I've searched the forums but no one has the same problem as me. I found a late 80s (judging by components) Bianchi bike (see Catch of the day! thread) and I took the stickers off because i'm getting replacements. The problem is, there seems to be 2 layers of paint. The top layer is white with a celeste-ish tinge to it and the bottom coat (under the stickers) is plain white. I used some paint thinner to try to get the sticker residue off but I still have the outline of the old stickers. I want to take the top coat off so I can put the replacement stickers on because they don't have the same outline as the old ones. Is there any way I can take the top coat of without hurting the bottom coat?

i think the area under the sticker is never expose to any uv or whatever light...amd hence it remains white.
That should be the original colour. Try not to use thinner, you might remove the paint.
Maybe you can try car polish on those area w/o stickers.....after polishing it should reveal the original colour(not 100%).