removing decals and residue from fiberglass roof

I've got the body of my van looking pretty good. Most of it is painted and I'm ready to add the vinyl stripes to the passengers side. The fiberglass top still clearly reads ICE CREAM TRUCK and has half circles and stars strategically placed. One side is mostly residue. The other side has decals that somebody painted over and then :huh: covered with black tape. I've tried Goo Gone on the residue and it barely touched it. I've scraped until my hands ached. I've sanded with a circular sander and spent a fortune on disks. There must be an easier way. Heat gun might work on the leftover decals but I don't have one and it's so hot working in the sun, I don't think I'd last long. Any ideas?

WD-40? Works wonders at times.

heat gun on decals, hair dryer might work. like lee said wd-40 on the residue. did they paint over the residue? if they did you will have to remove the paint first. highdesertranger

EEEwwwwww.....whadda mess!!!

first...put those sanding disks away!! You want to get the lettering off the van, and leave the van's shell unhurt...right?? That sander doesn't know what's a van, and whats not...and will happily go through anything in it's path. STOP NOW!

You need to go to a paint supply store and ask for 3M Adhesive Remover. Don't buy anything else! (even if they tell you that such & such will work just as good.....it won't!) This is what will take off the gooey left-over sticky crap from the previous decals.

also...DO NOT USE A HEAT GUN!!!!!!!!

borrow a ladder, and let your van sit in the sun for awhile, and slowly peel off what's left of the old decals. Use your finger nail to get an edge up, and slowly peel them off in the direction that the lettering goes. Take your time and be patient, as this can take quite awhile to do. Some parts will come up in big sheets, but some parts will break off into tiny pieces. You're just gonna hafta take your time and do it right. I just hope that you haven't done too much damage already.

Once the old decals are finally off, then squirt a small spot of the adhesive remover on the van where the old adhesive remains. (it comes with a small squirt tip.) Let it sit for a minute or so, (and wearing solvent resistant gloves), rub your finger around on the wet area, and you'll see how it's loosening up...then squirt it down again. While it's still wet, use an old plastic credit card or squeege and scoop this glop up into a clean rag and you'll see that this crap is coming off. (be ready, as this makes a big sticky mess, and you'll have a rag that's covered with gooey balls of rubber cement/snot stuff) Move over a bit and do the 2 steps again. Pretty soon, you have most all of it off. You'll get a feel for it once you get moving. Once you're basically done, you can go back and fine tune any areas that need extra attention.

Don't think for a minute that you're gonna have this done in an hour or two....it ain't happening. It may take all afternoon.

I've been a sign maker for over 30 years, and this is what I've been doing for many, many years. I know what I'm talking about........( this time!!)

I'll be here if you need any more help. Wish I could be there to do it for yas.

Patrick just curious. why no heat gun? this is the way I have always removed them. highdesertranger

Patrick46 said:

You need to go to a paint supply store and ask for 3M Adhesive Remover. Don't buy anything else! (even if they tell you that such & such will work just as good.....it won't!) This is what will take off the gooey left-over sticky crap from the previous decals.

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Agree on the 3M adhesive remover, it's good stuff. Much more effective than Goo Gone and won't eat into your van's body. I've been using it along with rubbing alcohol to remove the remnants of the glue beneath the factory insulation batting that I found underneath the headliner of my minivan after I took it down. Used a heat gun and a wooden spatula to scrape off most of it, and then the 3M and alcohol to finish the job. Any wooden spoon, wooden spatula, chopsticks are a good tools to have, you can use them pretty aggressively and they won't scratch or marr the body like a putty knife or razor blade potentially can. And yeah, dig deep for your inner goo-removing zen because removing that gunk is tedious, slow work.

By the way if for some reason you can't find the 3M adhesive remover at a paint supply store, check around at any of the major auto parts chains (I found it at a local AutoZone).

GSFish.....are you suggesting that she uses ACETONE on her FIBERGLASS VAN TOPPER????? I can't even imagine why you'd make such a suggestion!!!
You were working on a ALUMINUM surface...which does not absorb chemicals.
Acetone WILL be absorbed into the fiberglass, and will eventually cause it to delaminate!

I get excited when posts like this are made, because Deco came here looking for advice on getting this stuiff off her van. She could (potentially) read your post and think..."I just happen to have some acetone right here. Why, I'll just use that since it worked so well for him."...without knowing how much it'll damage her van's roof shell.

Please don't suggest things like this...even though your heart may be in the right place.
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HDR.....heat guns and hair dryers will only reactivate the adhesives under the vinyl lettering...making it stick ever firmer. Yes...it can work, but I only use one when dealing with extremely tough old decals...and then I know I've got a battle ahead of me.

I'm not sure what to use but have you got any drumsticks or orange push ups?

Deco...here's an idea you might wanna consider...

stop by your local small sign shop. (the big one's only wanna build huge mall signs)
See what he'll charge to take this crap off for ya. You may be suprised.

(sometimes the nasty jobs should be handled by the pros.)

Good Luck hun!!

sheesh, you guys are fast. Patrick, you answered my question before my two fingers could type out the question :-/

Forgot about 3M Adhesive Remover and I worked for them :s I've got some old 3M double stick tape to remove from my camper. Stuff is hard as rock. Been using a heat gun to peel it off, but it leaves a lot of adhesive (and burns my fingers). Thanks Patrick. -- Spiff

You're Welcome Spiff!

Glad to help. I'll be here all week.


...and don't forget to tip your waitress!

WOW! A few hours and lots of advice. My neighbor suggested nail polish remover and I was all set to try it so glad I asked first. I'll get the 3M as recommended. I did get some of the lettering off by fingernail and slowly pulling. The large half circles (on fiberglass) where the top meets the metal will not peel off at all. There is (very thin) paint over them and even when I was able to sand the paint off, they are too brittle to peel. They kind off flake off in very tiny pieces. There's four on each side, about 6 inches tall. What is the best way to remove the paint that is still on the fiberglass? It's only a thin coat and so brittle it can be scraped off with a painters tool but now I'm worried about damaging the top. One more question, I want to paint the top to match the body. Can I use the same Krylon or should I buy boat paint? The van is silver, I thought it would look more like an RV if they were the same color. I'll post pictures in the morning, maybe that will give you a better idea of what I'm dealing with. I certainly don't expect to finish in a couple of hours, I couldn't complete one side in a full day.

These circles are vinyl?? If so, and they ARE chipping off in little pieces, then try squirting them down with the adhesive remover, and using a thin squgee if you can find one. (and you don't need to take the paint off of 'em first either.)

If that doesn't work, then you may need to resort to using a heat gun....but just warm 'em up is all!!! If you can't touch them, then you've got 'em too hot!!!


as for the hours statement...that was just for getting the decals off and cleaning the surface...not for repainting.

A fiberglass expert once told me to use kerosene, and that worked well for me.

OK, pictures. Thanks again Patrick, you're the greatest! I've got half a day off today and all day Wed and Thur. to try and get some progress on this mess. I was wrong about the half circles, there's way more than 8 :s . I'm still wondering why the paint on the roof didn't stick. Does anybody know if Krylon will adhere?

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Sorry for so many questions but does any body know how to get paint off of the rubber molding? I wasn't so good about taping the windows. You can see in picture three what I'm talking about. The van looks a hundred times better than it did but there's a long way to go. Thanks again for all the help.

in order for the paint to stick your going to have to sand all surfaces , prep & primer before painting

I know the procedure, but I'ma gonna stay out of this one.
Patrick is the pro here and has the right info and will guide you in the easiest and best ways to do this job.
Just follow his lead and you'll be just fine.
Only one little warning....he's gonna work your arms to stubs cuz you've got one hell of a mess to contend with.

I'm gonna step back and wish you all the best. Its gonna look great when you get done

bindi&us said:

Only one little warning....he's gonna work your arms to stubs cuz you've got one hell of a mess to contend with.

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Of course, you could always pull a "Tom Sawyer" and convince the kids that working on your van is just another arts and craft project . . .

Regards
John

LOL John, that's not a bad idea. Kids on ladders though, I might not have a job if one of them fell. I need the exercise but I'm not looking forward to the process.

DD...You may not be looking forward to the job, but I know you're gonna be very proud of the results if you follow the steps Patrick outlines.
Take your time, don't overwork yourself and just work with the music. Take breaks, and by all means, drink plenty of water while you're out there.

Can't wait to see your "new" van in person