How to remove old, dried up vinyl and stickers from an old race car?

Any recommendations on how to remove old, dried up vinyl and stickers from an old race car?

I suspect a wire wheel is going to scratch and gouge the metal pretty deep so I'm reluctant to start with that. 
 

Is there any chemical solution that would work?

 I'm expecting to repaint the car so I don't really care about damaging the paint but want to try and avoid damaging the metal from overly aggressive approaches or grinding on it and warping the metal from heat. 
 

Thanks

3m Eraser wheel. 

/thread. 

One wheel pealed 60' of old dried-up vinyl from the side of my RV. Zero paint or gel coat damage. 

WD-40. Let it soak and gently pull the edge. As you lift keep it wet. Not very quick but non-damaging. 

3M adhesive remover is the dogs knees. That, an eraser wheel and some plastic scrapers will have it handled fo sho.

In for answers since my ambulance has the same issue. The stickers are so old and dried out, heat doesn't do a thing. I'll give the eraser wheel a go. 
 

Question: Is the 3M wheel worth the premium over the knockoffs at 1/3 the price? 

Lacquer thinner. Acetone. Both will work both will also remove paint. But do it smoothly. 

I have some 25 year old 8" wide vinyl stripes I need to remove from a Miata hardtop. I'm going to have to go for the wheel :)

Looks like I might have be careful with the hardtop material. It's something that is almost but not quite fibreglass.

Shadeux said:

WD-40. Let it soak and gently pull the edge. As you lift keep it wet. Not very quick but non-damaging. 

There's no edge to pull on. This stuff is brittle and breaks apart if you can get a scraper to do anything. 

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

3m Eraser wheel. 

/thread. 

One wheel pealed 60' of old dried-up vinyl from the side of my RV. Zero paint or gel coat damage. 

 

Thanks. I happen to have one. Will give it a shot. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

The RV exterior is FRP. The wheel did a good job on it without damage. 

If there is adhesive residue after the wheel, wipe it down with Bestine rubber cement thinner. It takes care of most adhesives and shouldn't harm the finish. It's safe on most surfaces but will etch styrene plastics, though.

WillG80 said:

In for answers since my ambulance has the same issue. The stickers are so old and dried out, heat doesn't do a thing. I'll give the eraser wheel a go. 
 

Question: Is the 3M wheel worth the premium over the knockoffs at 1/3 the price? 

Not really, I've had just as much luck with the astro pneumatic version.

Heat gun might help to soften it too.  Low heat, move it a lot.

Closing the loop on this since inquiring minds wanna know. 
The eraser thing works incredibly well. Best to use low rpm or else things get hot and starts smearing. 
 

Low heat, adhesive remover and a squeegee.  It'll make it slide right off.

I used to own a vinyl business on the side.  I'm considering doing it again since my 2022 challenge concept is pretty complex.  

Plain old running alcohol will soften any residual adhesive enough to remove it.  Mineral spirits work too.  Anything harsher may damage paint and clear coat.  Both of the above remove wax too so waxing after is a good idea.
 

A few years ago I bought an old Formula Ford that had a checkered flag sticker across the nose. I tried gasoline, WD-40, heat, Goo Gone, acetone, mineral spirits and a few different citrus based cleaners in the cabinet. NOTHING touched it!!!!!

I called my cousin who has a body shop to inquire about what would take it off. He cut me off and said to go to the body shop supply and get this specific stuff, so I did. Immediately it worked and I've been using it on any and all adhesive residue since. I have it here at the house as I just used it to get "goo" off the outside of new Pella windows. Works great. I'm sure the local paint supply shop has something similar.

I just ordered the 3M wheel. It could make a big improvement on this.