# Help needed removing cracked vinyl Union Jack MINI roof



## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice.

I need to remove the old cracked vinyl 'black jack' roof from my mum's MINI to replace it with a new one.

It is unfortunately not just a case of peeling it off - it is heavily cracked and weathered and does not come off without a fight. I've tried heating it which made no difference.

We had a man down who agreed to do it - he came totally unprepared, damaged the roof, used my white spirit, trashed several of my detailing cloths, removed part of it and disappeared. It turned out he ripped part of the new roof and ran off!!! So as you can imagine this is a bit of a disaster and I just want to fix it as this was part of my present to her for her 50th.

I have since removed one piece with the white spirit (I know that's probably not approved of but it did work very very slowly).

Is there anything else I can do to remove it?


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## shakey85 (Aug 20, 2013)

Might not be car approved but it got a sticker which a local garage decided to stick on my car off.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/22794/Sticky-Stuff-Remover-Gel-Kit


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## B1ue52 (Dec 10, 2013)

You could try getting some tardis on it. Leave it a while and see if that helps. If not then you could try soaking some decent quality kitchen towel in tardis with a spray bottle and laying it on top and let it penetrate.

I say that with no idea if such a concentrated exposure to tardis would be bad for your paint as I don't use the stuff and I'm not a chemist. Maybe someone who knows the product better could validate my suggestion.

Happy to be told its a terrible idea if it is so don't do it until someone says it's ok or gives you better advice :thumb:


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## DOBE (May 4, 2012)

Hair dryer and it should peel off, then a few litres of tar and glue remover. 

I had the same prob with my sons fiesta. When I bought it for him it had ST stripes across the roof and bonnet and he wanted it off. 

Took a few hours but got it done.


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## Paul.D (Jun 26, 2013)

try some tardis if white spirit will remove some then you need a oil based cleaner to break down the glue. the other thing to try is a spirit based cleaner and see if that makes any difference


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## stiffler69 (Jan 20, 2014)

I used a heat gun on a van to remove vinyl stickers worked a treat


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## BJC (Jan 28, 2010)

Heat gun and AG tar remover works for me , used to do a lot of vinyl sign work , be careful with the heat gun don't cook it!


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

That is going to be a bi&tch of a job.
I've removed shed loads of vinyl lettering from our vans and boats.

Heating carefully with a heat gun and getting the vinyl to the right temperature where it peels off whole is the key. Too hot and it stretches and breaks. Too cold and it fragments.

This is already fragmented :-(

Cold weather is problematic for a start. Can you do it in the warm somewhere ? Garage with heating and some radiant heat ?
(Or leave it for a sunny day ?)

I would use a heat gun on lowest setting and warm it up until adhesive is softer and try to peel it off. Tardis then to get shot of the residue, turning the cloth all the time as the adhesive will clog up the cloth quickly. The cloth is a chucker after this btw.

Maybe use an old credit card if it's hard going, but be careful not to mar the paint.

Patience in spades is what you need. I'd struggle with this one tbh.

Good luck !


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for all the replies! I'll definitely get some tardis. The roof skin is plastic which just makes it more problematic as it just wants to melt! I think being gentle and warming it slowly is key (as above). The car is garaged so I can do stuff out of the extreme cold but it isn't heated!


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm interested to see how you manage this as it does seem to be an absolute pig of a job

The guy that came needs his nuts clipping... for damaging stuff.

I'd do as above really, slow heat and lots of glue remover!


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

He damaged it, disappeared and became uncontactable! I resorted to ringing him repeatedly until he replied by text and told me what happened. Got to buy a new vinyl now!


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

So he knew he did wrong and did a runner? How do you know him? Will he put up any of the cost?


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

asonda said:


> So he knew he did wrong and did a runner? How do you know him? Will he put up any of the cost?


He runs his own business tinting windows etc. He made no offer to sort anything out and I hope never to hear from him again!


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

this is is nightmare of a job, i have done this on a classic mini, but was more brutal as the roof is being painted. 

Warming it up slowly will work, peel it off then lots of tardis should clear the residue, ndont expect to do it quickly though.

matt


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## reaveruk (Jan 18, 2014)

many years ago i had a van which i had to take the vinyl lettering of the sides/back..ect...i used a heat gun and just peeled it bit by bit, some bits came off in one go..once it was off i used a spray tin of label free adhesive remover , soaked it with it then scraped it off with a plastic scraper ( the same applicator they use to apply vinyl) Then it was just a matter of cleaning it up and polish. although remember to degrease and clean before applying the new vinyl.


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

I had the same type of thing on my Adria caravan.

I bought a cheap hair dryer, one with a channel piece on the end and heated up the decals, you need to keep them hot and they should come off.

Good luck, it takes a while.


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Little update on this. I tried at the weekend with the heat gun, I could chip away at tiny pieces with my finger nail and managed to remove a bit then used the thinners to get rid of the glue. The tardis came today, soaked it in that for about 10 mins with some kitchen roll but it didn't touch it. Bought a flap wheel for the drill and tried that. It was a totally stupid idea as it's gone straight through the paint on the roof. It was a ridiculous idea.

So now I'm quite miserable and very angry at myself


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## woodys (Dec 20, 2010)

Ok so not a good time at moment but you still need to remove it. Can you get the car inside as it will help raise the ambient temperature obviously as the cold air does not help, basically the roof needs to be warm. With a LOT of care can you warm it up with a heater to help even more. Ok so the vinyl is brittle so warmth is your friend, not massively hot just gentle heat like leaving it in the sun on a summers day. I would say warm water but on an area the size of a mini roof it'll take many a kettle. Apply gentle heat and use a plastic flat edge such as a p38 filler blade or such like. Get one corner started and just be very patient. It will be a bloody nightmare as you already know. The roof is obviously now damaged from the flap wheel but be gentle and you should eventually get there, with minimal damage. 
We had a signed truck with aged vinyl lettering all over it and it needed re spraying it took a week to remove 2 door stickers and a headboard above the windscreen and a couple of gallon of adhesive remover as well. And yes it was well scratched as some that had a go we're less than careful with their scrapping technique. Wish you good luck.


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for your calm words of wisdom! I have a halogen work lamp which puts out plenty of heat so that may be a way to tackle it. I'll try and source something as a good scraper. The piece of vinyl underneath the aerial surround peeled off without any issues as it's been out the sun, as soon as it touched an exposed bit it stopped peeling and refused to budge.


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## woodys (Dec 20, 2010)

I'm sure if you can raise the ambient temp it will help obviously don't use the lamp directly on the surface use hair dryer for that and keep the area ahead of the peel warm so once you get going hopefully more will lift, once you hit a cold spot almost certainly tear the bit you've lifted. Oh and as I said a shed load of patience.:thumb:


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## jostheboss (Aug 27, 2012)

Try using a wallpaper steamer. I've used it a few times taking vinyl stickers of trucks and vans - works a treat. Sometimes leaves a residue behind but tardis will sort that out!


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Wallpaper steamer is a great idea....get the steamer on an area and hold it there until the plastic is all soft and soaking wet...

I think you need to tackle this bit by bit, it's a real bummer alright but just remember anything can be fixed so don't worry and try not to get too stressed about it, it will get sorted eventually.

Not everything goes to plan does it, we've all had similar situations where we wonder what the feck we were thinking after we did something a bit silly, it's human nature.

Take your time and pick at it bit by bit if the steamer doesn't work for you then in a few weeks when you've got it all off and got the new one on....you'll be proud of your achievement!


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Thanks both! I do have a steam cleaner so will try that at the weekend.


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

jbenekeorr said:


> Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice.
> 
> I need to remove the old cracked vinyl 'black jack' roof from my mum's MINI to replace it with a new one.
> 
> ...


Hi,

I've read your thread & just wish I'd have seen this sooner

This is the tool you need for this job

http://www.signmakingtools.co.uk/30322/info.php?p=11&pid=2891040&ack=9

There are others on the market & if you do a google search will find a good selection to get the right one for your job

Hope this helps mate

ATB
Baz


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

look up a toffee wheel , thing that goes in a drill and scrubs it off


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

I've ordered the wheel in the above link - hope it works!!


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

EXCELLENT NEWS! The drill wheel came today, I've just been in the garage and it pulls it straight off. Hardly any residue and no damage. I'll continue in the morning!


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Here's a pic now I've got the cross off. Just need to peel the grey off (that comes off no issue) and remove all the gluey marks. Then DA it.










Anyone got any ideas of what to do with the bit where I went through the paint? 
It will be covered by the new vinyl so I wondered if I should spray some primer on to protect it and put the new vinyl over it?


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

Made some more progress today.

There was very little life left in the drill wheel so I had to get off what I could by hand.

Luckily the grey vinyl was much easier to remove - mostly just peeled off with a bit of heat. I totally get what somebody said a couple of pages ago - it has to be just the right temperature to peel off!

Here is the bit where I went through the paint



This is how the roof was looking after removing all the vinyl (apart from the bit in the right which is new and was applied by the man who initially took the job on)



Gave the roof a good doing over with the DA to get rid of the swirls and marks where the vinyl had been.
Then applied a few of the new pieces which went surprisingly well!

I'm not proud of my fix for the burnt off paint - I masked off the area, primer, black paint, lacquer. It doesn't look too bad (you can just see it in the top-down picture). It will be covered by the new vinyl so not the end of the world.





Thanks for all the help you lot have given me - I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

Just a bit more work to do and it will be sorted - I might even attempt the rear stripes myself as it seems another person has bailed on me - he was going to do the stripes but has stopped getting back to me so I assume he has decided he doesn't want the job!


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## warrmr (Jan 10, 2014)

Nice Work there guy looks good; I think if you have a de-nib block and some fine sandpaper you could flat that repair out and blend it in quite nicely.

Put up some pictures when you have put the new vinyl on.


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## jbenekeorr (May 16, 2011)

The roof is done. I am so relieved!

It went very well.

The only slight issue was that the smaller silver pieces are actually offset as per the actual Union flag. I didn't realise this and as I went to put on the part which I had ordered to replace the one that the man broke - I realised it was bigger, so cut it to size.

Actually, it was correct and was meant to be offset (if that makes sense?!).

I did the front ones correctly so one of the front ones is offset which looks a bit odd but you can't see that unless you know it's there!!







Thanks again for all the help!!


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