Stripe Removal Question
 

This weekend, I plan on removing the red vinyl stripes on my '05 GT. My main concern is not how to remove the stripes (I already know how to do that), but with the paint beneath them. I'm worried that the paint that is beneath the stripes will be blacker than the paint that is outside the stripes and will not look right. I live in central Florida and the car is always outside in the heat and sunshine. It is also black, which doesn't help any. I've only had the car for 6 months and it was garage kept before I got it.

Questions are:
1) Is 6 months outside in the blazing sun enough to fade the paint?
2) If the paint is faded, is there any way I can polish and wax the car to give the two contrasting areas a similar appearance?

Any help/suggestions/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: These are not stripes on the bottom of the doors. They are racing stripes that go from the bottom of the front bumper to the bottom of the rear bumper over the top of the car.

fl heat...
 

I actually just moved away frm florida and i actually was working at a automotive repair shop and we took stripes off a black shelby gt i think the car was pretty new hadnt been out in the sun very long. but we used one of those rubber pads that go on like a drill and just did it like that, ( Taking strips off is a pain and takes lots of time ) i think we used like 3 or 4 of those pads, as far as your paint i wouldnt think it is already faded.
David-

holy shit, why diddnt you just use a hair dryer, heat them up, and peel them off like everyone else does? lol...

yah, use a hair dryer, take it about 6 inches from the stripe at a corner and start warming it up, then take a razorblade and slide it under the corner of the stripe to lift it enough you can grab it, then slowly start peeling the stripe off heating the stripe as you go. i used this method om my stock 40th stripes and it worked like a charm, on the hood/trunk stripes as well as the side stripe. Then i put silver vinyl stripes on it and recently removed them the same method.

the worst part is the glue residue, there will be plenty. Go get a good sized jug of 3m adhesive remover. Then lay some paper towels over the residue, soak the towles in 3m adhesive remover and then cover the paper towels with saran wrap to keep the 3m adhesive remover from evaporating too quick. let it sit fo about 10 minutes and pyull it all off, the adhesive will have turned into a gel. Use a stiff squeegie or some lightly flexable plastic and squeegie the gell off. then put some 3m on a towel and wipe off the rest.

then wax and buff it and yer done.

if you use that method you could be finished yourself in probably 4 hours.

I don't think anyone answered her question. lol. I know on Jacks car you can tell that stripes used to be on there, but i don't know how long he had them.

Just try a small section. Your going to need to wax the car anyway after taking them off because of the adhesive remover.

You shouldn't notice it. Not after 6 months i don't think.

Wow yer right, i did not answer her questions.

lol

Blacksunshine,

My car brand new was a 2004 Mustang GT with the 40th anniversary package which included the stripes on the hood and the trunk.

I pulled my stripes off after owning the car maybe a year or so. Also, i bought it in october of 2004, im sure it was at the dealership at least 3-4 months. The car was not garaged much in that time.

When i pulled off the stock stripes there was a clear difference where the stripes used to be. Not clear as in 5 feet away, but clear as arms length and closer.

i wasnt worried though because i immediatly put on new vinyl stripes from bumper to bumper.

after those stripes were on for about 2 years i pulled them off and there is SOME slightevidence of fade on the roof and trunk but it is extremly minor. After claybaring and waxing her with black turtlewax it seems to have cleared a lot of that up.

The hood was by far the worst, especiall where the stock stripes were, but i replaced the hood with an aftermarket so... it did not matter much to me.

with the car being black the fade is a lot harder to notice than it would be with red or blue.

you WILL have some fading, the question is how much.

there really is nothign that can be done to completly eliminate the fade aside from painting.

Just to update:

Saturday, one of my uncles and I took the stripes off, only took about an hour. The ones on the roof were the most difficult, as they were brittle and kept breaking off, even when I had the car parked in the direct sunlight. The stripes on the hood, front, trunk and back of the car came off with little to no effort at all. I had very little adhesive left. On a scale of 1-10, the adhesive that was left over was definitely a 1.

The fading was not noticable unless you were about 3 feet away and after using the Meguiar's 3 step Deep Crystal system (Paint Cleaner, Polish, Wax) with a Powerball 4 Paint, you cannot even tell there were ever any stripes on it. It looks gorgeous and better than it did when I got it. No more swirls, no more sticky shit, and no more pink stripes!

Thanks for your advice guys. I will be posting pictures later. :)

The stipes
 

Wowowow!
Wait a sec.....did Iread correctly?:
The stripes had been PINK?!°°
No wonder that you took them off!
Geez....*shiver*
Who the heck is evil enough to do that on a sweet, pour Mustang?......
Do you have a pic of your car how it looks now and before?

Greetings,
'Cade643

No, they weren't like pink pink. They were light red/dark pink. They were originally red and had faded from being in the sun.

Here is a good before picture with the sun hitting the back, showing how much the stripes faded:
Attachment 11130

Here is a before picture from the front.
Attachment 11131

After picture from the front.
Attachment 11132

After picture from the back. (Only difference is that I removed the spoiler last weekend.)
Attachment 11133