easily with a buffer...maybe soaked in some of the goo-gone or other product?

Grayeagle

Problem with buffing it off is all the dust in the adhesive ..I fear it would make a mess of the side of the car with major scratches and need to be repainted.

The Lens Cleaner (got it from Wal Mart, sister store to Sam's ..same stuff and only a couple bucks for a bottle) is doing the trick, it is comin up fairly easily, just takes a bit of elbow grease and a stout thumbnail.

Credit card to scrape it works ..leaves too much residue tho.
Thumbnail I can get it all -g- ..just takes awhile.

-Frank (gets comfy chair, big icy Coke, good hat, and heads out)

mrosa65

Glad to hear the lens cleaner is doing the trick.

Grayeagle

One side is off, and all the glue is off.

There's a faint outline scuffed into the paint from 10 years of them being there.. next up is some Scratch X and buffing ..then waxin ..
..I already like the clean look

-Frank (gonna have to take pictures I know .. mebbe tomorrow

JoshVette

Claybar will be much quicker. I know I have removed the BSM as well.

tomas721

I removed my BSMs a couple of weeks ago and once I got rid of the adhesive I used cleaner wax on the leftover grit and that took care of it.