30 minutes to remove the big blue vinyl band

[nickcrowhurst]

Apply parcel tape, pull it off with the vinyl attached, and put the coffee on the hob.
Nick.

[Jammer]

I take it you're not going to put it back on?

[nickcrowhurst]

I'll be replacing the old vinyl decal with fresh new identical decal from my local Airstream dealer. The old stripe was showing its age.
Nick.

[vswingfield]

Neat tip Nick,

I will remember that myself.

Thanks!

[Jammer]

Very cool. Nice tip.

[Artb]

Nick, thanks for the info. I also have an 34' 88 Excella. I am presently fixing the burn damage to the skin and this will come in very hand when I get to the strips.

[nickcrowhurst]

I'm glad this is of interest. The original decal is wider than the gap between the top and bottom extrusions, so I presume the decal is applied and then the extrusions are riveted to slightly overlap the decal. I therefore scored along the decal with a sharp knife point running along each extrusion, so that the decal would peel away without having to tear away from under the extrusions. I used a very sharp kitchen knife to help the tape peeling when a section proved more difficult to lift off. Close attention to the peeling edge made sure that the peeling continued. Tomorrow I'll experiment with WD-40, paint stripper, citrus cleaner, and GooGone to see which is most efficient on my adhesive.
Nick.

[GREENovaters]

Now that is helpful! I was just at JC and they said that you best plan on putting the decal back on because it will ALWAYS have a discoloration where the decal was.....

[James Rogers]

How would this method work on a 1976 GMC Palm Beach motor home? The stripe is old and faded. I've tried heat and a razor but that didn't work real good. This moho sat in the sun for a long time before I bought it. The paint is faded and bleached out. I want to repaint it but I have to get the stripe off first.

[nickcrowhurst]

Originally Posted by James Rogers

How would this method work on a 1976 GMC Palm Beach motor home?

Why not try a patch and let us all know? Find the stickiest parcel or other tape that you can find. I used the cheapest nastiest stickiest ordinary brown tape for parcels that I already had in our trailer "bits and bobs" drawer. You've presumably caused some damage by heating and scraping, so I would try near that area.
Nick.

[Blue Pearl]

I'm going to try it tomorrow, thanks.

[boo_n_sue]

The decal on my '81 Excella II seems to be 'baked' on. Not sure this will work but I'm gonna give it a try. I'm obviously damaging and scratching by using a stripping wheel. So -- just put the tape on and pull it off? Sounds too easy.

[68 TWind]

3M makes an eraser wheel that goes on a drill to remove decals. It won't harm paint. Auto body shops use them. You can go to the 3M site and see it, plus there are several videos on Youtube demonstrating the way it works. Might be just the thing and it won't harm the skin.

[Bowmans]

Great tip nick.

We were stripping the clearcoat on ours while removing the stripes so just used the paint stripper (Glasco). I worked great on the stripes but took 3 coats due to there being 3 sets of stripes, one on top of the next, on ours. Blue, then red, then blue again?!? We did what we could to remove the adhesive but it seems to be embedded into the aluminum after 30 years. Polishing works well but needs more man hours than I was willing to put into it last summer to get it all gone.

You can see the residue that the polish didn't remove in a few compound runs below. It isn't sticky residue but more like sandblasted feel:

[Smartstream]

I just had the decals replaced on my Moho 2 days ago. The guy used this tool
MBX Vinyl Zapper Eraser - Replacement Wheel - Sign Supplies and Equipment

The wheel smelled like vanilla and did no harm to the aluminum. It was a bit of work but did a great job.

Here are a few pics of the old coming off and the new going on.

Cheers, Dan

[Bowmans]

In the above post, I meant Jasco paint remover, not "Glasco". Lead someone in the wrong direction with my poor memory

[the ponz]

this is why I love this website, there are some really smart people here.

truly a great idea.

[Buck Rabbit]

I just tried the link to Smartstream's post. The link didn't work for me but the tool is still available. Try searching Vinyl eraser to find it. Only problem is it cost $425. Too much for me for a single use tool.