Remove Decals or not.. Need opinions

[Uncle Paul]

I have a 1988 Nordic Crestliner 18ft aluminum boat. The boat was docked it's whole life, and the sides (which are large blue decals that cover the sides the entire length of the boat) are beat up. After reading this forum, seems like I should use a heat gun or soft wheel to remove the decals. I know it will leave ghost images ... I do not want to give my boat an amateur paint job, and cant afford to get it done professionally. So... Im thinking I would like to remove the decals and live with the ghost images. Im just afraid It might look worse than it does now And once I start removing them there is no turning back. So leave the decals on and try to clean them up (oxidized.... no shine) or remove them and live with the end result. Please give me your opinions....

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Uncle Paul

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Remove Decals or not.. Need opinions

I'd ERASE em with a Decal Eraser and if there are SHADOWS then You can give her a Roll n' Roll Paint job and it WON'T look amateurish. Take a look at this...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=309879&highlight=lakelover

This was all done with a ROLLER and Pettit Easy Poxy Paint for Less than $100 bucks.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: Remove Decals or not.. Need opinions

Any auto body shop will be able to easily remove those for you and it shouldn't cost an arm and a paddle. They will use a big eraser wheel as Wood stated. Maybe you can buff the old paint to match better.