TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE

Air Bag Stickers!
Posted by larry on Monday, 24 November 1997, at 9:49 a.m.

Well...I finally decided to "take the plunge" and see if could get rid of everyone's favorite Boxster accessory the lovely airbag stickers. So here is how it went.

First, I am happy to say that they are gone (both sides)! Without a trace that they ever existed! It looks great without them.

Here is how I did it and what I learned.

I started out armed with Goo Gone (one of those citrus based glue removers), Frontline degreaser and alcohol. Save yourself the cost of the first two, ALL THAT YOU NEED is the alcohol. In fact the others DON'T work as well or at all. You can get a bottle of alcohol at WalMart for about 25 cents. I also used some paper towels and a sponge with a scubber pad on one side.

I was able to remove the stickers on BOTH sides of the visor. Actually the square ones on the outside of the visor were the easiest. If you soak the sticker in alcohol for a few minutes and then begin to get the edge up, if you continue to dab with alcohol you can peel the sticker off (VERY SLOWLY) as a single piece. I was able to do this once I learned patience. Once the sticker is off you will notice that there is residual glue. On the front side there will be a shiny square where the sticker had been. Take the sponge and use the scubber side with alcohol and you will be able to remove this shiny square. It takes time, but it WILL come off, be patient and scrub until it is all gone. Once it is off just clean up the visor, perhaps put some type of treatment on it (like Armorall or the like) and it looks great. You will need a torx wrench or torx screwdriver to remove the visor (it is easier to work with off of the car) and you will need two differ sizes. The two large (exposed) screws where the visor arm mounts to the windshield are one size and the screw at the other end (hidden under a flap) is another (smaller) size. Sears sells a set (about 6 different Torx screwdrivers in the set) for about $14. A word of warning is to be very careful with the mirror flap when cleaning it off. It will tend to shift back forth in the slots where it attaches to the visor and this could cause the flap to not stay up when opened. I have had one of my visors replaced by the dealer for this problem. So with the right stuff, time and PATIENCE they can be eliminated.

Alcohol on mirror flap hinges
Followup posted by Greg Reddick on Tuesday, 25 November 1997, at 7:16 p.m.

When removing the airbag warning stickers with denatured alcohol, be VERY careful not to get the alcohol near the hinges of the mirror flap. I did it on my passenger side visor and the flap wouldn't stay up. I now know *why* you should not get the alcohol near the hinges and how to fix it if you do.

There are two metal clips that provide friction on the hinges to keep the flap open. Getting the alcohol near the hinges dissolves the glue keeping these metal clips inside the plastic holes. The clips then come loose and no longer provide enough friction.

To fix, you need to pop the mirror encasement out of the sun visor. There are four plastic lips that hold it in place. Take a small screwdriver and carefully pry the mirror encasement from the sun visor. It should just pop out. Then take the metal clips and place a drop of glue on them. Force the clips all the way back into the holes where they belong. Let dry. Test. Then reassemble into the sun visor, and you'll have a working mirror flap again.

Greg

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