XJ-SC Coachlines

you may have sorted this now looking at the date of your post !?? but first off either petrol ,or "tar and glue"remover will easily remove any dried on glue from the old decal/stripe even Mr sheen will melt off old car stripe glues, non of the above will damage the cars paintwork thats very easily done, when replacing stripes on cars its a good idea first to wipe over the area with methalayted spirit to remove any wax or polish and help the decal stick better these vinyl stripes were ALWAYS applied over the top of the finished laqured car bodywork paint so they come off quite easily it WONT damage the original laqured paint finish on the car these were never laqured over at the factories for the very reason that sections of them may have to be replaced at some point in time if you are fitting these larger earlier stripes to early model H.E. cars?? they came in seperate sections when new, the easy solution with this one today is to take a sheet of see through paper or tracing paper and go over the outline of the stripe on the opposite rear wing so you have a " copy " of the end of the stripe pattern and the shape of it ,you can mesure the approximate amount you need from the tail of the car to the front door opening the pattern is all the same size down the rear wing one thick stripe ,one thin stripe once you have traced over the end shape of the car stripe ,you can then post that tracing outline to a company that specialises in making laser cut vinyl stripes for cars and motorcycles they can make you either a LEFT or right handed stripe but DONT forget to tell them what side you need making ! they simply scan in the shape you send to computer and laser cut a complete or partial piece of stripe for you , you could also send a sample of the original vynil stripe "colour" with it that will have faded a little over the years with original vynil stripes or the replacement vynil colour tape you bought ? a good company i would recommend for this work is "The Image Works" in Derby , just google for website and contact details i have had several car and motorcycle stripes re made by this company using the method i discribed above, perfect results stripes like these are long gone by the manufacturer new today .and original old stock new ones that turn up occasionally cannot be guaranteed to be of any use Vinyl stripe has a" shelf life" and often times when removing the paper backing from the new old stripe the paper backing will stick fast to the glue on the stripes backing thats then completely unusable ! When applying large vinyl stripes the likes of these to car bodies first coat the area to have the stripe fitted with a liberal amount of fairy liquid and warm water, remove the paper backing from the adhesive side of the stripe, and place it on the wet panelwork , using fairy liquid and warm water will allow you to remove, slide and reposition the stripe exactly where you want it , trying to fit a vinyl stripe to a cars dry bodywork is dogs work ! once you have got the stripe in the right position take a plastic small Squee'gee , or credit card sized piece of very thin plastic , or similar plastic thin card you can hold in your hand and starting in the middle of the stripe and working outwards towards the edges squee'gee ALL the trapped air bubble out from behind the vinyl stripe air gets trapped behind all these vynil stripes another reason for using water and fairy liquid is you can sqee'gee the air bubbles all out without difficulty you can then lightly go over the stripe with a hairdryer , to dry out the top of the stripe that still has a paper protective film over it , when its dry start at an end top corner and pull the top protective backing paper off towards you at a 45 degree angle ,make sure the majority of the stripe has dried out underneath first using a soapy water solution will NOT damage the adhesive quality of the glue on the stripes backing, but it WILL make fitting these neatly and correctly MUCH easier than trying to do it DRY FINALLY when all fitted and dry to make sure the "ends" of the stripes do not lift off when washing, or polishingthe car in the furure take a bottle of ladies CLEAR nail varnish and with the bottles brush applicator gently paint over the very "ends" of the vynil stripe to seal the stripe onto the car body , again that will NOT damage the paintwork or the stripe it can be scrapped back off when dry using a fingernail or thumbnail also without damaging the paintwork but again it stops the very ends of the stripe lifting off later when polishing chamois leathering etc again a trick used by professional car vinyl stripe fitters there ! this is the method any professional vynil stripe fitter will also us, ive done hundred like this down the years hope thats all of some help ?? kind regards Glenn