I've been putting off starting this project for several years and I'm too cheap to pay $1000 to have it removed. Posted on here that I was going to start and KDK sent me a PM to call him... he was on his second removal and he had found the secret to removing the glue. He said to go to Lowe's and buy Orange Squeeze air freshener... yes a citrus air freshener and it really works. Still takes a fair amount of scraping with a plastic razor blade and it does not soften the clear coat.I used a heat gun to soften the film and and was able to take it off in razor blade widths fairly quickly... 20" in 45 seconds. I wimped out on doing the two black sections... only doing the 2' X 9' center center section. I wet sanded the black sections and painted them with black plastic paint. You can still see the cracks but only if you get up close and almost straight on. MAYBE next year I'll get motivated to remove the black sections... NOT likelyThat I did not do this all at once but I have 8-10 hours in removing the film/glue and another 6 hours sanding , masking and painting the two black sections. Here are some pictures:You can see the strips of film removed and the next strip to be removed.Finished product.

Way to go! With the exception of engine and transmission I try to do all my own work. But I wanted my 3M removal and replace to be quick and perfect, so I bit the bullet and paid. And it did turn out perfect. Good luck on your job.

Ivylog wrote:I've been putting off starting this project for several years and I'm too cheap to pay $1000 to have it removed. $1000 :E I own a Winnebago and was at the factory in Forest City, IA for some repairs on my steps and asked about having the film removed. They referred me to CDI, the company that does all the painting for Winnebago. Called the shop and was quoted a price of $150. In at 7am and out at 11:30. Don't know how it was removed. But, WOW what a difference.

I faced my MH into the sun on a warm day and allowed the front to warm....pulled the film off in large sections. Only used hands and no tools. Washed the remaining glue off with mild solvent.

PastorCharlie wrote:I faced my MH into the sun on a warm day and allowed the front to warm....pulled the film off in large sections. Only used hands and no tools. Washed the remaining glue off with mild solvent.Like so many other items and components on RVs, there's a few thousand variables. Age, how long the coating has been on there, how much sun has it seen in its lifetime, how well was it put on in the first place, and, there's more than one kind of clear vinyl coating. There are some that will peel right off without issue. Then there are some that will upwards of a week or more due to the fact that it's basically almost welded itself to the paint. Just because one person paid only $150 to have it removed, that surely doesn't guaranty that, that will be the going rate for all coaches. Our coach is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, it's hovering at 12 years old and the 3M coating is still flawless. The coach has spent about 99.99% of its idle time, INSIDE an RV garage since new. I, and based on all the readings in research I've done, don't think anyone else, can say for sure that, keeping our coach out of the sun when not in use, is a guaranty that, that's the reason our 3M coating is still flawless. I'd bet it helps but, maybe not the 100% reason. So, if one has to take it off for any number of reasons, it may or, may not be an easy project. Good luck.Scott

I removed mine and it was a lot of work. I debated leaving it on but it was starting to look bad in a few places. So I decided to get it off before it got to the condition of some I have seen.The paint behind the film was pristine. But it is a catch 22....18 months and two cross country trips later and the paint on the front of the coach is filled with tiny rock chips.

DIY film removable from front of MH. | Good Sam Community

doc_brown
Explorer
Jan 17, 2017
Way to go! With the exception of engine and transmission I try to do all my own work. But I wanted my 3M removal and replace to be quick and perfect, so I bit the bullet and paid. And it did turn out perfect. Good luck on your job.
rv2go
Explorer II
Jan 17, 2017
Ivylog wrote:
I've been putting off starting this project for several years and I'm too cheap to pay $1000 to have it removed.

$1000 :E I own a Winnebago and was at the factory in Forest City, IA for some repairs on my steps and asked about having the film removed. They referred me to CDI, the company that does all the painting for Winnebago. Called the shop and was quoted a price of $150. In at 7am and out at 11:30. Don't know how it was removed. But, WOW what a difference.
PastorCharlie
Explorer
Jan 17, 2017
I faced my MH into the sun on a warm day and allowed the front to warm....pulled the film off in large sections. Only used hands and no tools. Washed the remaining glue off with mild solvent.
FIRE_UP
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
PastorCharlie wrote:
I faced my MH into the sun on a warm day and allowed the front to warm....pulled the film off in large sections. Only used hands and no tools. Washed the remaining glue off with mild solvent.

Like so many other items and components on RVs, there's a few thousand variables. Age, how long the coating has been on there, how much sun has it seen in its lifetime, how well was it put on in the first place, and, there's more than one kind of clear vinyl coating. There are some that will peel right off without issue. Then there are some that will upwards of a week or more due to the fact that it's basically almost welded itself to the paint. Just because one person paid only $150 to have it removed, that surely doesn't guaranty that, that will be the going rate for all coaches.

Our coach is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, it's hovering at 12 years old and the 3M coating is still flawless. The coach has spent about 99.99% of its idle time, INSIDE an RV garage since new. I, and based on all the readings in research I've done, don't think anyone else, can say for sure that, keeping our coach out of the sun when not in use, is a guaranty that, that's the reason our 3M coating is still flawless. I'd bet it helps but, maybe not the 100% reason.

So, if one has to take it off for any number of reasons, it may or, may not be an easy project. Good luck.
Scott
smlranger
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
I removed mine and it was a lot of work. I debated leaving it on but it was starting to look bad in a few places. So I decided to get it off before it got to the condition of some I have seen.

The paint behind the film was pristine. But it is a catch 22....18 months and two cross country trips later and the paint on the front of the coach is filled with tiny rock chips.
Ivylog
Explorer III
Jan 18, 2017
The film and glue that Monaco used does NOT come off easily... the glue is the harder to get off. The amount of sun exposure is definitely a factor. The film under the headlights that is almost flat but with several curves was badly cracked but the film above which would be in the shade had no cracks and I left it on.. Because of the two curves under the headlights removing the film using heat would be tricky so I tried spraying that area three times over five minutes. It was flat enough that the liquid didn't run of and I was able to scrape the film and most of the glue came with it. One more spraying of the air freshener and all of the glue came off. On the vertical surfaces you cannot soak the film or glue as the liquid runs off.

One of the reasons for wet sanding the black film is to smooth the smaller rock chips in it. I agree that chips will be a problem and its part of the reason I left the film on the black areas, especially the lower area.
crasster
Explorer II
Jan 18, 2017
doc brown wrote:
Way to go! With the exception of engine and transmission I try to do all my own work. But I wanted my 3M removal and replace to be quick and perfect, so I bit the bullet and paid. And it did turn out perfect. Good luck on your job.

I really REALLY think 3M should be recalling this junk and paying to have it fixed. It's a COATING/FILM for a reason. It shouldn't getting funky like that so quickly.
doc_brown
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
crasster wrote:
doc brown wrote:
Way to go! With the exception of engine and transmission I try to do all my own work. But I wanted my 3M removal and replace to be quick and perfect, so I bit the bullet and paid. And it did turn out perfect. Good luck on your job.

I really REALLY think 3M should be recalling this junk and paying to have it fixed. It's a COATING/FILM for a reason. It shouldn't getting funky like that so quickly.

After 12 years the cracking literally appeared over a three month period. My installer said he does 5-6 coaches a week and the 3M lasts about 10 years if the coach is exposed to the elements. Where I store (inside) many older coaches like mine have like new 3M but they rarely use the coach.
ArchHoagland
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
Ivylog...That came out pretty nice.

I'll bet you'd pay $150 like rv2go did if you had the chance.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
Ivylog, are you thinking of having the film replaced?

I watched some guys remove the front film from a Prevost Marathon at Liberty Coach down in FL while I was in for service this past summer (the unit was for sale).

Millimeter by millimeter they inched their way across the front of the coach. Wow, what a tedious job.

I've read that's it's a good idea to have it replaced every three years for ease of removal and for less of a chance to damage the paint of which I may consider.

Good job!
MM.