I am changing the name on my boat and when I removed the old vinyl letters the ghost of the old name remains in the gel coat. You can actually feel the raised "ghost" letters in the gel coat. I know I will need to wetsand this out but I am not sure what the steps are. The boat is 13 years and the hull finish is in like new condition. Any advice on the appropriate steps with product types would be helpful Frank
More on waxing - Name Removal
- Thread starter Frank P
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If you are sure you have removed all the adhesive
then a light compound is probably in order, then a polish. That should make the surrounding gelcoat as pristine as the area under the old vinyl.
then a light compound is probably in order, then a polish. That should make the surrounding gelcoat as pristine as the area under the old vinyl.
Wet sand
I did the same thing on my 1987 H23. The original registration letters were still there from the day she was new. The raised area under the lettering was noticeable as the lettering had shielded the gelcoat from the elements and wear. I wet sanded with 600 grit and then compounded the entire hull to remove chalkiness. You could still see it after I had finished and put the new lettering over the area, but by the end of the season it had virtually disappeared.
I did the same thing on my 1987 H23. The original registration letters were still there from the day she was new. The raised area under the lettering was noticeable as the lettering had shielded the gelcoat from the elements and wear. I wet sanded with 600 grit and then compounded the entire hull to remove chalkiness. You could still see it after I had finished and put the new lettering over the area, but by the end of the season it had virtually disappeared.
How much work do you want to do?
I took the vinyl letters off the transom of my boat last spring. Same as for you: the gelcoat under the letters was actually "raised" above the surrounding exposed hull. I didn't want to sand only that portion of the hull, as I was afraid it would become a different color than the rest of the hull, and I certainly didn't want to sand the entire hull as it didn't need it (not to mention that I really don't like that kind of work). My compromise was that I applied a fiberglass light compounding product with an orbital buffer only to the area around the letters. After doing this, if you were more than 6 feet from the transom, you had to look for the shadows of the old letters to see them; they were invisible from more than 10 feet. After a full season in the sun, the shadows are even less apparent. In sum, unless you want or need to sand the whole hull, try something less drastic first.
I took the vinyl letters off the transom of my boat last spring. Same as for you: the gelcoat under the letters was actually "raised" above the surrounding exposed hull. I didn't want to sand only that portion of the hull, as I was afraid it would become a different color than the rest of the hull, and I certainly didn't want to sand the entire hull as it didn't need it (not to mention that I really don't like that kind of work). My compromise was that I applied a fiberglass light compounding product with an orbital buffer only to the area around the letters. After doing this, if you were more than 6 feet from the transom, you had to look for the shadows of the old letters to see them; they were invisible from more than 10 feet. After a full season in the sun, the shadows are even less apparent. In sum, unless you want or need to sand the whole hull, try something less drastic first.
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