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Track rubber removal suggestions


The Lamba Genie
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I've now tracked my Grigio Titans Performante a few times, and the rubber deposits have started to accumulate all over the car. What products/methods have people had success with to remove these?

 

I've called Lamborghini NA, they are no help. I called Mother's, who makes R3, a special rubber remover product, they were no help. Chemical Guys doesn't have anything specific, you get the idea. Nobody wants to take responsibility for a $15K paintjob, so the advice is consistent: try an inconspicuous area. On regular paint I'd use almost anything and it works fine, but there I can rub all day long without leaving damage. I assume a matte paint is going to require a non-damaging solvent to do most of the work, with only very light buffing/wiping/dabbing.

 

The few detailers I know are loathe to share their secrets, so I'm throwing the question out to see what people are actually using that works.

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Is the car clear bra wrapped or just bare paint?

 

Just avoid anything with aggressive chemicals like heptanes, or hydrocarbon based, etc.

 

I would trust R3 above them all, but Wurth spray solvent or stoner tarminator have served well in the past.

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Gasoline . Will remove all track rubber.
I've had gas damage paint, don't want to risk it!

 

 

Is the car clear bra wrapped or just bare paint?

 

Just avoid anything with aggressive chemicals like heptanes, or hydrocarbon based, etc.

 

I would trust R3 above them all, but Wurth spray solvent or stoner tarminator have served well in the past.

The car is bare paint, I tried the Expel satin product but it made it glossier. Especially on the rockers, which looked dreadful.

 

I just called my body shop, the owner has a factory matte C63. His suggestion was Acrysol. Thoughts?

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I've had gas damage paint, don't want to risk it!

 

 

The car is bare paint, I tried the Expel satin product but it made it glossier. Especially on the rockers, which looked dreadful.

 

I just called my body shop, the owner has a factory matte C63. His suggestion was Acrysol. Thoughts?

 

I had the same color on my H and had it done in Xpel satin and it was pretty much an exact match, and I am anal about that stuff. You sure it was Xpel? If it was maybe that batch of film was different?

 

If you are going to enjoy that car, and it sounds like you are, I highly suggest you film it. Matte paint is nothing to mess around with. Which is exactly why no companies want to suggest anything.

 

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Tarminator

(available in lots of places - here’s one:

https://www.autogeek.net/tarminator.html )

 

Never used on factory matte paint. Used on several (Lambo, ZO6, Porsches, Mercedes, etc) cars covered in Xpel and also bare factory paint (not matte paint). Works great and takes rubber off. Does not harm paint or Xpel film.

 

Good luck - matte paint can be tricky

 

A friend uses brake cleaner on his regular factory paint (991 GT3RS). No ill effects but it’s not matte paint.

 

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I had the same color on my H and had it done in Xpel satin and it was pretty much an exact match, and I am anal about that stuff. You sure it was Xpel? If it was maybe that batch of film was different?

 

If you are going to enjoy that car, and it sounds like you are, I highly suggest you film it. Matte paint is nothing to mess around with. Which is exactly why no companies want to suggest anything.

 

:iamwithstupid:

 

I’d wrap it or not worry about it, your paint will get damaged with track use.

 

Before I ordered Nemesis for my Performante I went to see a wrap on a similar color and Xpel satin was virtually undetectable, I have the same wrap on the SV mirrors which are matte paint and again it did not change their look.

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I agree - wrapping paint for track use is highly recommended.

 

I also wrap the windshield with Clearplex. It’s not a perfect product but after seeing the carnage on the windshield of my first track car I have covered each once since.

 

On the current car (GT4) it took 3 applications of clearplex before I said yes. The first one the installer removed before I saw it - he said the film had too many defects.

The second one wasn’t bad but the defects were directly in line of sight - couldn’t live with it.

The third wasn’t perfect but defects were acceptable and not line of sight. He gave me half off (didn’t request a discount but he gave it for the inconvenience and also for keeping a product that wasn’t “perfect”)

 

A girlfriend couldn’t stand clearplex on her track car and had it removed. Some people hate it but it really does save the windshield.

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I had the same color on my H and had it done in Xpel satin and it was pretty much an exact match, and I am anal about that stuff. You sure it was Xpel? If it was maybe that batch of film was different?

 

If you are going to enjoy that car, and it sounds like you are, I highly suggest you film it. Matte paint is nothing to mess around with. Which is exactly why no companies want to suggest anything.

 

I wasn't being clear enough bc I was concentrating on a solution for rubber removal.

 

I am also very anal, and put ~5 test panels of Xpel satin on various surfaces of the car and drove around for a few days, evaluating the effect under many different conditions. That said, the Xpel satin is virtually a perfect match for the paint, so much so that I could ignore what I don't like about it, figuring that the tradeoff is worth the protection. It does two things I don't like with Grigio Titans: one, it enhances the gloss ever so slightly, angled reflections become somewhat distinct while on bare paint they are not visible, and two, it mitigates the metamerism Titans displays. The paint contains small flakes of both rose and green, and in warm light takes on an almost bronze, while in cool light has a camo military green aspect. I like this hue change a lot.

 

The deal breaker was what Xpel did to the rockers and mirrors, which are a very flat black. It added a satin gloss such that the "Reventon meets Batman" matte scheme of the car disappeared, and it brought unnecessary attention to those areas.

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I'd wrap it or not worry about it, your paint will get damaged with track use.

I'm not worried about paint damage, I'm just looking for a cleaning solution that doesn't leave the car with an uneven finish patchwork!

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I'm not worried about paint damage, I'm just looking for a cleaning solution that doesn't leave the car with an uneven finish patchwork!

 

Great attitude, I hope you will find what you are looking for.

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3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner

 

https://www.autogeek.net/3m-adhesive-cleaner.html

 

That has been effective for me.

 

I used this same product to remove an emblem plus a little heat from a hair dryer

And the paint lifted. It looked like the paint had a run in it.

Not sure if it was this method combo plus the car was ceramic treated.

 

I used the same can on another car to clean off clear bra residue (to get it rewrapped) with the same hair dryer And it worked perfectly.

 

If you use it, try an inconspicuous spot first.

 

 

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I used this same product to remove an emblem plus a little heat from a hair dryer

And the paint lifted. It looked like the paint had a run in it.

Not sure if it was this method combo plus the car was ceramic treated.

 

I used the same can on another car to clean off clear bra residue (to get it rewrapped) with the same hair dryer And it worked perfectly.

 

If you use it, try an inconspicuous spot first.

 

Bummer. We sprayed onto a cloth and then wiped over areas to clean as opposed to direct spay. We didn't use any form of heat.

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I just called my body shop, the owner has a factory matte C63. His suggestion was Acrysol. Thoughts?

 

It's used very much as a paint prep product, so while it shouldn't damage the paint, it's going to strip EVERYTHING from the surface, including waxes. If that's what it takes to get it removed, plan on having the car detailed when you're done.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
So I ordered:

 

Acrysol (liquid quart)

99.9% IPA (liquid quart)

Mother's R3

Nanolex Race Film Remover

Dr. Beasley's Matte Paint Cleanser

 

I'll report back the efficacy of each.

 

This was going to be an epic shootout, with detailed notes on how well each product worked, a cost analysis, an odor test, a skin contact test, and weighing all the factors to choose a winner. I even threw two homebrew solutions into the mix: mineral oil and WD-40. Anyway, just look at the chart and skip to the red box.

 

All the products except Mother's failed to remove all of a track rubber mark, and anything marked N/A did absolutely nothing. The Dr. Beasley and Acrysol failed in completely different ways, the Acrysol removed most of the rubber but not all of it, and would not remove the last 20% without some *serious* rubbing that I did not want to do. So it failed. The Dr. Beasley would not remove anything unless I let the product sit on the surface for 5 minutes (those are the directions, I just wanted to avoid that method because it's a PITA and takes too long), and after 5 minutes of soaking removed only 20% of the rubber mark. So it failed as well.

 

So the winner is definitely Mother's R-3, and only time will tell if repeated use leaves any damage. I called Mother's about it and the rep checked with Engineering, and they said it should not be a problem with matte paint, but test in an inconspicuous area first. Which I did, with all the products, and none of them left any trace, mark or residue, although the oils were hard to clean, as was the dried Beasley.

 

post-228218-1513998125_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Followup #1

 

Now that I've been to a few more track days and am only using the Mother's R-3, how is that faring?

 

It's a mixed bag. The Mother's absolutely removes every last bit of rubber fairly easily. BUT, and this is a big but, some marks require slightly harder than virtually no pressure, a level I would still call light rubbing. And from certain angles I can see it, slightly glossy rub marks in a field of matte. It's more evident on the hood than on a side panel, it's much flatter and the light shines down directly on it, but the spots where I rubbed are noticeable nonetheless. The procedure for the future will be to let the product do its own work, and let it sit for 30s-1min, and use *extremely* light pressure to remove, more like a gentle wipe.

 

Based on this, and that I already have a number of small chips I've used a grey marker to dab over, I'm going to satin clear the front, it's too easily damaged. Also, if I get a matte car in the future I'll factor in a clear bra before I ever drive it. For this car it's too late, all I can do is mitigate, and if the front ever needs painting do it then.

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