hey guys I think I saw an earlier thread concerning this, but my question is:
if a chrome frame with its decals is sprayed with spray paint can it be removed without destroying the decals?
what is the best process to preserve the decals?

If you take a rag and a hand torch and heat up the paint then take the rag and wipe the paint off. Don't know how to save the decals/stickers. if you carefully heat up the stickers you can wipe off the paint, but be very careful. this is how I got the blackish/grey/purple paint off my old CW and also how I last the majority of the hair on my right arm. don't worry though hair grows back.

My rims for my street bike were painted over with black paint without removing the stickers. I recently took the rims apart and used paint thinner to wipe the paint off the rims so that they would be chrome again and it did not damage or remove the stickers. Granted these stickers are not old like you find on old school frames. I would try it on a small section where the stickers are and let the thinner soak enough to loosen the paint, then wipe the paint off with a rag. Be carefull around the stickers so that they do not pull up. Keep doing this until the paint is gone. In my experience, it did not damage the chrome.

If you do it the way I did it, take caution because I may have gotten lucky that the stickers did not come off. Since your stickers are older they might get damaged so I am not sure if this is the best thing to do. I do remember trying to remove the stickers on my Dyno years ago when I repainted it (which I regret doing since I cannot find the stickers anywhere), the stickers were very difficult to remove. I'd test my method on other chrome forks, rims, or bars that have stickers on it that you won't need and see how it works out then decide whether you want to try it on the frame in question.

Edit: here is a picture of the rims I used my method on. http://members.cox.net/mihoshi/alexrims.jpg

[ February 18, 2005, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Richard C ]