Yes!... The Visor Stickers Do Come Off!

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TbirdTim

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Just by an accidental mention to a friend (who details cars) this weekend that the only thing that I would like to change about the interior of my new Thunderbird, would be to get rid of the yellow airbag labels from the sun visors. After about a half and hour, they were history!

The secret is to slightly warm the sun visors with a hair dryer and to slowly peel the labels off. One of my labels left more adhesive residue than the other, but with a slight bit of 3M Adhesive remover (the one made for vinyl surfaces) the adhesive was gone. I then cleaned the visors with a vinyl cleaner and finished the procedure with a coating of low-gloss vinyl protectant. You cannot tell that they were ever there! For photos of the visors without labels, click on the following link:
http://pictures.care2.com/view/1/234014120

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I will try it when I get time. If I can get my wife out of the car long enough.

THANKS.
 
I hate the visors, but LOVE the car. My brother in law can not fit in the car, 6' 1 about 250lbs. I will try the hair dryer to remove the stickers.
 
I also hate the look of the cheesy stickers on the cheesy visors, but I have had someone who restores old cars tell me to take pictures of all the stickers, approval marks, etc. on the inside of the trunk & hood for future reference and I was wondering...30 years from now, when my daughter is restoring her mom's '02 T-bird, will those "original" stickers be important?
 
If the car will be judged for concours and the concours rules give weight to original over repro, then she'll want the original stickers, etc. However, 30 years down the road, their condition may not be what anyone would want on their show car and the repro might end up being the better choice - IF repros are made. So take care of what you take off & document it. Then move on to what you really want the car to look like. You have no idea what will be the rule 30 years from now.
 
If you're really worried about having nice stickers 30 years from now, go to your Ford dealer's parts department and order new ones now while they're still available from Ford.

Then, remove your stickers and enjoy your car the way you want NOW!
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I can say from experience that 30 years from today virtually none of the unique parts for the 02 Bird will still be available from Ford or probably anyone else. That's part of the fun and the challenge of restoring and driving an old car!
 
I was pleased to see the results TbirdTim had removing the stickers, I also hate them.
This morning got the hair dryer out, heated them up and the adhesive did not release. I messed with one sticker half hour and never got a corner to come up. Picked at it with my finger nail and "teeny" pieces would come off. Note my car was built week of Dec 1 so they haven't been on long.

Hope others have better results than I did.

PS. I buy/sell/collect old Japanese motorcycles. I have a LOT of experience removing decals and stickers using heat, so it isn't that I don't understand the principle.
 
Greyfox11,

My Thunderbird was built Nov. 1. My visor warning labels came off fairly easily, but I really think that the hair dryer should make the adhesive loosen-up, which would allow you to peel them off. My first label came off in small pieces and the second one came off in one solid piece. Unless some of the visors are made in a different way, the warning labels will come off and, after cleaning any remaining adhesive, you will never know that they were there.
 
Hmmmm...

Mine was setting during the plant shut down for the fan thingy, so who knows how long the stickers have been on the visors. I am planning on trying this though. Cauze I HATE these stickers. I mean I REALLY HATE these stickers.

Folks if you have attempted this, please post if you had success or not.

Thanks.
 
OK -- I fought for 45 minute and got 1/3 of one sticker removed. This is tough work. TIM: -- what wattage hair dryer did you use -- I tried a 1500 watt on HI and LO and still am having trouble. The sticker is peeling off in little chunks. I have tried LONG shots of heat, up close. farther away, short bursts etc. and am not getting the results you seem to have gotten. H E L P !!!
 
DavidA,
I used the medium heat setting and blew it on the visors for about a minute before starting to peel away the labels. Mine came off fairly easily. One label came off in several pieces and the other one came off in one piece. My photos show that it can be done.

It was VERY scary to begin to do this to my visors, but after the first one, the second one was a breeze!
 
TbirdTim-
I hope you didn't think that my post was meant to imply that your post wasn't accurate. Perhaps mine were applied more dilligently (firmer, etc). Makes sense the longer on there the drier the adhesive gets, but yours were on 7 weeks longer than mine.
Unlike you, I wasn't fearful and was aggressive in peeling.
My purpose was simply to let others know that if they don't get the same results that you did, keep at it. They are most likely doing it correctly.
I am going to get the stinking things off, I just wasn't as fortunate as you were. Good for you!
 
greyfox11,
I know that unless they actually silkscreen those labels directly onto the visors, that they definitely should come off. It just may take a little longer with some visors, probably based on the adhesive formula that was used on them the day that they were made. I'm glad that you are as determined as I was to get rid of them!
 
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