Removal of factory painted-on coachlines - advice please

[XJ_Driver]

Any ideas how I can remove the factory painted-on coachlines from my XJ8? Paintwork is Pacific Blue, coachlines are silver. Appears the original coachlines have been obliterated in several places by subsequent cosmetic paintwork, and so now I would like to remove them altogether.

[J44EAG]

Assuming these lines have been painted on to of the colour base coat which has then had clear gloss finish applied on top of that, I would be looking to carefully flat off the coach lines with P1200 wet and dry production paper. The following is standard paint prep practice in car body shops and is a method I`ve been using for the past thirty seven years on cars, boats and aircraft.

An experienced man would use P800 to initially remove the line then flat again with P1200 before rubbing up with rubbing compound. I suggest you begin with P1200, develop a feel for the job and then may be use P800 once you have gained the confidence to use a paper which removes paint at a faster rate.

To begin, take a sheet of wet and dry paper, and fold it in half to crease it lengthwise down the middle. Fold it back on itself and back again several times. Then tear it lengthwise down the sheet. You should then have two long thin strips. Take one of the long strips and fold that in half. Then fold the bottom edge into the crease in the middle. Do that again from the top edge. What you should end up with is effectively four working surfaces. Fold so two of those surfaces are exposed with the other two folded within. That pad of W&D should then fit into the palm of your hand. You can grip it between the inner edge of your thumb and outer edge of your index finger. In use, the paper surfaces gradually wear out. Refolding the paper gives you a fresh surface and makes economical and controllable use of W&D paper. Two sheets should be more than sufficient for what you intend doing..

Work one panel at a time from start to finish. Take a bucket of warm water and put a squirt of washing up liquid in it. This will help lubricate the W&D paper as you flat off the coach line. Take care to only flat down enough to remove the coach line and keep any flatting to about a quarter of an inch above and below the line itself. The more you matt off, the more you have to buff and polish back up. Let the W&D with the water do the work. Don`t push hard on the paper or you will induce tramlines into the paint and take off the gloss coat down to the colour. Watch and think about what you are doing. Don`t let your mind wander. Wash off the slurry with a wet sponge. Keep the job clean at all times and wash off the W&D paper as sludge occurs. With care you can avoid flatting off a larger area than is absolutely necessary. Wash off the flatting residue with water. The finish will be matt but now comes the easy and rewarding part.

Buy some mutton cloth in a roll from a motor store. Cut off two lengths about 18" long. You will use one cloth the apply rubbing compound and the other to remove the compound and buff up the flatted paint to a high gloss finish. Use fine rubbing compound such as the Farracla range referred to as G3, G6, G9 depending on abrasiveness, quality of finish and speed of polishing required. G6 is fine for this work. Farracla Fast Cut is even better than the well known G range and is a newer product. It does everything G6 does but is faster and less effort is required. You might have to go to a trade paint source for Fast Cut or a similar 3M similar product. As a more "tradey" type consumable it is unlikely to be found at Halfords.

Avoid using old style ammonia based products such as T-Cut. Ammonia can easily damage and burn modern acrylic paint finishes.

You may care to flat again after using P1200 W&D. 1200 will be ok for most people but using P1500 or P2000 paper really adds lustre to paint depth. I all depends how much time, interest and effort you wish to put into the job. Results are in direct proportion to the quality of your own technique and attention to detail.

Any further queries, let us know and we will try to assist.

Mike K

[robv12]

I went the other way!! £3.99 at Halfords for a roll of silver coach line and re striped the whole car, just applied carefully over the remains of the original painted one, looks ok to me, but then mine is a cheap old XJ8!!

[XJ_Driver]

Very comprehensive instructions, Mike - Thank you. I shall give this a try next weekend.

Re-striping the car using a self adhesive coachline is my 'plan B' Rob, but I actually think the car would look better without them and so I shall try removing them first. Thanks again.

[XJ_Driver]

Thanks again, Mike. P800 paper + Farrecla compound did the job a treat. Took less time than I had been expecting too!

[J44EAG]

Well done, John.

Glad you got the result. If you now flat the whole car down with P1200 and buff up, you will have a real gleamer! Only a days rubbing!!

Mike