In the absence of any entries (or the ability to find them?) on the subject and having just acquired new plates for our car, I thought that I would start something in the Forum for others to add their more experienced knowledge and skills for the benefit of the (over?) cautious, technically challenged individuals like me!
A guy on YouTube was shown grasping the end of a plate and ripping it off in one dramatic move, like a sadistic nurse at a hospital removing a large flexible plaster! Regular leg and other body part waxers will know the similarities! I worried that the plate might snap and fly back to injure me ( it’s an age thing and we have a son-in-law who was a Health Safety Officer in the Army, so everything has to have a risk assessment these days!!!) So, I cautiously inserted a long bladed paint scraper into the top of the ends and midde of the plates to separate the sticky pads. No problem, but I was left with the remainder of the sticky pads on the plate mounting surfaces. After trying an assortment of solvents, including our domestic label removing liquid, petrol on a rag seemed to work best aided by a plastic wall filler spatula. Repeated wipes with the petrol soaked rag seemed to gradually make it easier to remove the old pad bits. From the deep scratches to the surface of the mounting plates, it was obvious that a less gentle technique had been used before! After a good clean of the mounting surfaces, I fixed the new sticky pads to them, not on the plates as it seemed easier to locate them, before easing the new plates, at an angle horizontally, to line them up, before pressing them fully home. I know that it is really a simple task, especially after you have done it once, but even simple tasks can look difficult at first glance.
The car looks as though it has taken on a new identity - a minor change to make it more individual and ours! It is a pity that I have yet to learn how to post a photo.
Ralf