Ford Fiesta 2011 1.25 Petrol - Scraping away black paint from edges of windows

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Mon 29 Aug 2011 08:51
Ford Fiesta 2011 1.25 Petrol - Scraping away black paint from edges of windows - RustyFiesta

I've got a 2011 Fiesta. Like most modern cars, the windows are small, the pillars are wide, and visibility is inferior to older Fiestas. This is made worse by the black paint applied around the edges of each window, presumably to make the windows "fade in" to the pillars. The paint is applied in the form of dots of various sizes.

Is there any reason I shouldn't try to scape off some of the paint dots in critical areas to improve visibility a bit? I was thinking of trying one of those paint scrapers that holds a Stanley knife blade.

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Tue 30 Aug 2011 03:55
Ford Fiesta 2011 1.25 Petrol - Scraping away black paint from edges of windows - barkas

yea those black bits drive me up the wall too, I dont see why you cant remove it and a stanley blade seems an ideal tool to do it. best of luck

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Tue 30 Aug 2011 08:57
Ford Fiesta 2011 1.25 Petrol - Scraping away black paint from edges of windows - dadbif
It is called the "obscuration band" and is there to prevent the UV rays from the sun degrading the adhesive used to bond the Windscreen to the car body, each manufacturer has their own patented dotted pattern.

I cannot say how quickly the adhesive would degrade if you remove the band, however, there are patent applications on the web covering wiring concealed by the band, similar to printed circuit tracks, so be careful.
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