Ever since I purchased the car, I’ve been dying to strip off these 90s-style tuner decals that have been clinging on to the car like dried barnacles for 20 years. They might have been "rad" and "bad" and whatever other retro adjectives we used back then, but they certainly aren’t now, especially not in the current peeling, cracking, discolored state they are in. They are one of the first things I wanted to change on the car the moment I laid my eyes on it, for good reason. I got quite a few comments from my local friends about it. Maybe due to the shine on the paint and the relative dark contrast, they don’t show up in photos as hideously as they do in person.

Delicacy is not required for this task. Simply rubbing or picking at the decals result in it crumbling and coming off only a very tiny portion at a time. For most decals, a heat gun and some cleaning solvent will expedite the removal.

Not a chance. This 50mm (2 inch) portion took almost 20 minutes of heating, picking, rubbing, wiping, and spraying to achieve. For these decals that run the entire length of the body, this will not do.

After failing a few tries at solvents and the heat gun method, I was close to giving up. Doing a little more research into decal removal, I found that there are a few products purported to remove extremely old, cracked, peeling, weathered decals. I ended up ordering a Whizzy Wheel, a drill-attachable round rubber eraser, that essentially just rubs the decal until it strips off. It claims to not damage the paint when used properly.

It worked wonderfully immediately. At first, I was being really careful with the rubbing, as I didn’t want to damage the paint or wear out the Whizzy Wheel too quickly, but as I continued to use it, I realized it didn’t notably damage the paint at all. At least, nothing that a buff and wax couldn’t alleviate. I also needed to apply a bit of pressure in order for it to cause enough friction to actually rub off the decal and the remainder adhesive, just as one would use a real eraser.

By following the rotation of the drill, I realized that using the WW at the outer edges of the decal resulted in the most positive effect, as the rotation actually helps “lift” the edges and peel some of the decal off much quicker than simply erasing mid-decal. This technique allowed me to remove large portions of the decal and adhesive cleanly and fairly quickly.

Even though the rear badges were not in terrible state, they were still cracking a bit. If I wanted to rebadge the car, I’ll just update it with a more modern decal. So I took these off while I was at it.

I was initially worried that one Whizzy Wheel would be inadequate to remove the decals the length of the car, since some reviewers mentioned that two or three may be required. However, I did not find this to be the case and I still have a good 40% of the tool left intact for potential future decals.

All it needs now is a final wash, clay, and wax and it will be perfect. As it stands now, my dorky little 90s Alto Works has at least entered the 21st century. The change from the fading decals to plain black paint is especially noticeable in person. I think this was the best “modification” I have done to this car thus far and I am even more excited for further progress.