• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

How do I get the old refinish restorer off?

Top Gun

SM 2008
SM 2007
Full Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
261
Location
Albrightsville, Pennsylvania
Hello to all,
It has been a looking time since I was an active member here. A lot has changed for me but one thing that hasn't is that I still have my beloved Av.  I never did use it all that much which is why it only has 125,000 miles which is great for an 03.
Anyways, it has been sitting in my garage for about three years and I am now getting her ready for the road again this summer.
So the purpose of this post is.
I am one of the very first members here to use refinish restorer on my truck. I has been a great product and I can't think of anything better for use on our classed vehicles. The thing is since I have been using it for so many years the product just doesn't work well for me any longer. It seems that the cladding just has to much of the old restorer built up on it that I must find a way to strip it off before going over it with a fresh can of refinish restorer.
So...... Do any of you guys who have been using this stuff have any idea how to get the old restorer off the cladding?.  I have tried lawyer thinner...zip!, I have tried goof off...zip!, I have tried acetone which seems to somewhat get it off but way to much work.
 
I've never had a problem with build up from RR..

But I would think just clean it real good and then apply RR again and it will dissolve any old RR and bring back the finish to like new.. Try a small area and see it if does if you haven't tried already..
 
I have tried reapplying. Even using fresh stuff, it just doesn't look like it did when I first started using this stuuf years ago. You can clearly see it delaminating off the cladding.
 
Maybe something else has been put on it, are you the original owner?
 
Can you post a picture of it?
 
I stopped using RR because I too experienced the "delaminating" situation. It looked great the first year or two and then eventually looked odd. Ended up reapplying thinking it would clean it up but didn't look as good as the first time and that's when peeling really got ugly. Just looked worse and worse. Eventually pressure cleaned it all off with hot water and have used various products to maintain the cladding. For what it's worth, RR technically coats the plastic, it's not really an "oil" that soaks in. If you get it on the paint and it cures it comes off like clear coat. I suppose under optimum conditions the product works great but became too much work for me. If I remember correctly, the peeling really showed up after the winter months. Maybe the cold/snow/wind/rain abrasion or something caused the product to eventually pull away. Anyways, my best answer to your original question is... high pressure water that's hot seems to take it off.
 
ca2kjet said:
I stopped using RR because I too experienced the "delaminating" situation. It looked great the first year or two and then eventually looked odd. Ended up reapplying thinking it would clean it up but didn't look as good as the first time and that's when peeling really got ugly. Just looked worse and worse. Eventually pressure cleaned it all off with hot water and have used various products to maintain the cladding. For what it's worth, RR technically coats the plastic, it's not really an "oil" that soaks in. If you get it on the paint and it cures it comes off like clear coat. I suppose under optimum conditions the product works great but became too much work for me. If I remember correctly, the peeling really showed up after the winter months. Maybe the cold/snow/wind/rain abrasion or something caused the product to eventually pull away. Anyways, my best answer to your original question is... high pressure water that's hot seems to take it off.


Thanks for your reply.
Yes! That's is exactly what I have described as being my problem. Thanks for suggesting a pressure washer. I will give that a try......Rich
 
I had the same issue with the last coats of RR that I applied - AFTER I didn't prep it properly prior to applying them. I suspect it was from a wax buildup left on the cladding from the car wash with wax that I use. I successfully cleaned the cladding by spraying it down with bug and tar remover, letting it soak, then using a brush that I normally use to clean the wheels (just a regular scrub brush with a handle on top with plastic bristles) to scrub it across the cladding. I then washed with blue Dawn dishwashing liquid, again scrubbing with the brush. After letting it dry, I then wiped all the cladding down with a lint-free rag saturated with 70% isopropyl alcohol. It took two times of this to get all of the delamination clean. I then washed with blue Dawn again, let it dry, and then applied a new coat of RR. It worked great and the cladding looked like new again, even after 14 years. The bed panels, due to the large horizontal surfaces, did show a little worse wear and tear on them, but I'm sure I am the only one that would really have noticed.
 
Send email to site sponser on his website:
http://www.therightcarstuff.com/
 
Been noticing the same issue, Top Gun. Not to the point of wanting/needing to strip it yet but it's definitely become less even effective.
 
I wanted to re-visit this topic, and add another way to remove the RR.  If you've got a heat gun(hot air gun?), use it to "heat off" this delamination.  Do it carefully, until you get the "hang" of it.  I used a cheap hot air gun that I got at Harbor Freight with two settings, low and high.  I used the high setting, and used Raisin Bran boxes that I unfolded and set behind the edges of the sail panels to protect the paint job from the heat.  Keep the tip of the heat gun about 3 inches away from the sail panels (or bed covers, if that's where the problem is), and move the heat gun tip back and forth to control the heat being applied.  You'll begin to see the surface turn from delaminated, back to black.  Once you've got it turning color, move the tip of the heat gun along the surface to be treated to keep the process going.
It works reasonably fast, and you've got to get used to it, but it works pretty good.  I did it to remove this delamination from one of my sail panels which had this problem.  It looked so much better, that I left it like it was without adding any shine or more RR to it.
That's my $.02.  Hope someone finds it helpful.
 
Back
Top