Easy stone guard decal removal

[Fairview]

My 84 Carrera is original paint with original stone guard decals. The stone guards are faded, chipped, brittle, and need replacing. I read the many threads here about heat guns, plastic scrapers, 3m decal removing wheels, and WD40 purchased by the gallon. I was dreading the task.

I did see a thread about steaming the decals, so I thought why not try hot water poured on the decals? Even scalding hot water won’t reach the temperature that a heat gun puts out, so the risk of damage to the paint seems very low.

So with my wife’s trusty tea kettle filled with boiling water, I slowly poured water along the first decal until it got good and hot. Starting at the top, the decal pulled off intact and when it got near the bottom at the rocker strip, I poured more hot water along the seam between decal and body. This softened up things even more and the decal pulled up and off without having to remove the rocker trim strip. The whole process was literally three minutes for each decal.

Now the greatest thing is that there was no adhesive left on the paint. Except for a tiny ridge along the entire perimeter of the decal, there was zero adhesive left behind. I’m glad the ridge was left as this process went so quickly and easily, I forgot to measure or cut a template to locate the new decals. So I took some measurements and wiped off the little ridge with a rag dampened with a glue solvent.

So that is my testimonial. Hope it encourages you to try it, and in colder weather you can enjoy a nice cup of English Breakfast tea with the remaining hot water.

[Aircooled4evr]

Cool Fairview! I will go out in the garage and try this right away!

[Aircooled4evr]

Fairview you're the man! And you were correct, 3 min per side.

[PeteKz]

Steamers are the right way to do this. As you noted, boiling water won’t burn the paint, and neither will steam. A heat gun in the wrong hands, however...