Windshield Tape Removal (documented w/ pix), my "how to" guide

Hi folks,

The subject of "windshield tape" has come up in various threads, and I promised to document my effort to remove mine from my new '02 blue. Here it is, in detail. I wanna thank the others who have done this before and raised the subject in the first place. I would not have known anything about this without you guys having posted about it. Thanks.

Before I show you the pix, I will state that I think Honda has two reasons for applying the tape. First, I believe they feel it's aesthetically correct (as I recall, the NSX has a blacked-out windshield frame too). The black tape looks nice with the black vinyl top, no question. Second, they are apparently covering problem areas on a minority of the cars from the factory (as you will see some in my pix). If you choose to remove this tape, be forewarned that I ran into this, as have other owners, as documented in different threads. There may be spots under the tape that were sanded down (reason unknown).

The other thing to keep in mind is that if you have a car that's a more than a few weeks old, the tape adhesive will be much more troublesome than it was for me. A friend of mine with an early '01 started this procedure and gave up because of the adhesive. On that subject, I used Johnson's baby oil to help remove some (very few) pieces of black residue -- that worked like a charm. The oil was useless though on a few clear spots where just the glue was stuck on. For these, just some fingernail scraping and rubbing got it off.

OK, here we go. First, the tape on my car was in three sections; two side strips and one top strip. The way my tape was overlapped, I had to remove these in two sections. I do not know if Honda does it the same way on every car, but, hey, this is Honda... probably! Anyway, I started by opening the passenger door and finding the bottom of the tape. Using my nail to pry up one corner, I started peeling up. The first picture shows the starting point at the base of the frame on the passenger door side. The following two pix show the first peels. I will continue the documentation afterwards.

Starting time, at the passenger door...


first peel...


peeling, cont...

The technique is pretty intuitive; you pull from the sides, at about 90 degrees straight out from the body, or even a little sharper. If you keep your fingers on the sides, you won't leave any bits of the tape under the mouldings. Clearly the mouldings are glued on after the tape is applied, so there are a few spots where you wanna push up the molding a bit and jiggle the tape so it doesn't tear. After you remove the tape, just press the moulding back down as it belongs. I had no problems with this. Don't confuse the sticky moulding glue with the tape -- the glue stays

Anyway, at this point I encountered the two scuffed-paint sections on my windshield frame. The first one isn't that visible in the picture, but the second one is pretty clear. I think you'll see what I mean...

passenger side paint scuff (from factory!)


top passenger corner scuff...


This last photo shows you the bad spot, and also shows you the tape seam where the passenger side tape ends.

Next, I used my thumbnail to pry up the top tape seam and just continue along. because the top tape is tucked under the top of the driver side tape, this was just one long pull (a little at a time, that is). Here are the final pix.

top peel...


final peel, driver's side

Thanks for detailing that Chazmo.

I still can't decide whether they look better with or without that tape, and since it sound like it can be a PITA from what others have said, I guess I will leave it on .....

Absolutely, James. Personally, I think MC blue is so awesomely shweet that I would want to fully expose it myself.

... did I say fully expose myself?? ... (sorry, I better get back to the Corner fast)

I took my tape off and it was a PITA. But the paint was perfect underneath and I really prefer the way it looks without the tape.

Excellent, s2kbug. I know most owners have perfect paint beneath the tape. Could be now in later model years that they're getting sloppy?? Honestly I don't know.

I forgot to mention in the original post that I asked my dealer about the tape and he really didn't know. Today AHM called me and after rating the buying experience with them (5's, yeah!), I asked them about this "product" issue. I'll post here if I get an answer back. The lady I spoke to said she would ask... We'll see.

Great Post Charlie! I might consider it but.... Hmmmm... my car is a year old. Don't need the experience to go south on my since the car has had a year of sun on it. Could make this go bad, oh very bad.

Looks good though.

I did my car after a year, wasn't a problem.

Was a real bitch of a job until I decided to use bug and tar remover to get the glue off. Just put it on, let it sit for 10 mins and it peels off pretty easily.

I did have a couple of light scratch marks under the tape, but I was able to buff it out. Overall I'm happy that I did it. I have a hardtop and it blends in much better now.

My car was more than 2 years old when I did it. If you do it on a hot day it comes off pretty easy. It's the clean up that takes most of the time.

John,

I think it's a question of patience with the cars that have already seen some sun. As Dogman and s2kbug said, it can be done. The bug and tar remover sounds like a good idea to me, if you're willing to give it a shot. Unfortunately, you can't go back! (although a body shop could re-apply tape, I suppose, if you didn't like the results).

Dogman,

Did you get your hardtop aftermarket, or from the dealer at purchase time? The reason I ask is that there was a theory floating around that Honda intended the tape to be removed when hardtops were used. I'm curious if maybe your dealer had any instructions along those lines.

Just trying to piece together the mystery. Probably a futile endeavor.

what is PITA

That would be "Pain in the Ass"

The easiest way that I have found to remove glue left behind after removing tape or a label is to use the tape or label and push it down on the glue and pull it off. You might also want to get a fresh piece of tape (duct tape?) to remove the old glue. It works very well and will remove ALL of the glue with NO residue. All it takes is patience and time. Actually it's MUCH faster than using a solvent to remove the goo (glue) and you don't have a mess to deal with.

Try it, you will like it,
Bob

Sorry for the lack of response on this one, somehow I missed it.

Anyhow, in Canada the Spa Yellow only came with a hardtop package. You had to get it, so it came from the factory. I think the idea that it was supposed to be removed could just be a rumor. I've yet to see a Spa in Canada that hasn't had the tape removed by the owner.

I think I would have left it with the tape if I didn't have a hardtop...looks like magic with the HT.

Great post.

Can anyone post pictures of a 02 sylverstone without the tape? Thanks


Ramon

Chazmo,

I decided to go ahead and pull the tape off my blue 02 as well. I was undecided on whether it would look better or not so I showed my wife the pictures and she liked the look better without the tape. Now that I have it off I have to agree I like the look better too, especially when the top is down. Interestingly, I had three scuff marks in my paint. My worst one was where your second one is. Initially I thought I might have caused it when I took the tape off, but now I don't think so. I've tried Z5 to cover up the scratches, but so far no luck with 4 coats. Next step will be to get some 3M Perfect-It Swirl Mark Remover.

i took the tape off of my spa yellow after i got the hardtop. i found some of the same scuffing underneath, however mine rubbed out as well.

if you've got a hardtop, you really want to remove the tape. P4210007.JPG[/PHOTO]

why did honda even put the tape on???

Well, I just spent 2 1/2 hours removing my windshield tape. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. I also had two areas that had been sanded, just like Chazmo's. It finally dawned on me the reason for these areas: to remove dust specks in the paint. If these "high spots" aren't leveled before the tape is installed, there will be a bump in the tape. Any time a car is painted, you will wind up with minor dust specks in the paint and that's why we have sanded areas on some cars.

My 3M Swirl Mark Remover and some elbow grease took care of the minor problems in no time.

I spent most of my time removing the glue residue from the tape. This tape is unlike any other that I have encountered. I was unable to remove the glue with any type of tape (see above quote). I did use some waterless hand cleaner and again some elbow grease to remove the glue. I used Goo Gone VERY sparingly afterwards for final cleanup. I hate to use this stuff on paint. I also tried bug and tar remover and the hand cleaner worked the best for me. The way that I used the hand cleaner was by applying it to the glue entirely and then starting at one end and "rolling" it up with my fingers. Once it's treated, it just rolls up. It sticks to your hands, but it leaves no sticky residue behind.

HOT TIP: you can avoid this problem by doing this on a hot day (you could also use a hair dryer) AND by removing the tape very slowly. I thought by removing the tape fast I was saving time because the edges of it were coming off cleanly. Before when I was taking it off slowly the edges wanted to stick occasionally to the rubber molding/glue and it would tear off small pieces of the tape. Let it, it's much easier to remove the small pieces of tape than to remove the glue.

HOT TIP #2: Start at one side and work completely across the windshield frame. This will avoid having to peel the tape off at the bottom of the frame, on the other side, since the joint is overlapped at the top corner and both pieces just came off together as one.

Once the glue residue was removed, then it was time to remove the sanding marks, polish and wax the new paint. The 2 1/2 hours was from start to finish, including clean up. I didn't think that was too bad, considering that I had two spots that needed to be rubbed out.

Having said all of that, it looks great with the top down and different with it up. My car is red, a MY2001 that is a year old, in case you were wondering. Since I wanted to improve the looks of the car with the top down, I love it. My top stays down most of the time anyway.

No. Silverstone wasn't an option for MY2002, only Sebring Silver.

Guys,

Great to hear from all of you on your status. And, thanks for adding excellent info to the thread. It should be a good reference to folks considering this exercise. Actually, if it hadn't been for this board, I never would have known about the tape in the first place. Thank you fellow s2ki posters!

Bob, if you're right about your theory -- they sand these spots to smooth the surface (before taping) -- then that would speak directly against my guess that they put the tape on to hide blemishes that are already there. In a sense, I hope you're right; I don't think the guys in Tochigi would try to take the cheap way out.

Best wishes, guys. Glad to be of service, and I hope everyone who takes off the tape enjoys the look. By the way, jss, your Spa looks fabulous with the hardtop and solid yellow. Really slick!

Are you Sure??? I have Silverstone Grey YM2002... and it never had tape...

Hi Metula. Bob was posting about the US. Unfortunately, Honda sees fit to severely limit the color options exported stateside. Wicked bummer for those of us who love Silverstone, and Monte Carlo Blue...

(please, don't make us jealous )

I have a feeling the taped windsheild feature may be limited to the US too.. I know a fair number of S2K owners here in the UK and none of them had tape...

Oops. My mistake. You are right boiler. I meant 01 Sylverstone.

Metula,

That's a very interesting theory. The mouldings are clearly applied with the tape already on, which I think implies that the tape must be applied at the factory. So, if you're right, that would mean the factory applies tape to only US-bound cars. Weird.

I don't know. I think I'm done guessing about the motive behind the tape. If I ever make it out to Tochigi, I'll have to ask 'em.