philjr

I found a way to get the 34 year old vinyl wood grain off my wagon without going through hell. I bought a chemical called VinylOff from SignWareouse,Inc
Put it right on the vinyl with the sprayer then wipe thin with a foam rubber brush. Must be 80 degrees or wamer. Let sit for fiteen minutes. There is NO visible signs on the vinyl that it is doing anything. It goes through the vinyl to the glue and loosens it . I took my heat gun then on high and rapidly moved the gun over the treated area holding the gun about an inch away. DO NOT LET THE VINYL GET SO HOT IT BUBBLES. This takes a little time to get used to. Then take a plastic razor or putty knife and slowly work an edge loose about six inches long or longer. THEN slowly pull the vinyl off. It will come off until it gets to the untreated and unheated area. You can re heat any area where it starts to stick again that has been treated. . There will be NO glue left. Once you get the hang of this it is a snap. Just grab the vinyl when you start to pull it slowly until you see how hot it is. This is a thousand times easier than anything else I have tried. Hope this helps someone restoring their wagon.

philjr

If anyone needs help on how to get that old wood grain vinyl off their wagon just give me a holler. found a sure fire easy way to do it. I am restoring my 84 custom cruiser.

Phil

auto_editor

What about finding the new stuff to replace it? I have a "complete" set of factory replacement vinyl, but those in the know say that after being rolled up for 20 years it's "iffy" as to it'll work properly (like new).

[Hearing "no guarantees" over and over has made me a bit gun-shy. But no "wraps" are close enough to OEM pattern/color, and I'm not covering her in shelf paper...]

{BTW, I just followed this post's original trail and saw you mentioned 3M. What's the "code" for the stuff you used? The "replacements" I've seen by them aren't dark enough and the grain's wrong.}

philjr

i went through hell over this vinyl. Go to a company called Metrorestyling, look under their wood grains, they have 3M and also Avery Dennison which is much cheaper. It is a calendard vinyl rather than a cast. Calendard shrinks slightly more so they need to get it under the chrome further Olds used the calendard in the original. NOW you can go to a sign company that specializes in making vinyl siding for vehicles. They can print on 3M vinyl almost anything. Take a sample of your original wood grain and show it to them. I am having a company called Signs Now install my paper I removed all the fender chrome,turn lights in the side front fenders, the plastic panels at the front and rear of each side and the tail lights myself so they could get a "wrap around" the edges. I found Metros cherry teak wood grain was almost an identical match to my original pattern. I would find a really large sign company that also specializes in "vehicle wraps" and talk to them. Brace your self, the 3M Di-Noc is high dollar and I had the sign companies down here tell me that the Avery was just as good for about 1/4 the cost. THe 3M has a special adhesive that allows air bubbles to escape and makes for an easier installation. I did not remove the chrome strips on the top of the sides and the bottom large stris at the bottom. I was not able to find anywhere where the original chome clips could be bought if you break them removing the old as they are plastic. I did remove the small center strips with the rubber inset. They are riveted on and I drilled out the rivets and will use SS sheet metal screws to put them back on. Again, find a vehicle sign dealer in your area that advertises VINYL VEHICLE WRAPS and talk to them first. Take the car with you. They are and were the ONLY people down here that will deal withi that vinyl. NO BODY SHOPS WOULD TOUCH IT.E mail me direct if you want for the links I used to figure all this out. philjrgpp@hotmail.com

Hope this helps. Phil Scott

Sampson

Great info and thanks for sharing. I am going down some of the same roads as you on a Jeep Grand Wagoneer Project I am doing. This is very helpful.

OlWils

Have any one of you tried this:

http://www.sharpline.com/woodgrain.html

It seems like the Marine Teak sample showed is correct. My Wagon is a 1988 Custom Cruiser.

The Roadmaster

I miss my wagon, her vinyl was pristine.

P1010029_zpsh0fea7gn.jpg