OK, here is the deal. I am just finishing a big makeover on my 1994 Tracker and everything looks really good except for the Tracker Decal on the rear quarter panels.  My Tracker is all black except for the, well "gay looking" light blue and pink Tracker decals.  Are these decals under the clear coat or are they on top of it? Can they be removed without screwing up the clear coat and the black paint?

Any tips or tricks?   

My other thought was to come up with some other decal to put over the top of these stock decals.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Please advise,
Thanks,
Tim

They're on top of the paint.  I had great luck with just heating the edge of mine with a hair dryer and then them peeling off easily on my Tracker.  Than again, I also had some multiple small door decals on an 89 Kick that were nearly impossible to get off no matter what I tried!!  

Sometimes you can get away with pressure washing them off. I'm not talking about the car wash, but one of those small 2200 psi washers. I once got the factory pinstriping off of an S15 Jimmy by doing this. Be warned that even though you can't tell now, if your paint has faded, you will know after the decal comes off.

I'll let you know how tough the decals are on mine once I try removing them.  I am planning on painting the whole rig though...so I have a really abrasive wheel for my drill that I will probably use.

A buddy of mine used one of those halogen flood lights that get wicked hot to remove the pin stripping on his truck. I would try heat, I think that is your best bet. I would avoid trying to lay new ones over the top. I think it would be to hard to match them up perfect.

I'd go with the heat method too. It's always worked for me.

heat n' peel, they come off, then the fun of washing all the left over glue away is all yours.

heat n' peel, they come off, then the fun of washing all the left over glue away is all yours.

Brake wash/clean, or carb cleaner removes the goo nicely! Allthough WD40 claims to removed goo, it doesn't work as well as the others I mentioned.

or pick up one of the drill mounted pinstripe remover wheels... we use them all the time at my work. heat gun the majority off, then take the wheel to it.

Quote from: bzzr2 on June 18, 2009, 12:04:39 PM

heat n' peel, they come off, then the fun of washing all the left over glue away is all yours.

Brake wash/clean, or carb cleaner removes the goo nicely! Allthough WD40 claims to removed goo, it doesn't work as well as the others I mentioned.

Be careful using carb cleaner on your paint.  I've witnessed someone do this and bubble the paint.  Had to repaint the whole truck.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I will try and remove the decals this weekend and I will update everyone with my results.

What about using Goo-Gone for the adhesive residue?

Thanks again,
Tim

goo-gone will work, done it before.  just be careful with whatever you use that it is not sitting in the sun baking into your paint, the paint will get messed up with too much anything sitting for too long under any heat.