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3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 12:09 am
by BruceW
Hi
Has anyone on the forum removed the coloured vinyl ? strips that run down sides and around the rear on a PDQ32
Im thinking of removing them and hoping the underside is white gelcoat.
Cheers

Bruce (Australia)

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:18 pm
by thinwater
It's gelcoat, but the edge is not finished (just cut).

If you find a replacement trim, post it. I think quite a few owners are interested in replacing it, but my understand is the original supplier no longer makes it.

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 4:46 pm
by Jwood1
I spent 5 days on the hard last November removing vinyl stripes including some wide curves running all along the sides. It was 20 years old and faded and cracked. I must have tried every solvent known to man and every technique posted on forums. The problem with old vinyl is that the vinyl tends to be UV damaged and fragile so it won't peel off in a continuous strip. On the other hand, the adhesive is very tenacious and difficult to remove. In the end, the technique that worked the best for me was a razor blade window scraper in one hand, and a spray can of Goof-Off Graffiti Remover
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Goof-Off-18 ... /202676194
in the other hand and a rag hanging out of my pocket. The Goof Off Grafitti remover is very different than the standard Goof Off or other similar products. It really liquifies the adhesive better than anything else I have tried (acetone, lacquer thinner, Isopropyl alcohol, WD40, PB Blaster, heat guns, etc). So, the specific technique is to spray a short section of vinyl with the Grafitti Remover and then run the flat razor under the vinyl, removing as long of a strip as you can. Of course, you need to keep the blade flat and at the right angle so you don't scratch the gel coat. I was very careful at first until I got confident in the technique. I did not scratch the gel coat at all. There will be liquified goo on the razor blade, so wipe it on your rag and repeat. When I was done removing the vinyl, there was still adhesive residue where the vinyl was. So, I simply went back over it with the Graffiti remover and razor blade. It was amazing how much adhesive came up on the blade and I would wipe if off on the rag after each pass. For the final removal of the last bits of adhesive, I would spray the area and wipe with a rag. There were some areas that seemed to resist even the Graffiti remover and razor blade and for that I used the 3M Stripe-Off wheel on a power drill. It is like a giant circular eraser on a wheel and is specifically designed for removing vinyl stripes. It will not damage the gel coat. I can attest to that.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006 ... UTF8&psc=1

When I had all the vinyl and adhesive removed, the gel coat under the vinyl was pristine and bright white compared to the rest of the oxidized gel coat. So I then sanded and compounded and polished the entire hull. When done, you can't really see where the stripes were.

Jerry

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 8:19 pm
by BruceW
Jerry
Thank you for the info.
Looks like i have a project. Will send photos when I'm done.
Bruce

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:06 pm
by Jwood1
It's all doable, just takes some elbow grease.

I'm curious, did someone sail your PDQ to Australia or was it shipped?

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:14 pm
by BruceW
It was sailed here.
Single handed I believe.

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:14 am
by thinwater
Ops. I thought you meant the molding on the transoms. Yes, of course there is gel coat under the stripes.

JWood pretty well nailed it. Xylene also works. Mostly time.

Re: 3m Vinyl - Trim-line

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:53 am
by Serenity
Jerry:

Thanks for the tip--the Goof Off Graffiti Remover worked great! We removed the sad silver vinyl around our "big blue butt stripe" (I'm pretty sure that's the correct nautical term) in preparation for painting the stripe black.

-Dennis