Guest tb3 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 The black lining on the (I think its metal) flexible shifter base that moves back and forth with the shifter is peeling up and looks ugly. (see pic).If I take it apart, can the black stuff on it be removed? I'm ok with it being shiny, or painting it. Has anybody else done anything differant with theirs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Flacko9091 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 That seems to be a pretty common thing on Reattas. On my 90 convertible I had this same problem. I took a utlity knife and carefully cut out the black "paper" and cleaned it up and it looks better as just shiney metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I agree with the above. The metal underneath is stainless steel with a satin type finish (not really shiny like chrome, but more like the aluminum bumpers on the Reatta) and looks great on it's own. All four of mine are bare metal as the black vinyl was peeling and even had pieces missing.You will want a good solvent that can remove adhesive without damaging plastic. I used lighter fluid and 90% isopropyl alcohol to get the metal clean of the adhesive. Avoid lacquer thinner, toluene, xylene, goof-off and similar strong solvents, they will damage the black plastic that the surrounding plastic is made of. Mineral spirits (conventional paint thinner) will also probably work and won't melt the plastic. It does not evaporate off though and needs to be wiped off.Some have gone to the trouble of replacing the black vinyl and there was a tutorial posted on it here years ago. I'd bet it is over at ROJ if you care to restore it to stock (primarily important for show cars).KDirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest my3buicks Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) With my black coupe, I cleaned off the original and remnants and then carefully cut and installed wide black electrical tape. Once finished the results were excellent.If I had needed to do it again, I was going to go to a signmaker and just get a piece of black adhesive vinyl that they used to make signs Edited September 17, 2015 by my3buicks (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I did what Keith suggested. Matte black sign vinyl. It turned out great and has held up quite well.Here is the Tutorial:http://reattaowner.com/roj/component/content/article/219-body-a-interior/body-center-console/155-vinyl-gearshift-tape-replacement-1988-89-models 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tb3 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 thanks guys for the ideas! I'm not sure what I'll do yet. probably just remove it and leave it bare metal.kdirk, I sent you a pm a few days ago concerning a rear tail light, but I now may have to hold off for awhile anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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