Date:         Mon, 25 Dec 1995 17:44:22 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         plima@indirect.com (Peter J. Lima)
Subject:      detailing stripes

My '79 came in a stock color -- dark brown lower body with orange roof --
which many owners are probably familiar with.  I've noticed that it has two
rows of orange striping, running horizontally -- one row just beneath the
window-bulge and a second running along the bottom of the body and around
the wheel wells.  The question in my mind is, Are these strips original or
the the p.o. add them at some point?  They seem to be very poorly put on --
they're not paint but some kind of colored tape which is twisted in places
or otherwise mis-fitted, and are in bad condition -- shagging and losing the
clear coating that they once had.

I spent half an hour this morning peeling it off, since I'm sure the bus
will look a lot better without them -- less fancy and more straightforward.
Some sections peeled right off easy but others are requiring a razor blade
and a lot of effort, since the tape has fused to the paint in places and
I've pulled little pieces of paint off in the process of removal.  Anyone
else have experience with this sort of detailing tape and how best to remove it?

pjl