the three stipes that go around the bottom of my car are all cracked and small portions are missing so I want to remove them all together. I've seen other people here with new paint jobs of all 1 color that I'm sure have had to remove the stickers themselves so I'm asking what is the easiest way of removing them? I started using decal remover and a razor blade but it is taking forever. I'm looking for simplicity here. I plan on painting the whole car black 'cause it needs it but I dont know when, so would sanding them of be an option? Any help would be appreciated...

 

Heat gun or some aggressive sandpaper

 

well the heat gun is removing the sticker a bit easier, but leaving the adhesive. guess I'll have to use a little adhesive remover and a little more effort, but I'm feelin' a little lazy right now so I'll do it tomorrow

 

I work with vinyl as part of my job. A heat gun is the best method of getting it off. For the residue, the best product I have ever used is called "Rapid Remover". You might be able to get it online, but in stores, probably not. http://www.rapidtac.com/products/remover.html

People say use WD40, and while I have had to resort to this at times, Rapid Remover makes the adhesive crap literally melt off of the surface after 60 seconds. Just make sure you clean the area afterwards, as it leaves behind a greasy residue. (any mild detergent will do fine here).

 

Rubber erasure wheel, mounts on a drill takes the decal off and rewax the car afterwards.

 

That is the trick. It will remove the stripe and the adhesive, without hurting the paint a bit.
I've been doing vinyl work for over 6 years professionally, and the smart eraser type tool has saved me 100 times over. I bought a 5 year old black 97 Tahoe in 2002, and the factory pinstripe came right off, the paint looked perfect afterwards, and you'd never know it had been there at all.


Like the Astro Smart Eraser on this page. Any body paint/shop store would have one.

 

A heat gun will do a decent job if your decals weren't old and cracked. On an old Wrangler I had it worked well on some of the decals but not all. On my Iroc they were basically painted over and had to use a razor blade and lots of Goof-Off over and over. Even if they do come off well with a heat gun it is probably still a good idea to use something like a goof-off to make sure all the glue is removed.

These methods are definitely time consuming and will destory the finish so I'd say go with other people's ideas first.

 

well I'm not too worried about my paint finish because it's so worn and faded, most of it is beyond the primer layers. I may just try goo gone for now just to get rid of the adhesive, but I do know that wd-40 did nothing...

 

Rubber erasure wheel where can i get one

 

See above...#6. I told where, and provided an online link to order one.

 

Here's the pics of my Tahoe during and afterwards. A good wash, a little polish, and it was like it had never been there.