When you change a name on a boat,you remove the letters and a "Ghost" out line of the old name remains. Rubbing compound etc. just doesn't remove it. Anyone with success in this area. How did you do it?
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Wet Sand
Morning Roy: What happens is that the old name has protected the gel coat from uv rays for a number of years and the gel has deterioated at a different rate. The best I've ever been able to do was hand sand with a fine grit wet sand paper over the entire area. Then come in behind that with a power buffer and fine rubbing/polishing compound. Then, emplace your new name in approximately over the same position if you can. At first when you looked real hard at my transom, you could see faint shadows from the old name but it has since faded and is no longer noticable at all. Gel coat is normally pretty thick, but be real careful if you sand not to get it too thin so that the under color shows through. There are some photos in the photo/project section under O'Day 34 Stern Seats that shows the results if your interested. Luck!
Morning Roy: What happens is that the old name has protected the gel coat from uv rays for a number of years and the gel has deterioated at a different rate. The best I've ever been able to do was hand sand with a fine grit wet sand paper over the entire area. Then come in behind that with a power buffer and fine rubbing/polishing compound. Then, emplace your new name in approximately over the same position if you can. At first when you looked real hard at my transom, you could see faint shadows from the old name but it has since faded and is no longer noticable at all. Gel coat is normally pretty thick, but be real careful if you sand not to get it too thin so that the under color shows through. There are some photos in the photo/project section under O'Day 34 Stern Seats that shows the results if your interested. Luck!
Don't rub it in
I believe J.B. is right that if you clean off all the old adhesive, the shadow will eventually go away when UV and oxidation do their work on the part that had been shielded. If you try too hard to rub it off you may actually make it harder to go away, because the small scratches on the shielded side may not be the same size as the scratches on the exposed side.
I believe J.B. is right that if you clean off all the old adhesive, the shadow will eventually go away when UV and oxidation do their work on the part that had been shielded. If you try too hard to rub it off you may actually make it harder to go away, because the small scratches on the shielded side may not be the same size as the scratches on the exposed side.
Rich, All the more reason you want to wet sand. This helps to make the scratches more uniform, remove oxidation from surrounding areas and bring up fresh gelcoat. Uniform wet sanding, followed by light compounding and polishing should go a long way to hiding the ghost. Good luck.
Just did mind...
...used 600 wet sandpaper till the ghost was gone then buffed it out with polishing compound. Worked great! Boat go's in today. Who...rod!
...used 600 wet sandpaper till the ghost was gone then buffed it out with polishing compound. Worked great! Boat go's in today. Who...rod!
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