I tried to search for threads about de-lettering, but came up blank. I am about to buy a 54 pickup with a farm name in plain black letters on both doors. If there is a technique for using solvents to remove lettering I would prefer to do that before grinding it off. Request instructions.
Start with your fingernail and see if it can be flaked off. Work your way up to harsher methods like goof off, etc.
I'll bet you can get that off with some rubbing compound and a rag. Us your fingers to stay on the letters.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
Be sure they aren't vinyl stick-ons. Those would come off easily with a heat gun and maybe a mild solvent.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I’ve had good luck with regular paint stripper, rub off quickly before it affects the body paint. “ try first in an inconspicuous area!” Sometimes the truck paint is more resistant than the lettering paint. Buff after.
~Charley 1954 Chevy 3100 with 235 “Bud” Follow along in the DITY 1963 Chevy half ton stepside short box 230 1954 GMC 3 ton 302 And several more Chevy camper and work trucks 1979 1987 1996
I sold my truck and purchased it back. It had lots of lettering, being a panel (1953). Someone used a razor blade scraper on it, there are scratches for sure, but some big areas were completely scratch free.
Is the price on that window for real? Check out the "trucks For Sale" forum! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
If its vinyl lettering .... I had to take a crap load of vinyl lettering and striping off the school bus. I used a vinyl strip & decal remover wheel -- looks like a hockey puck shaped pencil eraser with a stem in the middle so you can chuck it in a drill and buff the lettering off. It might also work on painted lettering if they didn't prep too much.
A kid raised on Hotwheels, Matchbox and Tonka cannot be reasonably expected to own only one vehicle as an adult.
1949 Chevrolet 3804 In the Legacy Gallery | In the Gallery Forum 1973 IH 1310 Dump 1963 Kaiser M38A1 2001 International/AmTran RE3000 "Skoolie" 2014 Ford E-350 4x4 (Quigley)
+1 on that eraser wheel- - - - -the body shop I managed used them very successfully when removing decals and stick-on pinstripes during repair work. A variable speed drill motor helps control the process. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
This is going to sound totally nuts and I think it depends on the paint used as already mentioned, but I bought a company truck years ago from the place I worked for and talked to the guy that did the lettering for all the vehicles and he said use oven cleaner on a rag. It actually worked. I'm not recommending it I guess but I just couldn't not tell the story! David
