3M Diamond Shield removal
Good Morning all!! I know there have been many discussions on this topic but I wanted to share my personal experience... I have a 2004 Mandalay with the 3M diamond shield that has cracked and yellowed... I spent about 4-5 days trying all kinds of removal tips and tricks and I found something that worked best for me. I hope this may help some of you out also...
The best way I found to remove the actual diamond shield was to use a high pressure steam cleaner. I tried the heat guns, clothes steamers etc and none of them worked very well. After I tried to use the pressure steam cleaner ( I have the 2000 psi model from northern tool) I removed all the 3m diamond shield in about 2 hours. Be careful as you will most likely (like me) find small dings. If you hold the wand too close, it will remove paint!! (I had to use touch up paint on several places).
The next step is to remove the glue... I tried goof off, goop be gone, Krud kutter, All sorts of eco friendly and citrus based stuff. I ended up having the best results with 3m Adhesive remover. I bought a spray bottle and used this very liberally. after many experiments with scrapers and plastic razors, I ended up getting the best results from the 98 cent disposable plastics ones from home depot. GET A BUNCH OF THEM!!! the cutting edge will round off and they will not do as good. I think i used about 25-30 total.
Now, I'm left with the glue residue that WILL NOT COME OFF!! Here is how i solved this issue. Again, I tried everything i can think of and was just short of sanding it all down and re-painting the front.... I ended up using 3M polishing compound and a variable speed buffer and the residue came off beautifully!! I will add pics of before, during and after.
I hope this write up helps someone else. This whole job from start to finish (not counting all the days trying different stuff) took me about 15 hours total. Please feel free to ask any questions I will help answer as best I can!! Happy RV'ing all!!!
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