Replacing vinyl stripes

[JimC]

I want to do this on my boat. There's loads on youtube showing you how to mark the required line with masking tape or pencil marks at intervals etc. I want my new stripes to run along the same lines as the old stripes but surely in removing the latter with heat gun or toffee wheel I'll obliterate my marks ?

 

[pvb]

I want to do this on my boat. There's loads on youtube showing you how to mark the required line with masking tape or pencil marks at intervals etc. I want my new stripes to run along the same lines as the old stripes but surely in removing the latter with heat gun or toffee wheel I'll obliterate my marks ?

Put masking tape along your existing stripe, precisely touching the edge. Then put a second line of masking tape alongside the first, precisely touching the edge. Then remove the first line of masking tape and remove the stripe. Finally, apply a third line of masking tape, exactly where the first line was, using the second line of tape as a guide. Then apply the new stripe, touching the edge of the third line of masking tape.

 

[JimC]

Thanks pvb, I see I'm going to need some more masking tape.

 

[Hoolie]

How old is your boat? I removed the stripes from our boat - 16 years old at the time - and the erosion/polishing of the gelcoat made it perfectly clear where the stripes had been. In fact they are still just visible another 16 years later!

 

[JimC]

17 years, though I'm afraid she hasn't been polished much.

 

[Hoolie]

17 years, though I'm afraid she hasn't been polished much.

Why not strip a section back to see if you can tell where it was?

For our boat the stripes were blue, red and yellow. Looks much better without ...

 

[JimC]

Why not strip a section back to see if you can tell where it was?

What a good idea

 

[reeac]

When I changed the stripes on my Sadler I had the greatest difficulty in removing the old ones. In the end I just had to use a wood chisel which was very slow but amazingly left no scratches on the gel coat.

 

[Ian_Rob]

When I changed the stripes on my Sadler I had the greatest difficulty in removing the old ones. In the end I just had to use a wood chisel which was very slow but amazingly left no scratches on the gel coat.

A hairdryer or hot air gun usually helps……

 

[RupertW]

When I changed the stripes on my Sadler I had the greatest difficulty in removing the old ones. In the end I just had to use a wood chisel which was very slow but amazingly left no scratches on the gel coat.

I used a scraper with changing plastic blaeds as an occasional job on board in hot sunshine and found I just got better over time. Mine were on the cabin window sides so I could just sit on the side deck and slowly move along.

 

[antaris]

Vinyl dries out over the years (as is the glue). As others said, heat and a chisel will do the trick.

On 3 boats that I did, I could see the old markings clearly - as the gelcoat was shiny and preserved under the old vinyl tape. The exposed gelcoat had gone a little matte/yellow over time (in the Med) - so it was easy to follow the line with new sticky vinyl.