Couple of thoughts. Have you thought about leaving the pickguard on? If you ever want to sell the guitar, it might not hurt. And as far as I know it doesn't affect the sound. If it's purely cosmetic, I'd heed the advice of the gang here and weigh the cosmetic risk vs keeping the guard on. This of course depends on age of the axe, how it was kept, etc. But if it's a cosmetic decision, you know what the guitar looks like with the pickguard on. You don't know what it'll look like without the guard. My question is, will you regret it if you remove the guard? (although you can always put one back on I suppose.)

good luck.

sparky