Removing Decals

[Lakeside]

Any suggestions on the best way to remove the Epic decals from the side of the hull, without damaging the gel coat?

[breakawaydaze]

I use a Steam Cleaner.  I think they call it a steam buggy or something.  Once you pull up an edge just aim the steam blast under the decal and peel pack slowly so you can get off as big of pieces as possible.  I would not use harsh chemicals or a heat gun, that would prob. mess up your jel coat.

[Lakeside]

I googled Steam Buggy and they've been recalled.  I don't think this product is available.

Would a hair dryer hurt the gel coat?

[cyclone]

You can use a heat gun, just warm it up and it will peel off. Careful around the upholstery;)

[skiboarder]

I used a hair dryer to remove the nonslip pad up on the closed bow worked good didn't hurt the gel at all. A steamer prob work the best. Are you goin naked or puting new decals on?

[Lakeside]

Naked for now.

I found a great decal guy on the web who can create anything Toyota or Lexus.  Tell him what you want and he'll e-mail you proofs and ship the decals to you. 

Here's his e-mail.  He's in Canada, but it's a seamless transaction with paypal:
adamsaulnier@eastlink.ca

[skiboarder]

Did you already have some made I would be interested in seeing them. I too would like to do something to dress up my epic outside is kinda boring but I defenitly dont want tribal.  Got any ideas

[breakawaydaze]

Try www.sharkcompany.com  you can get a Shark Steam Blaster at Target, Bed bath and beyond and I think walmart.  It puts out a healthy continuous blast of steam and will get the graphics off in no time!

[Lakeside]

It's naked.  The hair dryer did the job just fine. 

There's a little adhesive left behind.  What's the best way to get rid of it?  I've got some stuff called Goo-Gone, which I've used on my car and it works well.  What do you think?

Also, here are some samples of the decals Adam Saulnier can make:

[skiboarder]

That should work when i did the nonslip pad on the bow I used a mixture of stickeroff and paint thinner no problems. Does he have a web site?

[Lakeside]

I don't recall the name of his web site. 

All I did was throw a Lexus logo and "Marine Engines" into a Powerpoint in a font that I wanted.  I told him the dimensions I needed and he sent back a proof.  It was very easy. 

Two trailer decals and two engine cover decals were about US$30.  I paid with Paypal and the decals showed up in about 1-2 weeks. 

[skiboarder]

Did you take the epic22 off? Did it leave a sun faded area around where the decal was, like can you see that it was there?

[Lakeside]

I was surprised.  It didn't seem like there was much sun-fade.  But, I'm going to hit the naked spots with some Goo-Gone and then I'll really be able to tell.  I'll post a photo when I'm done.

[Lakeside]

Goo-Gone did a great job on the adhesive.  There aren't any signs of sun fading.  You'd never know that a decal was there since '99.

Here's a pic of the naked Epic....

[skiboarder]

Nice! post a pic when you get your new decals.