3m vinyl mask removal

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afchap

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Posts
1,279
Location
...East TX, or on the road...
I had 3m vinyl applied to the front of our coach the day after we bought it in 2003.  To put it bluntly, it looks like crap, with scratches and marks all over it ---I have no doubt that it looks worse than the front of the coach would have looked if I had just saved my money back in ?03 and touched up rock dings as they came.  I am just about ready to just pull it off. I have experimented with a few corners on hot days, and find it is pretty pliable and seems to come off with no problems.

I also had it applied just under the engine access door on the rear, and that area looks fine ...has saved the coach from scracthes by careless maintenance tech.

I am interested in knowing about the experiences of anyone who has removed the 3M vinyl mask from the front of their coach.  How did it go?  Any particular problems?  Any recommendations?
 
Paul,

I have it on mine. I tried removing some of it and the paint came with it. :eek: I ended up letting body shop take care of some removal and reinstall during area body-paint repairs.

Have you tried web search or 3M website for removal tips?

Charlie
 
3m website says it should be able to be removed with no problems unless "non-professional" paint touch-up was done before it was applied.  My coach did have part of the front repainted (despite the dealer's denial of that fact) before I bought it, but I am not sure how much...

Just looking for the "real world" experience of a do-it-yurselfer" like me. 
 
Well I have two friends using the following product.  So far it seems to be working, and so far neither of them have any paint damage.  One of them had the 3M mask material applied to the Monaco emblem and when he removed it, it took the finish off the emblem.

The manufacturer says for best results on a Motor Home, apply the product, wait 30 minutes and apply it again, and then wait an additional 30 minutes before starting removal.  It is still a hard job.  Without this product, you will need to repaint.  There is no guarantee you will not have to paint if you use the product.  Also it should be used on very warm days. 

I have no affiliation with this product or the supplier thereof.

West End Products, LLC
1010 Windward Ridge Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30005
770-643-8501
http://www.westendproducts.com/vinyloff.htm

The product is called Vinyl off.


 
We used to put that stuff on our airplanes' radomes. When it needed to be removed and replaced with new, the shops used heat (like hair dryers) and it pretty much came right off.
 
afchap said:
3m website says it should be able to be removed with no problems unless "non-professional" paint touch-up was done before it was applied.  My coach did have part of the front repainted (despite the dealer's denial of that fact) before I bought it, but I am not sure how much...

Just looking for the "real world" experience of a do-it-yurselfer" like me.   

Understood. I don't recommend the band aid removal "rip" procedure after what I ran into..

Charlie
 
BruceinFL said:
We used to put that stuff on our airplanes' radomes. When it needed to be removed and replaced with new, the shops used heat (like hair dryers) and it pretty much came right off.

Are you referring to the A6 or the EA-6B radomes?  If so, the paint underneath was kind of a rubberized concoction if memory serves correct.  We used it on the leading edges of the wings and vertical stabilizer as well.
 
RetiredLE said:
Are you referring to the A6 or the EA-6B radomes?  If so, the paint underneath was kind of a rubberized concoction if memory serves correct.  We used it on the leading edges of the wings and vertical stabilizer as well.

No, it was on our corporate flight department's airplanes.
 
Tried to order some VinylOff but got an error on the website. I might still try to get some for the larger areas.

The front of my coach has 17 separate pieces of vinyl ...several relatively small, and about 6 larger pieces. Some are somewhat horizontal, and are the worst in appearance. Fortunately, the somewhat horizontal areas are relatively narrow strips. I spent two hours today picking at the smaller pieces, totally removing the vinyl from 4 of the narrow strip areas. I noticed paint flecks on the vinyl only a couple of times on corners/edges, and no visible damage to the painted surface. A few times I was able to remove strips longer than a couple of inches. Sometimes the strips divided themselves into inch or so width following deep scratches in the film. I worked in the mid-day sun with no additional heat, and was able to remove what little glue residue there was with a little GooGone and some Awesome cleaner applied with plenty of elbow grease. I have some sore fingers and one end-of-the-finger-blister to show for my efforts -- plus four area that look a whole lot better than they did with the 3m vinyl on them! I guess I have a project that I can pick at for the next month or so as my sore fingers allow...
 
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