I had a silverado with black onyx paint that was 4 years old, and when I removed the badges with the 3m adhesive eraser I actually had no metal flake under the badges and it was a factory paint job... I know weird but true, and you could definately tell...
Some jack ass clear coated over the z71 sticker on the driver side of my truck. I took the sticker off anyway. I need to wet sand and have it cleared but you cant tell unless your 6 inches away. Thats on my to do list next month.