Well, I used to detail cars for people haha... so most of this is foolproof.

What: Removing Dealer/Aftermarket Pinstriping.
Cost: $28
Time: 30min-2hours
Effect: Perfectly removed pinstripping with NO paint damage
Note: This process requires absolutely no chemical rubber removing compounds. Depending on paint fade, effects may vary. 97+ paint should be perfectly fine, this is not guaranteed haha.

Tools/items needed:
- 500rpm+ corded drill, something that wont burn up on you either...
- your brand polish
- your brand wax
- microfiber towels... it's all i use =)
- polish/wax applicators, you don't need a buffer today...
You should have all of the above anyways... so they're not included in what you need to buy =)

What you need to buy:
- 3M Stripe Off Wheel PN: 051131-07498 (those last digits are the only ones you'll need)
Available at ANY NAPA Parts store. You should be able to haggle them down to $26+tax. There usual price is $36 I believe.



Alright, here's a before pic...


I HATE the gold... so i removed it

Presteps: WASH YOUR CAR, that's about it haha

Step 1: Attach the de-stripper to a drill...
You deff don't want to do this with a cordless one, as you'll be using it at 500rpm+ for 30 min.

(yes, i have a pic for everything haha)
It's very easy to attach, just screw it on and tighten it onto your drill...

Step 2: Removing the pinstripe...
NOTE: The destripper should always be used in the 'fwd' direction of the drill, or it may unscrew...
so... on your passenger side, you'll start from the hood moving your way to the tail. assuming you position the drill like i did...


Now, to get to step 2...
Unlike buffing, always have the drill moving when you start/remove the attachment from the paint... this is to keep the melted pinstripe from cooling to the paint.
so, with the drill started, touch the end of the destriper to the pin stripe... moving left/down the car, at the same time, moving up and down... to better explain it...
<v^v<v^<

Just ensure you keep a decent speed on the drill...
AND you keep with the same direction...
AND you touch the attachment to all of the pinstripe.

Step 3: Remove the Destriper/Pinstripe Dust

Wipe that area off with 1 of your microfibers... don't use this cloth for anything else but to remove the eraser/pinstripe dust.
(at this point, you've probably realized, all the destripper is, is just a big giant eraser haha)

...

 

...

Step 4: Remove the destriper residue
Using one of your polish/wax applicators, gently rub your polish into the de-pinstripped area. wipe clean with ANOTHER one of your microfibers...
See the above pic, you'll see the residue where i've already cleared the dust.

Step 5: Removing pinstripe you missed
Follow Step 2 again, this time touch those areas you missed... there will always be some :o
Here's the pinstripe i missed on the front right fender...


Step 6: Finishing up
Re-wipe/polish the areas you re-did. Then wax and voila... all done.

You may want to rewash the entire car, as all of the surfaces will have dust.

Here is the entire gallery of pics took for this write-up/how-to, it's as easy as it looks, I promise!
Pinstripe Removal Gallery

Note: 1 wheel will remove the pinstripping off roughly 3 cars/trucks given they aren't huge!


Here are some of my after pics, ignore the fact i removed the emblems, that's another use for this tool, but that's in another how-to.




Please let me know if you have any questions about anything haha.

 

Man, its kind of scary taking something like that to the side of your truck. It looks great though. I really like the debadged look!

I don't have a pinstripe but would like to remove the residue from my emblems on my 4Runner. You said you used the same wheel to take the residue from them off also? Thanks.

 

Wait about 10 min for me to write that up

Seriously, you may doubt it, but NOTHING works better *shrug*
Nor will it be safer... it's just a big eraser... it works via friction, rubber on rubber pretty much.

 

how bad would paint damage be on my 88 4runner, i want to remove the "zebra" stripes

 

Looks great!

Do you think that thing would work on my factory stripes???

 

Also, THIS WILL WORK on all 2nd gen stickers/graphics whatever the hell they are...
it'll take it off.

 

awesome! i did that to my t4r a year ago. it's much easier using the "eraser" than trying to use a razor.

 

Hahaha....no problem.

I was looking at the rest of the photos. It did a really good job. Thanks for the write-up.

 

This depends completely on if your paint has faded. Honestly, the de-striped look > the possibility of having the paint under the stripes being slightly darker.

Also, there is a 90% chance that if your paint is faded, a good clay/polish/glaze will make it match *shrug*
I only deal with certainty's, so i didn't post that earlier.

 

Thanks for this write-up and for taking the time to take great photos!

I have wanted to do this but was unsure how it would work.

 

The pinstriping actually looked good.

 

man..only if i could do taht to the pinstriping left behind by the trees good post!

 

gold on green....gold on anything

looks good

 

Just curious, BEFORE you debadged the rear why is the 4WD emblem before the Limited? I've never seen it like that before... All the 4Runner's I've seen say "Limited 4WD".

 

^^ hell if I know, i've seen 1 other limited like mine with it the exact same way *shrug*
and to violate the following...
i'd like to keep all comments about the debadging in the other thread
for search purposes of course =)

 

I think we'll just have to agree to extremely disagree on this
If i wanted bling, i'd put the old gold front toyota emblem on a chain and wear it around my neck =)

 

Pinstriping=poop. I took my off with a heat gun and a fingernail... well her fingernails, I eat mine! I had faded paint so I can still see my stripes, polishing/rubbing compound is needed to blend it in. Without a doubt it's nice not having stripes. Your magic eraser looks a lot easier than my heat gun/kerosene/goo gone/girlfriends fingernails. Looks good though!

 

i bet she wasn't too thrilled with that haha.
ya, it's a piece of cake... i'm not one to throw anything too harsh at paint... it's durable, but it's not designed for it *shrug*

 

Looks Good Man. I also like the clean look. I have a taco and took of the "Toyota" and the smaller "tacoma V6" on the tailgate and the pinstripping down the sides. It's a 97 and I did it with a blow dryer. I did have a little bit of fading, but after a good wash a little wax and buffing I couldn't even tell. It still looks good and it's been almost a year.