Wiper seal tape removal

[H2Odogs]

I've looked at all the videos on the forum, checked the web for information but still can't find anything to remove the double sided tape from my slide wiper seal (it was only held by the tape - no screws). I have tried Goo Gone, Goof Off and Acetone and the darn tape just laughs at them.

I was able to remove about 4 inches of it using a wide screw driver but it took more than an hour to do and really scrapes the aluminum piece up. I only have about 3/4 of an inch of space to work with and most plastic scrapers I have seen are too wide. Thinking about the drill mounted wheel but that is 1 inch wide and the 3M version could work but it is 3/4 inch wide.

Anyone have some "magic" that will help me? I have 5 feet to remove and we're going on and extended camping trip in a little over a week.

[SeaDog]

Have you tried using a heat gun along with some sort of scraper just a thought.

[H2Odogs]

I haven't tried the heat gun. I was going to try a hair dryer but that may not be hot enough. I just need to find a narrow and stiff plastic scraper yet. That is today's project.

Thanks for the reply.

[H2Odogs]

Well I succeeded in removing the old tape/glue. First I soaked the tape with goof off and waited a while. Then I used a plastic tire lever (used to remove bicycle tires) and scraped and scraped. After getting as much off as I could I then wet the leftover with Goo Gone and let it sit a while. Then I scraped and scraped as much as I could get off with the tire lever again. Then I sprayed the remaining glue with Motorex Easy Clean (bicycle grease remover) and rubbed it all with a rag. I finally cleaned it all with rubbing alcohol. I ended up with a nice clean surface to attach the new sweep to.

This took lots of elbow grease but only about an hour to do the 4 or 5 feet. Much quicker than the first try. It helped having a stiff plastic tool to scrape with. The plastic putty knife was just too flimsy.

[Eddie and Catherine]

Glad you got it off. I used acetone to remove some from the lower door panels of a truck once. The previous owner had installed the chrome panels below the trim. When the panels were removed, they pulled off the paint. The acetone removed paint as well but we were already going to repaint.