So, the DMV line painting truck has the right lane on I-81 blocked off to paint their lines. As I drive to their left and try to give them room, little could I suspect that the left yellow line is WET. There was no warning or notice of any kind.

Imagine my surprise when I get to work and discover two bright yellow wheelwells on the driver's side. :cry: :evil: :evil: There's also some spray on the sidewalls. It's the first time I've wanted to go postal on a road crew.

Any suggestions how to remove this crap short of sandblasting? Expect I'll end up spending several hours with my head in wheelwells.

During that time I can devise ways to seek revenge on an imaginary target. I guess I could use this as an excuse to open one of those bottles of liquor I collected from days in the service.

Words of wisdom and council are most welcome.

Take care.

The fingernail method is the only way I know of to remove it. I guess you could take the easy way out and just repaint the wheelwells!

Spray the wheel wells with WD-40 and let it soak a bit, the paint should come right off.

Removing from body areas will require a new waxing. Cleaners may strip wax.

Removing from body areas will require a new waxing. Cleaners may strip wax.

By the way some paints are oil based and others water based. You can call the highway dept to ask. If it's oil based then WD-40 or peanut butter works well.

If its a water based acrylic it can be removed with a solution of hot water and ammonia (one cup ammonia per gallon of water) and soap. The area with paint on may have to be soaked multiple times until the paint softens so it can be wiped clean, rinsed and a new coat of wax applied.

Spray the wheel wells with WD-40 and let it soak a bit, the paint should come right off.

I've seen it done before it works rather well.

Sorry for my slow response, but I've been spraying my wheel wells with PB Blaster. It's a better penetrant than WD-40 and it's what I have at hand right now.

Youse guys sure have some good suggestions and I'll try them one by one.

Gotta say though, I'd never thought of peanut butter! I won't make any jokes. I guess I should use Jiffy right? It may work faster. Can you imagine how gross using my finger nails and peanut butter would look? Visualize that.

Just as well attempt to keep my sense of humor about it - warped as it is.

Thank each of you. I'll keep you posted.

Take care.

I've had pretty good luck with "OOPS! Multi-Purpose Remover". You can get it at Loews, Home Depot, etc. But the WD-40 trick works also.

Either way, patience is the key. Best of luck!

...Gotta say though, I'd never thought of peanut butter! I won't make any jokes. I guess I should use Jiffy right? ...

By the way, peanut butter also works well if you get a spray of melted bubble gum on your car

Youse guys were very helpful and I thought I'd give you an update on my progress - or lack thereof.

In case anyone didn't know, that yellow street paint is some of the meanest paint you could ever encounter. It behaves as if it has some type of epoxy-rubber component.

I dutifully tried PB Blaster, WD-40, Oops!, and the Ammonia mix as suggested. None touched it. Peanut butter was prepared to use, then I got hungry and ate it. Just kidding - it had no effect either.

Actually, the only thing that works (in concept) was to use fingernails, but no one has that much fingernails. I sought something that was relatively safe to scrape with that could penetrate. Plastic scrapers would barely scratch the yellow. This stuff is from Hades! I ended up using pine wood shims. They are just barely soft enough not to automatically go through the body paint, but can be pushed through the yellow.

It took a small steel brush and Ajax to clean the tire. The clear-coated aluminum wheels wiped right off with a rag.

Four hours have been spent so far and it'll take another four or so. hope this doesn't happen to any of you! Thanks again.

Take care

Kerosine?

I'll try it. Thanks Eric.

Take care.

I have used it before.