BRAKE CLEANER IS HIGHLY INFLAMMABLE do NOT get it nor its vapour near sources of heat. Setting oneself alight and suffering severe burns or even death is clearly immaterial , but should the precious bus go up in smoke then that would be a tragedy.

Back to applying vinyl for anyone who wants to do it themselves.

I always use tack reducer, it temporarily delays the adhesive on the vinyl allowing graphic repositioning & a bubble free application.
I also recommend checking out youtube as there are some great tutorials on there.

I am no professional but i have used vinyl on a manner of classic vehicles to give dashboards wood effect, or temporary cheap chrome on bumbers (using heat to stretch and shrink vinyl around curve - that takes practice).
I have also applied large sheets to walls and windows which is easier then curve but a second pair of hands is vital I think.

Below is my preferred product but others are available.
https://www.grizzlybearonline.co.uk/vinyl-application-fluid/1-rapid-tack-pro-spray.html

From memory we used to apply vinyls to new coaches using just soap and water it gives you a bit of leeway to reposition before you squeegee out the water from behind

My bus number (if any): RML 2747

Some great advice as always but I'd always understood that using a hot air gun wasn't a good idea (for paint removal) because you can permanently distort the panels. Maybe if you are very cautious but I would have thought Graham's hairdryer option would be safer - less fierce.

Having taken many vinyl adverts off in years past, I`ll offer three pieces of advice:

If you are able to wait for a warm sunny day and are able to park the bus in the sun and leave it for a few hours, it is surprising just how easily vinyl will then peel away. Aim to peel evenly and slowly and not try to rush into getting the biggest possible piece off quickly. A large chunk pulled away quickly will probably take a layer of paint with it.

Do not be tempted to use a metal scraper. Not even to lift a small corner to get started. No matter how tempting it might seem, the inevitable gouges into the paintwork that you may not even notice whilst doing it will blight the appearance of the panel for ever.

Old vinyl can become brittle. If the piece being pulled slowly because of the adhesive then suddenly tears leaving you holding a small bit, consider where you may end up If you lose your balance on whatever it is you`ll be standing on. Trust me, this can easily happen. If I`m going to be working at upper deck level, I always park the bus close to the shed and put the gantry between bus and shed so that I cannot fall. I know this seems to defeat the `parking in full sun` suggestion but several hours of sun on an advert should give enough time to make a good bit of progress with advert removal even if you have to be out of the sun to stay safe.

As Roy says brake cleaner IS inflammable but if you are using it to dissolve the adhesive while pulling or ‘gently’ scraping the adhesive or clean up adhesive residue afterwards you wouldn’t have enough hands to hold a heat gun on the vinyl at the same time as the squirter (either or) ? - as Brian also says you only need to warm the vinyl not burn it off and damage the paint or panel - common sense ? A hot day as Neil says makes life a lot easier if you are able to wait for one to come along sadly when we sold vehicles and needed to remove vinyls it was often in the winter ! We never damaged paintwork even on vinyls that had been in for years - a good go with the polisher and cutting compound always restored it to new. I’ve seen other Operators vehicles where someone has been over zealous with a scraper and caused terrible damage sadly resulting in a very expensive respray no doubt !

My bus number (if any): RML 2747

Thanks all. Waiting for a hot sunny day....
John

My bus number (if any): RM108

We took vinyl off many buses over the years returning from hires etc and for large areas the most effective and least likely way to get them off without stripping the paint is a wall paer steamer.

Depending on how well primed the paint was and how long it was on before the vinyl went on your are probably going to do some damage unless you are very, very careful. Steam is the best and then do small sections.