Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: gracerace on September 26, 2017, 08:49:54 pm
Title: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 26, 2017, 08:49:54 pm
Having trouble removing the old decal stain. I looked on search. I see lots of idea's for removing the glue etc. Don't have any issue with getting the decals off with a heat gun. I use a razor blade to skim the glue off, after wiping it with Xylene. Xylene is stronger then paint thinner, softer the lacquer thinner. Have use it for years with repairs. It also love's silicone. Eat's it up.Easy on everything else. Wear glove, bad for you. Goes right in your system through your hands. The issue is not the ridge, or mark from the decal. I can wet sand it from 500 to 1000 then 2500,and polish it out. What the issue is, the coach was stored inside, but at times the PO would park it out side. The side away from the sun is fine, but the side that was in the sun has deep green stains in the gel coat (decals were green). I have tried to deep sand it out with a DA and 320, even went briefly to 220 grit. gone as deep as I want to go. I have tried Bleach, and also 'Great Value" brand mold & mildew remover.It normally takes out deep stains in the cloth headliner, and has worked wonders in the past on my boat seat. Anybody had any other luck with anything else? I read to soak it with bleach in the sun, every 2 hours for 2 weeks. Have done it a few days, don't see any difference. We don't want to go back to a band around the coach, plan to do something different.See pic's BTW, I'am taking a few sections at a time off while I am not busy. I plan to remove them all at some point.Last picture is the goal. Thanks for your input Chris
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 27, 2017, 08:09:48 pm
Well, it looks like no one has any idea's for me So I will put this right here for future decal removers, and answer my own question. All the research I did, steered me to Muriatic acid. Another suggestion was On/Off by Mary Kate or FSR (fiberglass stain removal). You can buy either all over online, but didn't want to wait to have it shipped. Seemed like On/Off was slightly better depending on who you listen to. Went to Ace Hardware, bought Muriatic acid for $3.99.Put it on with a brush, then wiped it off several times, letting it sit 5-10 min. in between. It took away about 40% of the stain, but it was still noticeable.I figured what the heck, go for it. If I burn through the gel coat, it doesn't matter, because at this point I will need to have a band decal around it anyway, which is what I didn't want. So I took out the trusty DA, went 220 grit, and sanded till the green was 90-98% gone. Then 320, then 1000 wet, to 2000 and some power polishing with 2 different polishing compounds. Ta Da, it's gone. Check out the pic's
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: lenspeiser on September 27, 2017, 08:26:48 pm
Chris, Congratulations on finding a solution. You have more guts than I do, putting muriatic acid on there. I would have thought that would have really messed it up. I am trying to nurse the decals on our bus along for a little while. When we get a place to do the deed, I am hoping to pull them off and then paint the stripes right where they are now. It is good to know what can be done if we decide to change that at all. I am sure that in real life the stains you have are pretty noticeable, but from the pix on this computer it was really hard to see them. I look forward to seeing more pix as you progress.
Len
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 27, 2017, 08:44:48 pm
Thanks. Rather then paint them on, I encourage you to have a wrap shop do what you want. Way cheaper, a lot less work. Here is some pic's of our old MoHo done by a local wrap shop for $1000.00. They even re-did the Dutchmen names all around. I did all the prep.It has gold flake in it, and is breathtaking in person. They all use 3M products, which is a million times better then the Original stuff.To do our FT the way it shows in the picture, is $1200.00 BTW, if you are going over the same band stripe, the stains will cause no issues.
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: Hans&Marjet on September 27, 2017, 09:03:29 pm
Thanks. I don't mean to offend anyone. But I have studied RV's and realize band stripes make them look dated, so I would personally go with some sort of modern graffix's. Rather then paint them on, I encourage you to have a wrap shop do what you want. Way cheaper, a lot less work. Here is some pic's of our old MoHo done by a local wrap shop for $1000.00. They even re-did the Dutchmen names all around. I did all the prep.It has gold flake in it, and is breathtaking in person. They all use 3M products, which is a million times better then the Original stuff.To do our FT the way it shows in the picture above, is $1200.00 BTW, if you are going over the same band stripe, the stains will cause no issues.
Love that 300...
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: craneman on September 27, 2017, 09:53:50 pm
Chris, I guess my coach is dated, but as the old saying goes" beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."
P.S The stripes are 3M
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 27, 2017, 11:08:57 pm
Chris, I guess my coach is dated, but as the old saying goes" beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."
P.S The stripes are 3M
How can it be dated? FT's are timeless.... :D
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: Don & Tys on September 27, 2017, 11:13:24 pm
When the decals came off of our coach, the ghosts of the dark green stripes were apparent. Also, there was crazing in the gelcoat where the stripes had been. The dark color of the stripes heated the gelcoat behind the stripes and caused the crazing (very hard to see except up close and at certain angles in the right lighting). It wasn't our original plan to recreate the stripes in paint, but I still didn't want the original multi color striping as it came from the factory. We sat down with the graphic artist at Xtreme and came up with a plan that covered the mid body stripes, recreated the minimalist swoops (which I actually liked) in the colors of our choice. I also took the swoops, straightened and flattened them somewhat, outlined them in the same gold color that traced the rest of the graphics and placed them in the single broad stripe that is done in a gradient from low to high. AS result, the colors change from a very light to quite pronounced depending on the angle of the light. In the end, we were very happy (and still are) with what we came up with. To us, the coach looks updated. But then, I am still fond of the solid brass hardware inside that everyone seems offended by... 8) Don
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: lgshoup on September 28, 2017, 12:15:31 pm
Craneman, Kinda looks like ours will when I'm through. using the original burgundy colors with a band all the way around. Kind of a silver, kind of a tan, and then the wider dark burgundy. None on top of each other. Nice looking coach.
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: TulsaTrent on September 28, 2017, 01:05:16 pm
I have heard the phrase "wrap" before, bud never knew what it meant.
Is it the same thing as vinyl decals, or is it something different?
Your "after" pictures are truly, amazingly gorgeous!
Trent
Thanks for the compliment. Muchco work...Wrap is short for vinyl wrapping. All the new drag race and I believe NASCAR cars are wrapped. When you see commercial vehicles, or exotic truck trailers going down the road, that is a wrap. Way cheaper then paint. Much less prep I.E. taping off to paint a coach. A full body paint is what 15-30K? You could have a coach completely wrapped (full body) for maybe 3K in 1-2 days Hope this helps Chris
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 28, 2017, 02:31:51 pm
When the decals came off of our coach, the ghosts of the dark green stripes were apparent. Also, there was crazing in the gelcoat where the stripes had been. The dark color of the stripes heated the gelcoat behind the stripes and caused the crazing (very hard to see except up close and at certain angles in the right lighting). It wasn't our original plan to recreate the stripes in paint, but I still didn't want the original multi color striping as it came from the factory. We sat down with the graphic artist at Xtreme and came up with a plan that covered the mid body stripes, recreated the minimalist swoops (which I actually liked) in the colors of our choice. I also took the swoops, straightened and flattened them somewhat, outlined them in the same gold color that traced the rest of the graphics and placed them in the single broad stripe that is done in a gradient from low to high. AS result, the colors change from a very light to quite pronounced depending on the angle of the light. In the end, we were very happy (and still are) with what we came up with. To us, the coach looks updated. But then, I am still fond of the solid brass hardware inside that everyone seems offended by... 8) Don
Beautiful. Lots of idea's
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: Kurt on September 28, 2017, 06:16:48 pm
Chris,
You are a brave man. Great work!
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 28, 2017, 08:12:09 pm
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 28, 2017, 08:25:27 pm
UPDATE: Muriatic Acid for sure. Maybe it takes 50% satin away. Use 100% strong 3-4 times......wear a mask, again, wear a mask, not one of those paper ones either. A real ventilator mask. Then DA with dry 320 (scary huh?), sand the heck out of it for hours. It needs to be in the sun, because it will fool you.Sometimes you think it's gone, some times it looks like you never removed the stripes! Start with 360 grit DA,500 DA, 1000 DA, then good old manual wet sand with 1500, lastly 2000 or 2500 wet sand, with 2 different levels of polishing (power) It is 100% gone, huas-ta-la by by. I can clearly see where I stopped, and where it's gone. 150 hrs, $150.00 bucks....1/2 way there...Goal is reach-able I plan to leave the swash on the back cap, the 3 ribbons parts on each side, and the lower stuff between the comp doors. Those are all in good shape. We got ride of all the crappy stuff.We will complete it in the spring when we return. Side note. The big ribbons, come off easy, and leave NO stains. Cheers
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: RetiredGuns on September 30, 2017, 01:24:53 am
Thanks for the compliment. Muchco work...Wrap is short for vinyl wrapping. All the new drag race and I believe NASCAR cars are wrapped. When you see commercial vehicles, or exotic truck trailers going down the road, that is a wrap. Way cheaper then paint. Much less prep I.E. taping off to paint a coach. A full body paint is what 15-30K? You could have a coach completely wrapped (full body) for maybe 3K in 1-2 days Hope this helps Chris
You coach turned out Beautiful, Chris! That is a lot of work, I am sure! My question to you is, a FULL Wrap just $3K? Would that include the Windows wrapped as well, where a design would not be cut off, just because of the windows? I must see if I can locate a Local Company, or see if I can get one scheduled when traveling?
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on September 30, 2017, 04:02:14 pm
You coach turned out Beautiful, Chris! That is a lot of work, I am sure! My question to you is, a FULL Wrap just $3K? Would that include the Windows wrapped as well, where a design would not be cut off, just because of the windows? I must see if I can locate a Local Company, or see if I can get one scheduled when traveling?
Probably,I am just guessing 3K, based on what others have paid for trailers etc. I would shop around. I just sent our guy a picture of something I liked, and our coach. They super imposed it on our coach, then gave us a quote. Definitely shop. I got 2 quotes, they were really far apart. Doing the windows could look really cool. Our coach has really dark, almost black new Motion windows. I kind of dig them. Cheers, and thanks again for the compliment. Chris Attached is what they did. It's just idea's. They didn't remove the old stuff
Title: Re: Decal Stain Removal
Post by: gracerace on October 04, 2017, 07:44:58 pm
UPDATE: This is as far as I am going. Mucho work.The rest comes off easy, with little sanding. The big swoosh's (old ribbon), leave no stain. There is absolutely no green stain at all. All we have left is the good stuff, good enough for our snow bird trip Stay tuned. Next spring will be the completion. Sure makes it look shorter! Cheers Chris