Remove the Osprey Graphics?

[daniel123]

This is an aesthetics question, but I want your guys' take on it. The sailfish n' stripes/agua-to-green graphics on the hull of my 1999 Osprey are getting dinged up as the boat sees use and age takes its toll (on the boat, not the operator) and I'm considering stripping them and leaving the hull plain white. I am not sure whether to leave the gold trimmed 'Aquasport' name on the hull near the transom, and will probably just wait to see how that looks with the graphics removed. Before I head to HF to get the heat gun that's currently on sale (that's the best way to remove 'em, right?), is the removal of the graphics a "no-no" in terms of maintaining the boat's value and/or its appeal among fellow AS owners? Should I be grateful the graphics are still in as good a shape as they are in, and try to touch them up and keep the original look? I watch more "Antiques Roadshow" than I care to admit, and I've got a vintage bike (1978 Kawasaki Z-1 R) in original condition and have witnessed and, so far, thankfully avoided the pitfalls of altering classic stuff. Then again, the boat has an aftermarket T-top and leaning post, so it's not like it's all original. Any thoughts from the gallery?

[slvrlng]

You will find one of these way easier than a heat gun. It gets the decal and the glue at the same time. A heat gun sometimes will get both.

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/aes-51823.html

[wingtime]

A graphics eraser is by far the best way to go.  Old vinyl graphics are very hard to remove.  A heat gun will soften the glue but if the vinyl is old (which yours is) it will just break when you try to peel it off.  Also you run the risk of cooking the gel coat.  They make a special pneumatic tool just for graphic erasers.  It looks like a die grinder but it has a planetary gear reduction drive to turn the eraser at the optimum speed. (and no a harbor freight die grinder wont work)  Once you have the graphics off you will notice a raised ghost in the gel coat.  Wet sand the area smooth with 600 grit wet sand paper and than 1000 grit.  Then buff it with Aqua-Buff 2000 and a high speed buffer.  Finish with your favorite wax!

[gran398]

Good stuff Bruce!!

The "raised ghost" is true. When we got Miss D, it had a name on the side, it must have been there a long time...because when the vinyl came off it was WAY higher than the surrounding gel. Even after heavy sanding you could still read it. I can't remember the name though, that was three years ago. My memory has gone to chit.

[Bergertime]

Daniel,

If you need a chemical to take off the remaining adhesive I would highly recommend this...

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/se ... sst=subset

I used it when I removed the Megaware Keel Guard off my boat and if you have ever done that you will know the 3M adhesive that holds that thing on is manufactured in the lowest parts of HELL!   :shaking:

This Zepp product actually worked well in dissolving the adhesive with no damage to the gel coat.

Good luck..

B

[daniel123]

So...with no arguments about removing the Osprey graphics, I guess it's time to get stripping. One answer you offer begs the question: since it appears I'll be sanding the hull under where the graphics are to get the surface level, and the boat is 14 years old and the gelcoat -- on the gunwales where it gets the most sun and wear, anyway -- is showing some signs of age (not really chalking, but it 'holds' stains and when in FLA in the spring showed some some little black blotches that looked like mildew but didn't wash off very easily), is it time to give it a complete detail, rub-out and wax? The outside of the hull from the rub-rail south still has the original shine, but if I remove those graphics it appears I'll need to do some sanding, which will affect that finish, right?  If so, a business locally estimated a full detail, rub-out and and wax at $400 for the 20 foot boat. That sounded high, since a CC doesn't offer much gelcoat surface compared to most boats, but perhaps not. Especially if I can get him to remove the graphics too. Any thoughts?

[gran398]

If they do nice work...that's a deal IMHO.

You'd have a solid 4 to 6  hours a side to get it right...plus materials.

[daniel123]

Sorry, but what's IMHO stand for, and do you mean those hours are for the entire detail and wax job or just the graphics removal?

Thanks for the feedback!

[gran398]

In My Humble Opinion

4 to 6 hours per side for everything. Or could be more.

Again, seems like a good price if they do good work.  When you get the graphics off, you won't believe how high the gel is on that area vs. the surrounding. Basically because that part has never seen the sun, and the rest of it has "shrunk" so to speak.

For 400 bucks I'd let them have at it. 400 bucks ain't what it used to be.

[daniel123]

Humble or not (!) 'sounds like great advice, Gran. And from what I read on THT, the Aqua 2000 folks may be out of business? So maybe it's best to let a pro tackle this...

Dan

[FL175]

New here and just did the same thing to our new to us 1996 175. Took me about 3hours to remove and buff the hull. I used the eraser and a lot of patients. Good luck you will be happy when its done.

[dburr]

New here and just did the same thing to our new to us 1996 175. Took me about 3hours to remove and buff the hull. I used the eraser and a lot of patients. Good luck you will be happy when its done.

3hrs?!?!?  man you got off easy!!!

Dan I did my 222 this spring and split it up over 3 days, (I was doing night shifts and had to sleep sometime).

Wet sanded topsides with 1000 grit.  It was easy to see where I missed, especially on the grey because there were 2 distinct colors..  Farley was right in a pervious thread, about ten sheets of paper did it and it is DEFINITELY not worth using dull paper.. That took about 3 hrs a side.  Paper was about $2.00/sheet..

Then it was time to hit her with cutting compound and the ONLY way to do it was with a power polisher.. At Pete and Lewis's recommendation I went to HF online  and scored a variable speed machine for about $35..  Then come the dadblag pads and bonnets..  At least 2 at $11 each and if you are careful you will not tear them up and can do the whole boat with then and a wool bonnet..

Cutting compound available to me was 3M and it did a fantastic job.. $38 for a quart bottle.  Compounding the topsides took 3hours for both sides and stern.
Waxing and buffing by hand on the topsides was about 2 hrs.   I used NuFinish because it was available, $8 for the can..

I did wet sand and compound the cap, about another 2 hrs and the wax was nothing, like 45 minutes..  The ceilings, (inside verticals on the sides) have not been done...

There are the numbers, if someone could have done that for $400 tell me where to haul her...  I never know what my time is worth, I guess it depends on the job but my damn shoulder joints still hurt and this all was don in the beginning of May!  The sides shine beautifully but now the 25 years of others dock rash really stand out..

It's not hard, just time consuming...  Good luck!!!

[icemanbryan]

I had my graphics removed after I had my electrical fire.
I am the second owner and the decals were banged up and had some dock scratches.
Just looked bad and dated, in my opinion.
When the boat was in storage getting rebuilt and rewired, there was a "boat detailer guy"
We made an agreement and he started.
Took him 2 days to clean it up and he ended up color sanding the boat.

I paid him accordingly, yes 400.00 is a good deal to remove it.
I paid more than that per side, however, I was very happy with the end results.

[icemanbryan]

In My Humble Opinion

4 to 6 hours per side for everything. Or could be more.

Again, seems like a good price if they do good work.  When you get the graphics off, you won't believe how high the gel is on that area vs. the surrounding. Basically because that part has never seen the sun, and the rest of it has "shrunk" so to speak.

For 400 bucks I'd let them have at it. 400 bucks ain't what it used to be.

I think a thousand is the new hundred, yeah?