Removing old Boat Name

[Tony B]

The lettering came off very easily with a heat gun.
I concentrated on one corner of a letter for about 15 seconds and then heated the rest of the letter for 5 seconds. Using a plastic scraper, I worked the corner until it rolled back about 1/4' and then with my fingers was able to pel off the whole letter in literally seconds.
The shadow, well, that's another story.
Gum Wheel - I should live so long. I gave that up quickly.
Acetone and adhesive remover - Waste of time.
Alcohol - removed the faint trace of residue, but that's it.

320 Grit wet/dry paper applied wet - worked great. I went to store and picked up some 600 Grit paper for fear that the 320 may be too aggressive. That was somewhat slow going but not too bad and that did the trick.

Now for my next question - I am going to buff the entire stern with a compound and polisher before the new lettering is applied. Definitely NO WAX at this point. What grit wet/dry paper should I use to remove the chalking of the gejcoat prior to buffing-out?
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[Ocean Girl]

Tony, depending on the shape of your gelcoat, I love the 3M heavy duty or the micro fine compound ( use lots and lots). The shadow will not get buffed completely out, but in 6 months it should fade. Buff, put your new name on, and wait .
Cheers,
Erika

[Tony B]

Thanks IG.

I was thinking that I had to remove the chalking before buffing.
At least that is what I was told.
I prolly wont start buffing for a few more days.

[JPA Cate]

Rwidman writes, "..... Usually this would require wet sanding, followed by rubbing compound, then wax." We had already tried this approach many times when we used the Poly Glow (sp?), at a time when the gelcoat was over 20 yrs. old. What I was told after the rubbing and waxing is that that gelcoat is inherently porous, and when you sand it, or even use fine rubbing (cutting) compound, it takes the tops off the "bubbles" leaving pits behind, which you can't get wax into well enough to keep it from gathering dirt. With that in mind, I suggested the Poly Glow or TSRW approach to the OP, because it will hide the "shadow", and fill the "bubbles" and we only ever applied it at haulout time, once a year. Of course, if you can just learn to live with it, nature will eventually take care of it; that part depends on how much you don't like it--a personal decision.

[Tony B]

I cleaned and prepped the stern for the new lettering.
I wet sanded with 600 grit and then 1200 grit.
I then used three different buffing compounds that I previously used in my woodworking business for buffing table tops to a mirror finish. I started with the course compound, then the medium compound and lastly with the polishing finish. I also used 3 different buffing heads. Most of the shadow is gone and you would have to stare and look for it to find it. The whole process took less than 2 hours.

Then the sign lady came to put the new name in place.
The cost of the sign and installation was very reasonable.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Tony B

The lettering came off very easily with a heat gun.
I concentrated on one corner of a letter for about 15 seconds and then heated the rest of the letter for 5 seconds. Using a plastic scraper, I worked the corner until it rolled back about 1/4' and then with my fingers was able to pel off the whole letter in literally seconds.
The shadow, well, that's another story.
Gum Wheel - I should live so long. I gave that up quickly.
Acetone and adhesive remover - Waste of time.
Alcohol - removed the faint trace of residue, but that's it.

320 Grit wet/dry paper applied wet - worked great. I went to store and picked up some 600 Grit paper for fear that the 320 may be too aggressive. That was somewhat slow going but not too bad and that did the trick.

Now for my next question - I am going to buff the entire stern with a compound and polisher before the new lettering is applied. Definitely NO WAX at this point. What grit wet/dry paper should I use to remove the chalking of the gejcoat prior to buffing-out?
__________________

I went through this exercise back in April - May. The whole thing took me about 120 hours. Total pain in the butt but WTF

My products were

600 grit dry disk
1000 grit dry disk
coarse compound
medium compound
regular wax
high gloss wax

I like to use 3m stuff. These were the disks

Amazon.com: 3M 01137 Hookit Red 6" P600 Grit Dust-Free Abrasive Disc, (Box of 50): Automotive

3M 01186 Hookit Red 6" P1000 Grit Abrasive Film Disc, (Box of 25) : Amazon.com : Automotive

If the surface is only medium oxidised you can skip the 600 grit and coarse compound.