My vinyl stipe under the toe rail is in bad shape. I plan on replacing it. Would it be easier to apply a new vinyl stripe or paint a stripe on? Has anyone chosen the paint option? As always, thanks for the input!
- Status
removal
I knwo you did not ask but, I removed my old vinyl strip under my toe rail using an earaser wheel attached to a drill. I got the earaser at an aut parts store. Really great tool and made the job easy.
I knwo you did not ask but, I removed my old vinyl strip under my toe rail using an earaser wheel attached to a drill. I got the earaser at an aut parts store. Really great tool and made the job easy.
In fact I was going to ask
about removal. The top stripe on my 83 H34 is in rough shape and I started to remove it last spring. I used an eraser wheel in my variable speed drill. Unfortunately it was anything but easy. After nearly 2 hours I had removed about 2 feet. I tried heat from a heat gun, acetone, nothing seemed to work. Any hints? The stripes are checked and pieces are missing but whereever it is stuck down it is really stuck
about removal. The top stripe on my 83 H34 is in rough shape and I started to remove it last spring. I used an eraser wheel in my variable speed drill. Unfortunately it was anything but easy. After nearly 2 hours I had removed about 2 feet. I tried heat from a heat gun, acetone, nothing seemed to work. Any hints? The stripes are checked and pieces are missing but whereever it is stuck down it is really stuck
Wall Paper Scraper
I removed all the stripes from the cabintop and hull on our 28.5 several years ago carefully using a 5" wide wall paper scraper. I had also intended to use a heat gun to soften it up but that turned out not to be any advantage. Use the scraper to pick up a corner at tre transom and pull the tape away as you push the scraper forward at about a 30 degree angle. I put back two different tape colors from West Marine; Navy Blue and Metalic Silver. Check out the Celebration II folders in the Gallery section of www.huntertwentyeightfive.com.
I removed all the stripes from the cabintop and hull on our 28.5 several years ago carefully using a 5" wide wall paper scraper. I had also intended to use a heat gun to soften it up but that turned out not to be any advantage. Use the scraper to pick up a corner at tre transom and pull the tape away as you push the scraper forward at about a 30 degree angle. I put back two different tape colors from West Marine; Navy Blue and Metalic Silver. Check out the Celebration II folders in the Gallery section of www.huntertwentyeightfive.com.
Wall Paper steamer
I have used the eraser with mixed results. When the vinyl is very thin like they normally are on the cabin, the eraser just zips the stuff away. When the vinyl is beat up, but is still well attached and it has not been thinned by the sun, the experience was much more difficult. The fellow that owns a vinyl sign business used a wallpaper steamer to remove some stripes and it took only a few minutes.
I have used the eraser with mixed results. When the vinyl is very thin like they normally are on the cabin, the eraser just zips the stuff away. When the vinyl is beat up, but is still well attached and it has not been thinned by the sun, the experience was much more difficult. The fellow that owns a vinyl sign business used a wallpaper steamer to remove some stripes and it took only a few minutes.
Heat gun & MEK
I removed a wide four-color vinyl stripe and all of the other vinyl graphics from my boat using a heat gun to soften the adhesive and a plastic scraper to keep from damaging the gel coat. I found that once I got an end up of the vinyl up, I could slowly move the heat gun along the stripe with one hand while pulling the vinyl off behind it with the other. Then I used MEK (methyl ethyl keytone) and rags to remove the adhesive left behind. Removing the vinyl and the adhesive was slow going, at least 80% of the work, though I think I had an unusually large quantity of vinyl to remove. Marking and applying much more understated new vinyl stripes was a breeze. Make sure you buy a good quality vinyl that is UV protected so it lasts longer.
I removed a wide four-color vinyl stripe and all of the other vinyl graphics from my boat using a heat gun to soften the adhesive and a plastic scraper to keep from damaging the gel coat. I found that once I got an end up of the vinyl up, I could slowly move the heat gun along the stripe with one hand while pulling the vinyl off behind it with the other. Then I used MEK (methyl ethyl keytone) and rags to remove the adhesive left behind. Removing the vinyl and the adhesive was slow going, at least 80% of the work, though I think I had an unusually large quantity of vinyl to remove. Marking and applying much more understated new vinyl stripes was a breeze. Make sure you buy a good quality vinyl that is UV protected so it lasts longer.
- Status