cock up on the paint front! (1 Viewer)

[John Mee]

I removed the pin stripes on my caravan last year and removed adhesive residue with a bit of petrol on a cloth. Today I decided to remove the very tired decals on the side of my Autocruise Vista, which I accomplished with a hair dryer. I then decided to use petrol again, as it worked well last time, to clean up the bits of adhesive. A gentle wipe and shock horror, my white paint started to turn grey. It seems the petrol has removed the paint as well as the adhesive! I now have to repaint a patch on the side of the van, trying to match the old paint, that will be faded from years of sunshine.
Any tips? And suggestions for removing adhesive from the remaining areas. The paint is mega thin!

 

[DavidG58]

oops, welcome to my world

no idea on how to sort the damage done or avoid more of the same, but some jobs really are best left to those that know what they are doing

hopefully you will get better advice on the solution and hope it isn't too expensive

 

[Madeinengland]

Lakeland sell something called sticky stuff remover which I have always found to work well. It does say it can be used on paintwork.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[ChrisL]

You might try Isopropyl alcohol, which you should be able to get from a good chemist, they might ask what you want it for as it is toxic if you drink it but if you just say you want it to clean off adhesive you should be ok. I used to use it to clean tape heads (recording tape) and still have a bottle in the shed somewhere.

 

[Feltwell]

You'll struggle to get any sort of a match. How about putting a new decal on the van over the damaged area? Same for the adhesive in the remaining areas - don't remove, put new decals on, I'm sure someone on here can suggest a source for generic van decals!

 

[PP Bear]

When trying to match the paint on very old or faded vehicles, we'd use a motorfactor paint specialist.

They can mix any shade of any colour and have extensive colour charts to meet those very requirements.

You could give them a try and see if you can match the paint. Might be worth a try.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Trichloroethylene?? also known for removing glue or plasters from the skin. works on the glue and not on the paint.

 

[John Mee]

Update. My good lady attacked it with nail varnish remover and low and behold the grey went away - must have been dye from the cloth, result! Well nearly. It turned out that the paint was coming off, but it was new paint covering a ding that had been repaired previously. I think the decal was covering the join between the old and the new. I will have a go at repainting, but if I can't match the colour, maybe I'll have to add some new decals.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Wow, nail varnish remover on your paint! Hope that not more damage done. As you say, a new decal may be the way forward.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[John Mee]

On another front My Autocruise Vista has GRP steps under the doors that blend into the GRP skirts of the coachwork body. The driver's side one was a little wobbly and upon investigation it turned out that the Autocruise support made from 2mm folded steel was a bloated lattice of iron oxide held in place only by the sealer adhesive between the bodywork and the support. I salvaged just enough, albeit a crumbling mess, to use as a pattern for a replacement. The step sill was remarkably solid on the outside, but had been decaying from within, so I have decided to replace it with a repair panel, before re attaching a new support and the step.

Next, I thought if the offside was rust, the nearside had to be in a state too. Wrong! The nearside support had rotted to oblivion and had been replaced by two random pieces of wood stuck on with sealer - just one tiny piece of latticework rust left at one end. This time, when I removed all of the sealer I found the step sill was solid, all good!
So now I have to find a a friendly steel fabricator to make two new steel supports, a decent welder to replace one sill and a paint supplier who can match my paint. Oh the joys of motorhome fun. My caravan is eight years older and has a galvanised chassis that is as solid as a rock!
Oh, and don't mention the Eberspacher heating unit!

 

[Southdowners]

You can get a product called Goo-Gone which is safe to use on anything - it's citrus based.

We bought a top of the range Buccaneer caravan once and when we picked it up there were no less than six large stickers advertising the dealership stuck to the exterior paintwork. We were furious as it took ages to remove them. We did it in the end with a combination of hairdrier and Goo-gone with no damage to the paintwork.

 

[jockaneezer]

If you have a Fleet Factors or similar near you, they can put a little camera device on your paintwork that analyses the colour, then they mix you some paint to match.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JFD]

I have always used motor oil to remove sticky stuff (like the stickum left when you remove headlamp beam deflectors). It seems to dissolve the glue, and is easily removed itself, with warm soapy water.

 

[John Mee]

Right, on the subject of my vanished sill step supports. I have just fetched my two replacements, beautifully folded in heavy steel, I just hope they fit! The pattern part removed from the van was 99% exploded iron oxide. My van is at present having a new drivers side sill welded on to accept the new step support.
The original support, which must have been fitted by Autocruise back in 2001 was attached by big pop rivets plus a good layer of sealer adhesive covering the sill (which alone would have done the job).
Does anyone have an idea of what sealer adhesive I should use? It was flexible and stuck really well (I had to cut through it to remove the rusty bit). It was white!

Ideas welcome.

Oh, and on the way to the welders the power steering pump started making horrible noises and juddering. There seemed to be fluid in the reservoir. Do I need a new one?

More ideas welcome!

This van was a really good buy!!!

 

[nicholsong]

While we are on the subject of products to remove any substances, can those who advised various products, confirm or deny whether they are safe on our panels, which are powder-coating on aluminium sandwich?

Geoff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Valleysboy]

Hi WD40 is pretty good for stickers decals etc .