Stripe Removal & More

Goals for today look like:

• Stripe removal

• Interior deep detail

• Wash exterior

• Try to clean up wheels

• Remove running boards

Picked up where I left off yesterday with the stripe removal. I used the eraser wheel to get the bulk of the sticker off, leaving a thin line of dirt where the top edge of the decal was. Polishing seemed to help get it off, so  I just cycled through eraser wheel and buffing until it was all gone. Slight ghosting at the right angle and light but that was expected since these have been here for 23 years. I also decided to take off the emblems on the lift gate, I did the "SR5" and "Toyota" first... plastic pry tool, scraped off excess tape, eraser wheel, then buff and polish. Ghosting was pretty bad so I left the larger "4Runner" emblem alone.

I wanted to get rid of...whatever this was supposed to be. I hit it with the eraser wheel and it gummed up immediately. Tried some heat and a plastic scraper but dug too deep and left a gouge. Then I swapped to WD40 and really light scraping. Once that dried I was able to use the eraser wheel and take it off. Pretty disappointed about the gouge, I should have take it easier or not used the heat, but I learned from it and the passenger side came out great.

While I was removing the badges and decals I thought I would shoot some tint on the third brake light. It looked like it needed some love and I had a can left over from a previous project. Removed it, cleaned it up and wet sanded then sprayed the tint. After 2 coats I buffed and polished, then reinstalled. Turned out so good I had to do the tail lights. I never like it when people just shoot the whole light black so I taped off the reverse light and the small reflector at the bottom. Repeated the buff and polish then reinstalled. At first I thought I was going to have to take them off and paint the reflector but after looking at it for a few hours I think I like it now. Plus, maybe it will be enough to keep the cops from paying too much attention.

Its well past noon at this point and its probably pushing 100 degrees. To get some shade I turn to the interior. After looking it over, it didn't really need a "deep clean" it just need a good wipe down and vacuum. After that I set to work on the sun visors. I guess the warning labels came off, or were take off, but the glue was still there and it was pretty unsightly.  I soaked them in some alcohol and then gently scrubbed them with a nylon brush. Worked pretty well, except for the back side. Seems like some of the fabric came off and left it a little discolored, but the side that you see came out great. I did the same for the passenger side and used the screws to reinstall them.