Windshield Tape Removal (documented w/ pix)
 

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...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...0ad8e97b2e.jpg

first peel...
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...b2d1534b51.jpg

peeling, cont...
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...54173cce2d.jpg
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!)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...8e85a0393c.jpg

top passenger corner scuff...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...588823ec9a.jpg

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...
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...e257a68653.jpg

final peel, driver's side
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...bf99bbc04a.jpg

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