Hey Hey,
While on vacation recently, I left my newly purchased 91 RS sitting in my driveway with a couple other cars. When I came home, I went to put the top down, and found the rubber weatherstripping seal around the bottom of the back of the softtop had stuck itself to the rear cover. It came off easly enough, but left some nasty black rubber residue. 90% of it came off with a half ton of elbow grease and some Mothers carwash liquid. However, what remains seems to be well stuck...rubbing as hard as I could manage with the sponge for a few minutes had no effect.

Has it stained my paint? Would claybar-ing the car help that? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again? Is there a certain series of events that leads up to this happening? I thought that maybe coating the rubber in some sort of lubricant would prevent if from sticking, but then thought there may be adverse effects to the paint.

Thanks for the help!
AR

 

I have the same problem with my 92 vert. After sitting in my driveway for a couple days in the sun, it sticks and leaves crappy residue on my paint too.

I tried coating rubber with armor all but then I had a gooey mess the next time. I would like your question answered too.
Thanks

 

Do you not have the vinyl strip that the top sits on? My top has stuck to that, but not my paint.

 

Vinyl strip, ya say? Happen to have a picture floating around?
I know my car has been painted once (spring of 1999)...perhaps the strip was removed then?

Like 4ormula, I was looking into coating the rubber with something....I wanted to look into it first, though, lest I trash my still rather nice paint. I hadn't thought of ArmourAll, though...

 

Hope Jstoltz doesn't mind me stealing his image to use here:



He has had some repro's made. If you want to order one from him, here's a link to his thread:


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...s-tonneau.html

 

Ohhh, I see. Nope, I don't have them. I'd guess they were removed when the car was painted back in '99.

Would that help my problem, though? Would the vinyl be easier to get this black crud off of if it did stick, or is the vinyl smooth enough that it doesn't stick? I'm not sure on that latter point, as my racing stripes are vinyl, and
there was at least some black residue on them. I can't remember if it came off easier, or not, though.

Thanks for the link, though....It's something to consider, if nothing else. Anyone else have any alternatives to the wear stickers?

AR

 

I don't know if it is easier to get off or not, but it can definitely withstand more scrubbing abrasion than paint can.

As far as alternatives go, you can try to get the vinyl cut yourself. It would be way easier to buy one already made, though. Some guys, on repaints, have built up clear in the area where the vinyl wear strip goes, but I don't think that's the best idea, either.

 

Cleaned up my car today and worked extra hard on the black residue on my vinyl wear strip. Got it all off and it looks great. I wet-sanded with 1500 grit to get it off, then buffed with Safe Cut by The Wax Shop then finished it off with some Wax Shop Super Glaze. Other than a "cloudy" look that is actually not repairable ... because it's just aged vinyl ... it looks great. No black residue at all. I'll post pics tomorrow night. This could work on your paint, too. Just need to buff really good with some good polishing compound after wet sanding. Of course, you can't wet-sand too many times or you will go throug your clear coat.

 

Glad to hear you got it off. If anyone runs into that trouble again . . .

Most, if not all the residue can be removed with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It's cheap, but don't underestimate it's cleaning power. Use slightly dampened. I've removed everything from crayon on walls to pen ink on leather. Amazing stuff.

Pick up some silicone emulsion paste from your local car dealer or decent auto store. Apply it to the weather stripping (even to all the seals). Message it in. This will help prevent the sticking and protect the seal. Also apply a good paint protectant (wax) to the cover, especially if your missing the clear film.

 

Coat the rubber seal with Vaseline a few times.It may leave a little goo but it beats scrubbing the crap out of it again.

 

I would think Waxing the paint on the Tonneau cover where the top meets the tonneau should help too...



John

 

I would say I got about 90% of the black crud off. the remaining 10% seems to have sunk itself right into the paint. I`m hoping either a claybar or wet sanding will take care of the issue, however, I haven`t attempted either yet, as I now have bigger issues to deal with.

Before the last show, I polished the car with TurtleWax ICE, and while polishing, I rubbed some of the polish onto the rubber seal. It seems to have helped, though I`m not sure if thats a long-term solution or not. Only time will tell.

Cheers, and thanks for all the help!
AR

 

or like mentioned earlier in the post you could buy one of the strips I am reproducing now. They were off a little (it was about 1/4" too long on the right side) I am pretty sure that is fixed now at least on my test cover it lines up good. We are still playing around with it a little. Also one thing that is really nice when these go on it is really hard to even see it which is what I was going for. After getting the paint nice and shiny why have something over top of it that looks cloudy. plus with mine they include the small side pieces on the part between the doors and tonneau cover. The NOS ones don't and depending on the skill of the convertible top installer sometimes the corners come down a little farther so this will wear a spot of the paint off there.

 

Does that mean mine is "a little off"? Do I need to do some modification to it before I "F" up a nice paint job down the road?

 

when I was talking with Davey boy he said it was off by around 1/8"-1/4" but it is at the very front on the passenger side where it tapers down. really all you have to do is apply it like normal then take a razor at the overhang. This stuff isn't bad cutting and you could apply like normal and not ever notice it anyway. It could have been how he applied it also that's why I recommend the professional installation. here is the pm he sent me I am still waiting on pics from him. The fit is somewhat different on every car. The overhang is on page 3 of the https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/conv...tonneau-3.html
and is pictured on the test cover from 7-7-08

"hey john,

i finally got the decal on there and it came out pretty good. the quality of the vinyl was excellent as it stuck on there really good. however, i had 2 issues with putting it on 1) it stuck on too quickly (i kept spraying it with warm water and dishsoap as you should but it still would dry very quickly) 2) the fitmit was off by a 1/8-1/4" on one side. the sticker was too wide on the outside so that it would overhang on one end of the tonneau cover. when i realized this, it already was stuck on the other side so i had alot of trouble trying to move it and get it to fit right. maybe because it was so hot and humid that day. so i had to cut it off with scissors (while wet) which caused the edges to be jagged. i wished it would be closer but there's only so much you can do. in hindsight, i probably should have compared it to my NOS sticker that i have here. other than that, its great. it looks very clean and clear. most people cannot even tell that the is a sticker there. i've alraedy gotten a number of compliments regarding the sticker.

I was gonna take some photos but unfortunately the car is dirty right now as i had to leave it outdoors in the rain for a few days. i'll take some shots and post both the before and after shots to show everyone how well it came out.

thanks
Dave"

as far as the too wide on one side it was from not having the decal shifted I have installed everyone after making any changes so I know myself that that's not the case. I am going to sand down the test cover I have and install one of the final versions next week. I have one on there now that is after changing from the ones like yours Chris and the one that you have fit better than this. Honestly if you take your time and get it tucked under the black vinyl wrap the one you have fits perfect. That is the hardest part of all of it is having the black wrap on there trying to install. From ASC the protector strip was installed before the black wrap which makes it way easier. You have nothing to worry about. I wish you were closer and I would put it on there myself so you could see how good a fit it is. Also as far as it sticking to quickly, DO NOT I repeat DO NOT install when the paint is really hot warm is fine but if your vert is sitting right in the sun use cold water first to cool th epaint otherwise the soap solution will evaporate way to fast. This holds true for window tint side graphic decals (i.e. iroc door decals Formula, whatever) I stand beind these and if you need help installing or any problems I will try my best to make it right and help you out if I can.