Getting prepped for paint, I have glass out, WS removed etc. Left bits and pieces in the channels plus there is a black goo around the back glass and windsheild. Also, the car had the aftermarket rub strips down the sides. I pulled those off carefully but lots of grey sticky stuff left on the paint. Does anyone know of a good solvent or tool that will make this job easier? I have tried lacquer thinner, etc but the stuff is pretty tough.

Try contact cement remover. Watch for the fumes though.

FYI, Permatex gasket remover works great, just be careful as it is kinda like paint stripper.

WD=40 works great on a lot of adhesives without damaging paint!

Watch out with the WD40. If you use it make sure you get a good wax and grease remover otherwise your paint will fish eye really bad and you'll have to paint it again. Not fun.

Becareful with the WD-40, it won't harm the paint of anything like that, but when I used it to remove some adhesive residue in the bed of my truck to prep it up for a Line-X spray in liner. The WD-40 worked great at removing the adhesive no problems.

When I brought the truck in to have the liner sprayed in... the guy who did the work told me how tough of a time he had in getting the bed clean where I applied the WD-40 to remove the old adhesive.. he tried all types of solvents to remove the residue, but he still couldn't get it cleaned, so he ended up sanding the paint down in those areas so the spray liner would adhere to the paint surface.

Since your repainting the car this may, or may not be a problem, but just be aware. The last thing you want is to have a nice finish on it, only to have the paint in areas where you used the WD-40 start flaking off or something like that.

Edited February 18, 200916 yr by peng155

I just finished my project '72 and did all of the areas you mentioned.

I used 3M General purpose adhesive cleaner and it worked well.

:cross-eye you can use the 3M general Purpose Adhesive Cleaner # 08984. We use it to remove glue and stickers put on rear bumpers, paint and glass. It will not hurt the paint. Good Luck, Rich.

I've had the most success with carburetor cleaner. I actually used it for underbody coating removal too, worked wonders, and did not damage the factory applied primer.