Be Aware!

You could end up having to do this....

Rear quarter doesn't have a bump strip. Why is that being done?

So i wanted to remove the door bump strips since i bought the car, thought today seemed as good as any other day to get on and do it!

I've seen a few other thread's of people removing them and they came up nice, havnt seen any pictures of it going wrong though.

I set on with a dewalt heat gun, which worked really well to get them off... once the glue went soft they pulled off really well just by hand, no tools used!

Once i removed the rear bump strip i sprayed a little bit wd40 onto a cloth and wiped it just to see what the paint was like! sadly there was a clear line all the way down the middle of the glue where the paint had bubbled and rusted under it :(

I was in two mind at this point... try and glue it back on, get a new one or fingers crossed... go ahead and take the front one off and hope it had been better sealed and wont be rusted under it. Well it was rusted under it...

so the pictures are almost the finished result, the car has to be rubbed down to metal to get all the rust off, then primed etc.

Since silver is a difficult colour to match, all the panels around had to be blended in so i got a good finish, but since there was scratches on the wing and the rear quater! its pretty much turned into a full car respray!

cost about £80 for all the paint and tools used to put it right, but that doesnt include the tools such as the spray gun and compressor.

The other side will be removed tomorrow and then the same for the other side of the car if the paints damaged on that side aswell, might as well paint the boot if the other sides the same so the car has pretty much had a full respray!

I'll post pictures tomorrow of the finished result, just keep this in mind if your wanting to remove yours!

Mine is in a shocking state under the strips to, I'm waiting for the respray to be done maybe next year to remove them.

Yeah iv read about a few people having this issue. Am going to take one off and see what it's like, if it's bubbling I'll just wack it back on

I must have been lucky then, although I removed my bump strips when the car was only about 4 years old or so. Its now 11 years old.

They would be hard to refit once removed, youd be better off buying a new set of just the front and checking what its like under it, if its bad fit the new one.

Mine have gone into a banana shape from removing them and the glue is ruined. You would need a toffee wheel or buffer to remove the glue from the door as it doesnt come off very easily. So even if you remove them and they keep a good shape, clean all the glue off the bump strip and remove all the glue from the door, you would need a very good adhesive to put it back on properly and keep it on!

FYI a toffee wheel.

Incidentally the paint on my 13 year old Ibiza was mint under the strips, go figure.

I've found the best way to get the bump strip and badge glue off cars is to use paint thinners rather than a toffee disc.

You've scared me now, I was going to remove mine over this Easter weekend as I hate it with a passion when it come's to polishing and waxing the car....Dunno if I wanna now

I've found the best way to get the bump strip and badge glue off cars is to use paint thinners rather than a toffee disc.

Well paint thinners isnt very good for paint so i wouldnt recommend that to others. I knew mine was getting painted so just scrapped a stanley knife blade aslong the glue and took it off in seconds.

If i was doing it on a customers car i would only be using wd40 or brake cleaner and alot of elbow grease!

You've scared me now, I was going to remove mine over this Easter weekend as I hate it with a passion when it come's to polishing and waxing the car....Dunno if I wanna now

Im sure if you asked my spray painter he'd be yelling "KEEP THEM ON!!"

If i had of known the damage under them i could have easily lived with them being on.

If I ever replace them at work I always use a toffee wheel, not damaged anything yet.

Well paint thinners isnt very good for paint so i wouldnt recommend that to others.

the paint on a car generally speaking is more or less dry after 10 years or so :wonder:

the paint on a car generally speaking is more or less dry after 10 years or so :wonder:

I dont always use paint thinners to thin paint before spraying, i also use it to rub down panels as prep work as it removes old layers of paint without wet and dry paper etc...

My last silver 05 plate Fabia vRS had terrible bubbling under the bump strips, but my current black 56 car was fine underneath. Depends if your luck is in I guess.