Removing Decals/Striping

[Bryank]

I'm ready to update the look of my boat from the black/gold of the 2000s to the black/silver of today. I already replaced by linen tweed canvas with black and now I would like to do the striping. Has anyone removed striping on their own? From what I see online, it looks like a heat gun and some patience are all that I really need (and a helper to pull the tape as I heat it). Any other advice from folks who have done this before? Once the stripes are removed, are you left with a "shadow" stripe that is difficult to blend into the rest of the gel coat, or does some compound and polish take care of that?

Once I remove the stripes, I will have new ones professionally installed--I don't trust myself to do that!

 

[Sprint7TW]

Plastic blade scraper along with the heat gun.
you can buff over the area where you removed the original stripes.
If you are going to replace the stripes I would not worry to much about the shadow as you will be covering it with the new stripes.

 

[Sous]

I'm ready to update the look of my boat from the black/gold of the 2000s to the black/silver of today. I already replaced by linen tweed canvas with black and now I would like to do the striping. Has anyone removed striping on their own? From what I see online, it looks like a heat gun and some patience are all that I really need (and a helper to pull the tape as I heat it). Any other advice from folks who have done this before? Once the stripes are removed, are you left with a "shadow" stripe that is difficult to blend into the rest of the gel coat, or does some compound and polish take care of that?

Once I remove the stripes, I will have new ones professionally installed--I don't trust myself to do that!

Be prepared with one (or several) of these in case the decals don't just peel off. I removed mine as well and the tape would crack every inch or so, it was a total PITA and I ended up using this.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Your tackling the most difficult part in my opinion. Your paying the guy to re stripe it why not save your time and blisters and just have them remove the old? These guys have little tricks cause they do it all the time. I'm having all my boot stripes removed and redone for $500 I wouldn't even plug the extension cord in for that!

 

[Lazy Daze]

I redid my black and gold stripes to black and silver (nickel-ish) a few years back, too. One the best and least expensive aesthetic improvements. It's amazing how much difference new stripes can make. While I was at it, I got rid of the dated "sun" Sundancer logo, too. I used the newer style Sundancer logo and then had the "two sixty" part made at a vinyl/graphic shop just to set it off a little more. This newer Sundancer logo is made out of those raised/gel-like lettering, by the way - not just flat vinyl.

You can certainly take the old stuff off, but I agree with Shamrock that you're really not going to save much money doing it yourself. But of course, if you just want to do it "because", then sure, why not. When you get the old striping off -- heat gun, eraser tool (I used the one made by 3M), etc, along with acetone/goo be gone/naptha/etc for the residue -- you won't really have so much of a "shadow" as you will a raised area under the striping. From years of UV degradation and compounding, the gelcoat that is NOT under the striping will be thinner. But, as noted, if you're putting the striping back in the same place it won't really matter.

 

[Bryank]

Your tackling the most difficult part in my opinion. Your paying the guy to re stripe it why not save your time and blisters and just have them remove the old? These guys have little tricks cause they do it all the time. I'm having all my boot stripes removed and redone for $500 I wouldn't even plug the extension cord in for that!

Hmm... I like your logic, but my pricing is a bit different. The total cost to remove and replace the boot stripes (at water line) and the topside hull stripes is $2,200. $500 of that is removal, so I figured I would at least save that much by doing it myself. Perhaps I need to shop around a bit more if you had your boot stripes remove and replaced for $500 total.

 

[Lazy Daze]

To give you an idea of the amount of time it takes for removal... If I remember correctly, I had my striping off in about an hour (along with the residue). Granted, it's a smaller boat than yours, but it at least gives you an approximation.

 

[BritLady]

From memory think we paid about $350 for removal and new stripe being put on. You need to get some more quotes


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[Havana Shamrock]

Bryan, I agree with you at those prices $2200? I'd be shopping around also. That's ridiculous.

 

[Rocket]

I am having boot stripes repalced on port side, $ 300 all in with removal.

 

[ZZ13]

I redid my black and gold stripes to black and silver (nickel-ish) a few years back, too. One the best and least expensive aesthetic improvements. It's amazing how much difference new stripes can make. While I was at it, I got rid of the dated "sun" Sundancer logo, too. I used the newer style Sundancer logo and then had the "two sixty" part made at a vinyl/graphic shop just to set it off a little more. This newer Sundancer logo is made out of those raised/gel-like lettering, by the way - not just flat vinyl.

You can certainly take the old stuff off, but I agree with Shamrock that you're really not going to save much money doing it yourself. But of course, if you just want to do it "because", then sure, why not. When you get the old striping off -- heat gun, eraser tool (I used the one made by 3M), etc, along with acetone/goo be gone/naptha/etc for the residue -- you won't really have so much of a "shadow" as you will a raised area under the striping. From years of UV degradation and compounding, the gelcoat that is NOT under the striping will be thinner. But, as noted, if you're putting the striping back in the same place it won't really matter.

But, but, Dennis. One day the retro "sun" logo will be all the rage and you'll not be current.

One thing I have noticed is just removing the skinny gold trim makes a nice improvement. The one on the side of my bridge was taken off and I like it a lot better with just the black stripe. I am thinking of just taking the skinny gold off the boot and leaving the fat black.

 

[Lazy Daze]

But, but, Dennis. One day the retro "sun" logo will be all the rage and you'll not be current.

I didn't want to wait 30 years for it to come back in style... :smt001

Good point about removing just the skinny gold stripe. That's free if it's DIY and it might just "do the trick". Along that line of thinking, possibly removing ALL stripes above the rubrail and leaving them off to give a cleaner look.

 

[JVM225]

I've changed my boot stripes twice, and I don't think the removal ever took more than an hour using a product called "747 Adesive Remover", and a scraper. I found the hot sun to be even better than a heat gun because it doesn't make the adhesive gooey. But if you use a heat gun, stick with a low setting. You can always work your way up from there if you feel you need to.
A good sign shop should be able to give you whatever colors of vinyl strip you want, in whatever widths.
Applying it is pretty easy. Just use a spray bottle with soapy water, and a little handheld rubber squeegy. Start from the bow, and work your way back.
If you don't want to bother with applying the new stripe, then it shouldn't take the guy from the sign shop where you get the vinyl more than about 45 minutes altogether to do both sides of your 41' boat.

 

[Bryank]

Lots of good advice here... I'll definitely get a second quote. I am considering just leaving the stripes above the rub rail off. I will decide once they are removed.

 

[Sprint7TW]

If you notice in my sig. picture, all my stripes and logo's are off other than the boot stripe.

 

[Strecker25]

I redid my black and gold stripes to black and silver (nickel-ish) a few years back, too. One the best and least expensive aesthetic improvements. It's amazing how much difference new stripes can make. While I was at it, I got rid of the dated "sun" Sundancer logo, too. I used the newer style Sundancer logo and then had the "two sixty" part made at a vinyl/graphic shop just to set it off a little more. This newer Sundancer logo is made out of those raised/gel-like lettering, by the way - not just flat vinyl.

You can certainly take the old stuff off, but I agree with Shamrock that you're really not going to save much money doing it yourself. But of course, if you just want to do it "because", then sure, why not. When you get the old striping off -- heat gun, eraser tool (I used the one made by 3M), etc, along with acetone/goo be gone/naptha/etc for the residue -- you won't really have so much of a "shadow" as you will a raised area under the striping. From years of UV degradation and compounding, the gelcoat that is NOT under the striping will be thinner. But, as noted, if you're putting the striping back in the same place it won't really matter.

Where did you get the new logo? I'd love to do ours as we just replaced the linen tweed with black canvas as well. Our family owns a machine shop so I thought about cutting it out of thin stainless and using that but I'd rather get OEM if possible. Yours looks great!

 

[BillK2632]

I pulled the stripes off my 185 last year - I used an eraser wheel, it would have been impossible otherwise, my stripes were old and cracking, could only peel about 2" at a time. Did it in about 30min with the wheel. Some buff magic and you would never know they were there. My original intent was to replace the stripes, but decided I like the cleaner look. You really don't see much pin striping on newer boats, I personally like a nice boot stripe and that's about it - leave the bold stripes and graphic for the wakeboard boats. It's in like new condition otherwise I would pull off the SeaRay "edge" stripe and just leave the boot stripe, also afraid on a 15yr old boat it would be impossible to buff out the shading from that large decal. Also, you can't see it in the pictures, but "185" decal on the transom was old and cracked also, I couldn't find a replacement, but emailed a guy on Ebay that was advertising other SeaRay decals, I used an old fashion pencil and paper, traced the decal before I removed it from the boat and got a perfect replacement for $10.

Before:

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After:

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[bbwhitejr]

I removed mine with a hair dryer, cleaned with acetone and then compounded. Why not remove and replace yourself? Granted my boat is much smaller, but bought the stripes at Boatus and inside of 4 hours, old ones off, new ones on, and out about $35.

Bennett

 

[Lazy Daze]

Where did you get the new logo? I'd love to do ours as we just replaced the linen tweed with black canvas as well. Our family owns a machine shop so I thought about cutting it out of thin stainless and using that but I'd rather get OEM if possible. Yours looks great!

The stainless would look very nice.

Where did I buy the Sundancer logo? From myself! :grin: It's part #1940581. If I remember correctly, they were about $6 each. Your local dealer may even have some in stock. If they have to order it, and you're not in a rush, ask them to wait until they have another order from Sea Ray so you can split the shipping.

 

[RollerCoastr]

I am considering just leaving the stripes above the rub rail off. I will decide once they are removed.

I wish I had a picture of my neighbor Shelly's 410 (the one your friends were interested in). South Shore removed the cabin-top striping during the detailing process. I think it looks much better without it, but they didn't get all of the ghosting out.