White Line Paint Removal

[gfreek]

Hello all first time here. Have a light green 07 RAV 4 with white line road paint on rocker panels I need to remove. Been on there afew weeks. Bought some 3M super duty rubbing compound, but am unsure on what foam pad to use(white?) with my 7424 buffer and the proper procedure. Thanks

[ScottB]

3M Wax and Adhesiver Remover and Clay ...

[Mike Phillips]

Hello all first time here.

Since this is your first post to the AGO forum,

Welcome to Autogeek Online!

Have a light green 07 RAV 4 with white line road paint on rocker panels I need to remove. Been on there a few weeks. Bought some 3M super duty rubbing compound, but am unsure on what foam pad to use(white?) with my 7424 buffer and the proper procedure. Thanks

When it comes to car paint, which is THIN, there's a philosophy that is a good idea to follow, it goes like this,

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"


This is what I think killrwheels was alluding to when he suggested using 3M Wax and Adhesive Remover and Detailing Clay.

The compound approach will usually work but not only will it remove the road paint it will also remove perfectly good paint. So if there's a way to remove just the road paint you'll preserver the original good paint.

Now besides that, the PC 7424 likely won't have the power to remove road paint because as soon as you start to push on the head of the unit the clutch will kick in and the pad will STOP rotating and you'll have no abrading power. In fact you would have more power and be more effective you just use your hand with a piece of terry cloth with the rubbing compound as you can exert a LOT of force with your 4 fingers pushing down on a piece of terry cloth and the nap, the little cotton loops that make terrycloth, terry cloth, will act as from of mild abrasive and give the compound ever more bite.

If it were me, I would try to dissolve the road paint off the car before trying to abrade it off using mineral spirits or turpentine, or lacquer thinner, all of which can be bought by the pint for under $10.00 at any hardware store.

You also might try Goo-Gone, a citrus based solvent.

If dissolving it off doesn't work then use the compound by hand. This will remove the road paint which we also call Paint-Transfer. Removing the paint transfer by hand with an aggressive rubbing compound will more than likely leave the underlying clear paint dull, hazy and scratches and now this is when you bring the PC 7424 out and put it to work.

Use the PC 7424 with probably a polishing pad and a less aggressive product than the 3M Super Duty Rubbing compound to remove the scratches the 3M product will put into your car's clear coat.

Not sure how familiar you are with removing scratches out of clear coats but it is an art unto itself as most clear coat paints are pretty hard and that makes it difficult for you and it to work scratches out of them.

Of course being the lower rocker panels on a RAV 4 is a lot different than working on the hood of something really cool like a restored 1967 Camaro. Most people won't look at the rocker panels and if the car is just a daily driver to you then you might not care that much about the finish quality of the paint as long as the road paint is removed.

Hope that helps a little...

[gfreek]

Yup that helps alot thanks......