Race Numbers take your paint off!!!

[johnpbransfield]

Last job of the season was to take my Sprint Numbers off the bonnet.....simples.

Except it has taken a load of yellow paint off as well

So the adhesive from "Race Number.co.uk" is far too strong or the paint from Caterham is rubbish,even after nine years of curing!!!

Anyone else had similar problems?

The bonnet now needs a respray.

Does anyone know the colour code for "Caterham Yellow"

Bit worrying for next year when I put the new numbers on

[rgrigsby]

Not sure about the paint code but I believe a common trick is to put some polish on the paintwork before you stick the numbers on, this helps prevent the paint coming off.

 

I also use boiling water to melt the glue before trying to peel them off.

 

Having said that compared with my original paint work the respray from 2008 is no where near as tough, I guess that's what they call "progress"

 

Cheers

Rob

[Mark Durrant]

John

 

Apply polish before attaching the numbers and use your hair dryer to warm the adhesive immediately prior to and during removal.

[johnpbransfield]

Ray,

How did you know I had a hair dryer

[CaterBram]

I know advice is great in hindsight, but it's much easier to take the numbers off when the car's been out for a bit and brought back so it warms the bonnet up nicely. Much more fun than a hair dryer.

 

Alternativly take them off when putting on the trailer when you've completed the last even of the season.

[Jason Plato]

crap paint adhesion from Caterham (TSK?) as usual ...

[rob spencer]

It happened to me the first time I took the numbers off my "new" 2002 blue car three years ago 🙆🏻. I've not had the bonnet repainted yet, I just covered it over with the white "Caterham Motorsport" race number squares. I'll have to get it repainted sometime I suppose. But it's odd that in four seasons prior to that, removing numbers from my old (also 2002) Caterham Yellow car never caused any paint damage. I put it down to a stronger adhesive on the white numbers I used on the blue car.

[Mark Durrant]

How did you know I had a hair dryer

 

I didn't but I do now

[Charlies Angel]

☹️Sadly John the reason alot of people have the white grounds under their numbers is because their numbers pulled the paint off. Perhaps we should add the info to the intro to sprinting day!

[robmar]

clearly I must have got a decent paint job in 2001 as I have never had that problem or alternatively I polish the car so much that the stickers simply peel off

 

of course I have lost lots of paint with incidents concerning trees, shrubbery, gravel traps and rhododendrons in my time ☹️ 😳 but never stickers....

 

rob

 

[Stuart Miller 7]

There is only one reason that race numbers (or any other graphic) pulls the paint off. That is that the glue adhesive used for the graphic is stronger than the paint adhesion to the car.

 

If the car is painted properly, no amount of adhesive on the graphic will pull the paint. Starting from bare metal, the surface must be abraded and de-greased properly, the primer coat must be applied in the correct environment, the topcoat that follows should either have a chemical key (strict temperature and overcoat times to be adhered to) or be mechanically abraded between the primer and top coats. Finally, the topcoat must be "baked" off in a temperature controlled oven.

 

It's our own fault that the paint comes off and I don't think any blame should be passed to Caterham / TSK or anyone else who paints Caterhams. The reality is that none of us wants to pay what it actually costs to paint our car properly so we end up getting what we pay for. I wouldn't do it for less than £4K plus VAT and you'd all laugh at me if I quoted that.

 

You can help the paint work out as others have said, by applying wax on the paint before the graphic and by using heat on removal. Either that or put a white background on the car and live with the fact that when you eventually remove it, you'll be in for a re spray.

 

 

 

[Jason Plato]

I don't think any blame should be passed to Caterham / TSK or anyone else who paints Caterhams

 

😬 so you buy an expensive car that has poor paint adhesion and is liable to stone chips at the drop of a hat and its not the suppliers fault. Brilliant.

 

 

[Stuart Miller 7]

Hi Dave

 

My point was, everybody wants everything cheaper and cheaper - in fact for less than it costs to do a "proper job". If Caterham charged £2K more for better paint then we'd all think the car was too expensive and demand a discount. You get what you pay for I think.

 

Can you tell I've had a good morning in the office...... perhaps this is not appropriate for this section of the forum. Apologies all, but you get my point?

 

Best

 

Stu

[Jason Plato]

I disagree

 

£1100 > 1400 is a fair rate for spraying a caterham and one charged by many operators. Thats the same cost that TSK and caterham charge for beige undercoat that self reveals

[andy couchman]

When a mate was racing MINI Coopers, we used to use a fairy liquid/water solution first, put any stickers on, get rid of all air bubbles (using a squeejee/wiper thing)then let it dry.

 

The stickers/numbers stayed on but also came off OK when the time came. Also made positioning the stickers and numbers correctly easy as you could slide them about.

 

We also learned the hard way that you had to let it dry thoroughly before running the car...

 

Andy

[superlight34]

My simple solution which has worked for years on lots of different

Competition cars is to stick the numbers on my overalls first, this

weakens the glue, then put them on the car

 

Regards Andy

[James.S]

TSK's paint is bloody rubbish.....can't understand why some many 7club members rate it.

 

 

 

 

[Stuart Miller 7]

and hardly appropriate on our forum, is it? I'm sure there's at least one person who's had a bad experience, once, everywhere you look.

 

Not sure we should be slating some ones business publically.

[James.S]

They have painted three new cars for me - all of them rubbish.

 

Last two painted elsewhere - without issue, including removing a complete wrap.

 

 

[Stuart Miller 7]

Fair enough...

 

 

[Boris]

As someone who makes car graphics I'd be very surprised if this is down to the quality of the paint finish.

 

Water with a little fairy liquid is used to allow the graphic to be correctly placed, a squeezy is then used to expel the water solution. This will completely dry out and the fairy liquid will do little to help remove the vinyl after 48 hours.

 

The issue here is vinyl cost.

 

Generally sign makers / printers hold stock of quality vinyl in small amounts, top end vinyl can be purchased in 1 metre lengths at various widths and colours.

 

Low quality vinyl (comes off very easily, upto 3 years later) comes in 50m rolls only, as it's not a popular product line.

So unless your making loads of race numbers your'll use better quality (5-10 year vinyl) to keep your costs down.

 

Even 10 year vinyl will come off cleanly with careful heating (use a heat gun not a hair dryer) and heat a number evenly for about 20 seconds, off she comes. Then use IPA and a cloth to remove the adhesive.