Expert: William Forster - 7/9/2006

Question
I just pulled the side moldings off my 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo so we do not have to bend my race stickers around the molding anymore.  Unfortunatley, the black ahesive/mastic remiaining looks and feels like constuction bonding adhesive.  We tried the basic 3M adhesive / wax remover and it didn't make a dent.  Do you have any other sugesstions before I use liquid nails "remover" which will also take the paint.  Thanks for the help in advance.

John

Answer
I've never pulled the moldings off a porche, but maybe I can help. 3M used to make a special stripper for disolving old stripes and decals. If its still made, apply it generously, and cover it with plastic to keep it from drying out. Ocasionally check its progress with a bondo squeegie. A company called Kent also has an adheasive remover that is much stronger than the 3M stuff. The trick is, get as much of the molding  tape off as possible. A Clean, new safety razor blade mounted in a high quality holder is the only way. CAREFULLY move the knife along the adheasive, long ways, (front of car to back) with the knife at about a fifteen degree angle. A half inch band of adheasive will require abiut 3 careful passes to completely cut thru it. Don't get greedy, leave some adheasive on the vehicke, or risk gouging the paint. Then saturate a clean rag with cleaner, and allow it to sit on the adheasive for a bit. I promise you, it's a messy, nasty job. The only other option is to us a power stripe eraser. Go to any pro parts store like Napa or Car Quest, and tell them you want a stripe eraser kit, including the tool to run it. It runs at the proper speed , otherwise the eraser will be short lived. This too is a slow process, and getting off as much of the tape as possible is key to making this job easy as possible.  Follow any one of my suggestions, and you should have no problems eventually removing the adheasive. Bill