Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hi, I need to remove some of the original Honda decals from my front mudguard (fender?) as part of a clean & paint job. Does anyone know what solvent will losen them? I've tried brake cleaner & acetone without success. The decals will come off with a sharp scraper but that will damage the paint underneath & I'd prefer to preserve as much as possible.

Thanks

I just use a bare razor blade and use patience. Peel up the corner and try to pull off slow, hoping it comes off in big chunks to save time. A heat gun would help soften the adhesive but dont over heat it to melting point. Then use your chemical of choice to remove any goop left behind by the decals. Any tiny gouges made by this method can easily be sanded out with #400 sandpaper prior to paint. Youre going to want to lightly sand everything before paint anyways to remove any other dings/scrapes and it improves paint adhesion.

Too bad there isnt a miracle solvent to make decals cleanly just fall off but there isnt. They must be surgically removed.

Thanks, yeah the heatgun idea sounds like it might help soften things up, I'll give it a try. You're right that it will all need sanding & priming after, I'm just a bit worried about making too many deep gouges. The mudguard was almost a basket case due to some shunting in an earlier life but looks to be mostly saved by making some new support brackets & couple of dozen pop rivets. Just needs some cosmetic tlc aka filler primer & paint.

I've heard wd40 works well on decals, but haven't confirmed it. I use a heat gun.

Thanks for the tips, the heat gun worked fine. I used a paint stripper heat gun on the low setting and just warmed things up so they were fairly warm to the touch. The decals peeled off without too much trouble. I also tried WD40 but it did not seem to have any effect.

Hair dryer or heat gun to loosen the decal to pull it up and lighter fluid to remove residue. WD40 can help to remove the adhesive, but lighter fluid is the best I have ever found to date.

Plastic razor blades work real well for decal removal, use a heat gun on low or a hair bryer and get it warm and scrap it off gently. Then to remove residue use some goof off adhesive remover.