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A special thanks

Yahoo Message Number: 87632
I would like to say a special thanks to Kevin Waite for his input in the removal of clear plastic film from my Country Coach Inspire.
Thanks Kevin

For anyone who has the clear plastic film here is the simplest way to remove it. You need a heat gun. Also Harbor Freight has a plastic pry bar that is made of hard plastic. It has about a 1 1/2 inch scraper on one end. Just use the heat gun to heat the area then the scraper to lift the film. It's a lot of hard work so make sure you have lots of stamina when you get started. When the top layer of film is removed it will leave the adhesive residue. 3M makes a product called General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner item # 08987. The best place to get it is from Amazon.

Good luck.

John Busby

Re: A special thanks

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87645
I'm curious as to why you removed the film and if you replaced it with something else? I'm a CC newbie and my 2006 CC Allure still has the front face film on it. It seems to be in pretty good shape, it isn't cracking or peeling and hasn't yellowed.

Dan

2006 Allure Tag
#31344

Re: A special thanks

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87648
Mine is an 04. The film has cracked and molded and mildewed and it totally ugly. There will be no replacement. I'll take my chances with rocks, bugs, etc.



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From: love_a_road_trip

To: Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 7:51 PM Subject: [Country-Coach-Owners] Re: A special thanks

I'm curious as to why you removed the film and if you replaced it with something else? I'm a CC newbie and my 2006 CC Allure still has the front face film on it. It seems to be in pretty good shape, it isn't cracking or peeling and hasn't yellowed.

Dan

2006 Allure Tag
#31344

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Re: A special thanks

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87657
Ditto with my shield also. I have an '04 Allure, which I bought new, and the film is cracked, peeling and yellowed. I regret ever having it on my coach. In hindsight, the old fiberglass shields were much better if you got the ones that are hinged so you can lift them up to clean them. Don't know what else there is on the market now. If you keep your coach stored indoors, I dont' believe you will have problems with the 3M film.
I have talked to a paint shop about removing the old film and it basically has to be "grinded" off with sandpaper which means the front end has to be repainted. I also have the coach with the "micro checking" problem which means the fiberglass on the sidewalls need to be ground down and re-fiberglassed, painted, etc.
All-and-all, looking at $35,000 to re-store my coach to it's formal beautiful finish. This with less than 10 years of ownership of the coach since buying brand new. This is one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of Country Coach and could care less if they got back in business. This coupled with all the mechanical, quality, etc. issues I have dealt with over the years have all lead to a poor experience with this Country Coach product.
On the plus side, the people I have met and this group have been great. What I have learned from this group has been very valuable and has helped me deal with the issues I have encountered with my coach.

Rick,

Fulltiming in a 2004, 36' Allure, 31018 Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort, #338

Re: A special thanks

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87660
Rick

The 3M can be removed but there is a risk that the paint could be damaged. I had the bottom portion replaced without incident but there is risk. A lot of the issues with 3M is the care in cleaning it. It is plastic and should be treated like the plastic windows you see on jeeps and boats.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: A special thanks

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87662

Rick,

I seem to be in your camp. CC dosen't seem to be any better than any other coach on the road. I to have the micro checking, the 3M shield on the front that has to come off. Along with slide leak issues. It apears most coach manufacturers all basically use the same material and suppliers whether it is high end or low end. I do appreciate all the help from the members of this forum and also the techs that monitor it.

Tom

2005 Inspire 51177

Re: A special thanks

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87663
Just finished having my 3M film removed and replaced in Junction City. Glenn Norris of Graphic Werks Northwest 541 954-6487. Glenn did a nice job for $700 out the door. He removed the old 3M (2003 Magna) and replaced with new. No paint was needed. He used a Hot steam system that worked well. He put in lots of time on the project.
Wayne Lenox
2003 Magna 6255

Re: A special thanks

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87664
The better product today is Armor Coat http://www.armorcoatusa.com/coach.html http://www.armorcoatusa.com/index.html
Why I say better is because it's proven itself over the last few years on not just coaches & RV's, but high end luxury cars, racecars, bus fleets, etc.. Our paint shop has been using it for 4-5 years now (maybe longer) and seeing the real world results, it works if applied correctly and thick enough. The only issue I see is when it's not applied at the correct thickness and then chips can happen.

From a owners perspective, what I like about it besides the protection & non-yellowing is that when an incident happens it's much cheaper to repair. The repair is done as if nothing was on there and after paint and clear it's re-applied and away you go. When a coach has the 3m mask and a incident happens, the first thing is the mask has to be pulled off, which might do damage to areas that aren't damaged creating more work & of course mo money....

Jim Lewis

Infinity Coach

From:Dan Fahrion Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 5:32 AM To:Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Country-Coach-Owners] Re: A special thanks
Rick

The 3M can be removed but there is a risk that the paint could be damaged. I had the bottom portion replaced without incident but there is risk. A lot of the issues with 3M is the care in cleaning it. It is plastic and should be treated like the plastic windows you see on jeeps and boats.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: A special thanks

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87667
I have not personally tried anything at this point as my 3M shield is in good shape and I use a plastic polish to maintain it. But it is only a few years old so time will tell I suppose. I do have a few nicks in it from road gravel I suppose and they kind of raise an edge which you can catch with your fingernail and which is soft and flexible like a vinyl film would be. I don't know if it gets hard with age or perhaps whether 3M changed their formulation over the years to create something more flexible, but if *I* were going to try to remove this film I would probably take a hair dryer and many painstaking hours to soften it inch by inch to the extent where it would hopefully peel right off as I go along.
I have done this with other vinyl decals and so on with good success... some have been easier to remove than others. I have even used the technique with good success to remove those hateful yellow and black "Warning" stickers the lawyers make car manufacturers stick on the sun visors. I HATE those friggin things staring me in the face (I am very tall) and I have removed them in my last 4 cars. If you are patient and go slowly with your fingernail you can remove them completely without damage to the visor. I suspect the same approach would work on the 3M shield.

Joseph Burkle

2008 Country Coach Inspire 360 Founders Edition 43' quad slide tag axle 425 HP C9 pusher http://www. Wind-seeker.com/

Re: A special thanks

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87670
Wondering what type of plastic polish you use on the 3M? Thanks in advance,

Roger Harper
2006 Inteigue
#11990

Re: A special thanks

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87672
There are some products available that are designed to protect the clear plastic film. However nothing is going to prolong the fact that this film has a life expectancy of 7 to 9 years. As of this writing I no longer have the film on my coach. I took it off and it will stay off.



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From: Roger Harper

To: "Country-Coach-Owners@yahoogroups.com" Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2013 5:08 PM Subject: Re: [Country-Coach-Owners] Re: A special thanks

Wondering what type of plastic polish you use on the 3M? Thanks in advance,

Roger Harper
2006 Inteigue
#11990

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Re: A special thanks

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87674
We have an '04 Allure and we removed most of it ourselves. Took 2 people 2 days and lots of elbow grease and a few choice words! We used a heat gun (not on high setting), heated the film, then used a plastic scraper to scrape it off in small sections (very small!). Once we got the film off, we used Goo Gone (Dollar stores and hardware stores carry it). Put the Goo Gone on in small sections and rub with soft cloth until all the adhesive is gone. Only one small nick in the paint that we will have touched up. They do not need to grind it off. If they say that, go elsewhere! I would never put 3M on our coach again!!

Lonny & Diane Livingston
'04 Allure #31065

Re: A special thanks

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87677
Roger. 303 works very nice ! Do not use micro towels on it until the towels are old and soft Use cotton only
Dennis Parker
06 Intrigue

Re: A special thanks

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87678
I have been using Meguiar Mirror Glaze for many years on convertible rear windows, helmet visors and the like. There are two grades the regular and the superfine. depending on the amount of scratching and clarrity desirred. Toothpaste also works pretty well in a pinch

jb

Re: A special thanks

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87708
I use a Novus product developed for plastic windows and windshields, There is a #3 for heavy scratches and a #2 for fine scratches. The #1 clean and shine really brings out the gloss to the finish.

Dan 2006 Allure 31348

Re: A special thanks - 3M Scotchgard Paint Protection

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87711
I used a Brillo Pad and a pressure washer.

That worked well. I murdered the poor sucker.

The new one looks great.

Think I'll try 303 this time.

Jay 05 Inspire 51457 with the best looking 2005 front end out there.

Trying to Remove Clothes Dryer

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87719
We have an 09 Allure Crane Prairie, our Splendide/Ariston clothes dryer is not producing heat and needs to be removed to troubleshoot. I'm looking for some tips on how to remove the dryer from the cabinet. Country Coach built a great cabinet for the washer and dryer but it looks to me that it's almost impossible to get the dryer out without some dismantling of the cabinet (piece of cake if it's a washer problem).
I could cutout the top horizontal piece of the face of the cabinet but that would likely look a little ugly when re-installed. So I'm thinking the face of the cabinet needs to be removed. I can get access to 4 or 5 sets of screws on the left vertical side (outside) but the other side, where I'm assuming the opposite attachment points are located, are covered up by a pocket door and a false face panel. I can likely remove the pocket door without any problem but the face panel has no visible attachment points, I've given a few tugs at the top and bottom but its not budging. Removing the dryer vent hose from the outside of the coach seems to be the easiest part of the job.

Hoping that someone might have some experience or suggestions.

Thanks

Graeme Arnott
09 Allure #31690

Re: Trying to Remove Clothes Dryer

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87720
Don't know your unit, but the cabinet work often has screws inside the face frame at an angle into a side panel, or from the side panel going forward into the frame at an angle. you may need to push the dryer back an inch or two and use a mirror to see the screws inside the frame. Once you can remove the frame the rest should be easy.

Bob Wexler
SOB

Re: Trying to Remove Clothes Dryer

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 87741
Thanks for the input, I have access to the screws on one side (left outside) of the face frame, the screws for the other side are unfortunately not on the inside. They would appear to be covered by a pocket door and and a false panel and the panel is what I would like to remove but there are not visible attachment points.

Graeme Arnott
09 Allure #31690