Removing painted name

[Paul]

I am looking for recommendations on how to best remove the painted on name of a boat. What method won't damage the gel coat?

 

[Peter]

Paint removal

Best method to remove the paint that I know of is to use oven cleaner. But you will end up with a patch of gelcoat underneath that won't match the other gelcoat regardless of the method. Check the archives there's lots of discussion on how to best deal with that.

 

[Augie Byllott]

Paint removal

First, are you sure it's paint and not vinyl lettering which has been popular for at least 15 years? Regardless of what method you use to remove the lettering, fading will have occurred to the area not covered by the lettering. If you plan to add a new name, you will surely be using vinyl lettering which is easily self-applied. If the new name is long enough and you pick a typeface that is heavy and a font size that is large enough, the unfaded areas may not be very noticable. Even if they are, the same sun that caused the propblem to occur will, in a season or so, cause it to disappear.

 

[Grant]

Easy Off, but....................

Hey Paul,I used Easy Off but as previously mentioned it will leave an off color. To fix this I acid washed the transom and the acid ate off the film. Now you are ready for vinyl letters. Hand wax afterwords or the knucklehead at the yard will electric buff the edges off the new letters.Good Luck!