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Hello, Does anybody know how to remove painted letters from a truck? I've been painting them for 22 years but have never removed paint from a truck. The paint has been on for 2-3 years so it won't be easy. Any suggestions? Scuffing up the paint finish isn't an option, nor is taking a sanding disc to the surface. Any reasonable suggestions, backed by experience, will be considered.rlh8008@aol.com
-------------------- Richard Haile Richard Haile Signs 262 Dellwood Dr. Fairborn, OH 45324 Posts: 8 | From: Fairborn, OH USA | Registered: May 1999
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IF you pull this off, it's gonna be quite labor intensive. The first consideration is the strength of the paint under the letters. If it's a factory paint job, your'e better off. The first rule in any cleaning/removal job is to work from the weakest solvent up to the strongest.The range usually starts with glass cleaner and goes to acetone, with brake fluid, drain cleaner, and acid fitting in somewhere. You can pretty much figure glass cleaner and cheap mineral spirits out of the picture on this one. you might start with the 4 dollar a gallon min. spirits. As an aside I've been noticing some differences between the two grades,(I'mm talking about two grades of min. spirits sold by the same brand). I wash brushses with the cheap stuff, but wonder if it causes congealing in stored paint. Also it surely doesn't reduce as well as the 4 dollar stuff. Anyway, back to the job,I would carefully wrap a piece of cloth around a little stick, an old brush is allready rounded on the end. get a little cap of sorts, to hold your solvent near the letters. Get a little area wet, KEEP it wet, and start on another little area. hopefully, the first area will start to "break up". Q-tips might work, and would allow frequent changing. Get a good cushion, play your favorite music, you'll need patience. You'd think this trade would MAKE us into the most patient people in the world, but I still seem to get ticked off quickly. Back to the job, I'd probably end up using Zylene, it's not a brand namme, but i have a high enough regard for it that it's worth capitalizing the word. It's a medium strength solvent. Also' sometimes an automotive enamel reducer will have a blend of solvents that's got the right amount of "bite". Yes, I do have experience with this, but it's been awhile. With today's labor cost being what it is, I don't how I'd charge for it. Some people might tell you to buff it off with polishing compound, but that often ends up taking so long that the paint around the letters gets worn away, then finnaly the letter goes. What you end up with is the letter shape in the truck color, surrounded by grey primer all around it. It seems as though if you found a "power" method that didn't end up in the aforementioned affliction, you could buff away any small scratches. Just call me Longwinded, JIM.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Easy Off Oven Cleaner. You have to mask off all around, don't want any runs. spray a small area, you can dab with a rag to keep it from running to much. let it cook for a couple minutes, use clean rags, rub some, probably have to repeat a few times. work small areas 6"x8".
If it's hand lettered, there will be some areas with thicker deposit of paint. Patience. You'll be left with "ghost image", the vehicle paint that was under the letters will be brighter than surrounding areas, cause the surrounding areas have faded over the years.. If new lettering is going over the area, it will help to camoflage the ghost image. Clean area with Methyl Hydrate before lettering.
Hope this helps.
John Lennig / SignRider
-------------------- John Lennig / Big Top Sign Arts 5668 Ewart Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada bigtopya@hotmail.com 604.451.0006 Posts: 2184 | From: Burnaby, British Columbia,Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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John's idea sounds great, but I had to get back up and add one to my previous comments. This being alot easier than those: if the customer will allow it, paint a panel or stripe over the old lettering. I've done this too, the idea being to make it look deliberate. maybe a nice frame around it, some leaves or do-dads in the corners. Leaves ya feelin' kinda sly, but the ancient signwriters in rome wre probably doin' it on chariots. Jim.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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Richard, I too use oven cleaner to remove lettering from trucks. I have done many over the years. Usually I mask off an area with a double layer of newspaper and masking tape. Remember to wear chemical gloves as that oven cleaner will really burn your skin (had a customer in awhile ago and he didn't wear the gloves-what a painful mess his hands were). I often use the heat gun to warm up the sprayed area and get it working quicker (like the quick method of cleaning your oven they suggest on the can). Especially if the vehicle is cold to the touch. You may find some little "scraps" of paint left so I use a really fine 3M buffing compound to take this off. Three year-old paint is not bad to take off depending on the color. In short, just pay attention and take your time and things will work out.
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Easy Off Oven Cleaner, done just as Heather said. Pain in the a--, but works. Gets annoying when an owner-operator changes companies several times in a year like one I had. Good Luck!
-------------------- Kristie Byrnes Paintbrush Graphics 6126 Big Cut Rd. Mt. Carroll, IL 61053 rugbyrnes@hotmail.com (563) 357-7614 Posts: 90 | From: Thomson,IL | Registered: Dec 2002
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I had to remove the hand-lettering from an entire fleet of trucks a couple years ago. About 25 or 30 as I recall.
If you can find it, see if you can find some "Mr. Muscle" oven cleaner. It cost a little more than Easy-Off, but it took less cleaner to do the same job and with a lot less effort.
And as in all things, test a small out of the way place first. You don't want to be responsible for having to repaint the entire door.
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here's on I found by accident, if its One Shot or Chromatic, I can guarantee that Rapid Remover will take it off, just leave it for a about 10 minutes on the surface, also will not hurt the clear coat...trust me I found this out the hard way!!! It does work and not nearly as nasty as Oven Cleaner!!!
What I do is tape one of those blue paper towels(the heavier ones you can get at Wal-Mart or auto supply store in automotive section) at the top to the door righ above the graphic,(you can do it in sections) then soak the paper towel, let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes, lift it up and rub on the paint with a new rag to see if its loose yet, if not just lay the rag back onto the surface, this way you can actually see the paint soak into the rag and your not constantly spraying and having runs or evaporation, works well, try it.
Shawn
-------------------- Shawn Setzer Signs by Shawn 826 Hwy 47 East, Troy, MO Posts: 241 | From: Troy, MO, USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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Thanks a whole helluva lot! I'm now inspired and confident that I can DO the job rightly. I will take the advice from all that replied. Thanks again.
Richard
-------------------- Richard Haile Richard Haile Signs 262 Dellwood Dr. Fairborn, OH 45324 Posts: 8 | From: Fairborn, OH USA | Registered: May 1999
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