I know it's tough to tell, but what are the chances these stripes can be removed without having to repaint the car? Probably pretty slim? I have a hood that is not painted so need to do something to get the car all ine color and on the fence to paint the hood GSX stripes, try to remove the stripes or repaint the whole car but can't find anyone to paint it.
The short answer I think is no. The long answer is you might be able to wetsand them off if they aren't buried under clear, there's enough white paint underneath, and you don't burn through it when polishing it. There's also a good chance you may still see where they were in the paint afterwards. I would think it's really risky.
If they are just stuck on top of the paint theres a chance.I have this eraser wheel that chucks up in a drill that works pretty good on small stuff. LOW RPM. Might try a heat gun on low and try to peel it off. Either way once ya start your committed and as stated above you probably will still see where the stripes were.
The stripes are definitely above the clear coat. Wondering if I tried some of the methods above and if I did end up messing up the clear coat a bit, but not the base coat, I wonder if you can clear coat over clear coat to freshen it up haha.
...even if you got then off, paint underneath will have been protected from uv, and be a different shade...
That is the best thing to do but I don't always make smart choices haha. Maybe I'll paint the hood first and see where that gets me.
If you can feel stripe edges on top of white paint and see edges as well ,you will be able to sand them off and re polish.
Are you certain the stripes are painted on and are not vinyl? If you are willing to repaint/have the car repainted take the risk of sanding the straps off. Maybe there is a spot on the car you can test these theories?
Very carefully tape off the stripes before you start sanding so that you don't sand through the adjacent clear coat. When dong similar sanding jobs I generally outline the stripes with clear packing tape as it is thin and works well to protect the clear coat when sanding with fine (1000 grit and above) sandpaper. As you sand through sections of tape keep replacing it until the stripes are almost gone. You will find that it is a tedious job, but, if you are careful, you should be able to get the stripes off without sanding through the clear. However, as previously stated, you may find that the protected white paint under the stripe is a different shade due to UV fading.
Thanks. The car has been inside and never put back together since it was painted in 2017.. so yeah due to time I imagine I might see some fade but maybe not as much as I think since it's never really been in direct sunlight.
Is the paint base/clear? You might try a solvent in an inconspicuous area and see what happens. Otherwise, you can wetsand them off. I'd start with something fine and only move coarser if you have to. You'll need to wetsand to about 3000 to polish, so I'd start maybe around 1500-1800.
