| Re-Striping ? [message #184694] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 08:54  |
jcurran
Messages: 52
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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Folks,
I have just finished removing the stripes from my green 1976 PB and am thinking about re-striping options. I'm not ready to invest in a paint job yet.
I'm open to swooshes or stripes that complement the original Frosted Mint and can modernize the look until I'm ready to get it painted.
Does anyone have any experience, vendors or photos to share?
Thanks in advance!
Jim Curran
1976 Palm Beach
Alexandria, OH
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| Re: [GMCnet] Re-Striping ? [message #184701 is a reply to message #184694] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 10:08  |
dan molnes
Messages: 166
Registered: October 2011
Karma: 1
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Jim, I had a 75 Gleenbrook that the stripes were real ugly, made the whole
coach look bad. I took it down to a sign guy friend of mine , he measured
the width length ect, cut it on his machine that most sign guy's have pick
out a color real close to orginal, I contacted Brian Songer and he even
sent him a Glennbrook insignia , downloaded it, cut it out on his computer
and presto, made the twinkie mobile look brand new, after a good waxing I
believe there are still pics on photobucket cost me $200.
On Sun, Sep 16, 2012 at 6:54 AM, Jim Curran <jim.curran@tfcci.com> wrote:
>
>
> Folks,
>
> I have just finished removing the stripes from my green 1976 PB and am
> thinking about re-striping options. I'm not ready to invest in a paint job
> yet.
>
> I'm open to swooshes or stripes that complement the original Frosted Mint
> and can modernize the look until I'm ready to get it painted.
>
> Does anyone have any experience, vendors or photos to share?
>
> Thanks in advance!
> --
> Jim Curran
> 1976 Palm Beach
> Alexandria, OH
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184744 is a reply to message #184694] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 16:09 |
MikeT
Messages: 225
Registered: November 2009
Location: Marine City, Michigan
Karma: 0
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Jim, what did you use to remove the stripe? I tried the hot razor blade but caused significant damage to the fiberglass front fender. Haven't tried to remove the rest of the stripe yet on 77 Royale.
Mike Thomas
Marine City, MI
77 ex Palm Beach
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184746 is a reply to message #184694] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 16:44 |
Craig Lechowicz
Messages: 541
Registered: October 2006
Location: Waterford, MI
Karma: 0
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Mike,
I did mine with the hot razor knife. It takes some patience, which isn't my strong suit. After a while, you sort of get a feel for what works best. I would say, keep the handle pretty near the body (not much more than room for your fingers away from it), give it a little bit to warm the glue and then lots of slow steady pressure. If things are going well, you can get a foot or two of decal off in one nice strip. If you pull gently on the peeled off part of the decal, that lowers the amount of pressure you need on the blade quite a bit. But, if you pull too hard you tear it off. There were two sections on mine, below the drivers window, and across the rear of it, that either used different decal material, or were repaired or something, and just don't come off using that heated blade. So, you might try a different section. I probably put a dozen or maybe even a few more gouges in mine with the knife, out of doing 50' or so for 3 blade widths wide, so in the overall scheme of things, not that bad. It definitely looks a lot better than the awfully faded decals I had did. And, I knew I was getting it painted sometime in the future, so wasn't being overly careful. If you are going to Amana, we can compare notes, otherwise, give me a call when that is over and you can assess my gouge damage and decide if you want me to help or not! I tried that eraser wheel just a little bit, and maybe I had the wrong one, but it gouged the heck out of it.
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184764 is a reply to message #184694] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 20:39 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447
Registered: October 2006
Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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I have reproduced the stock stripes and stickers for an EII. Colors in computer can be changed to PBeach etc. these are all stock appearing, no swooshes.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184770 is a reply to message #184744] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 21:40 |
jcurran
Messages: 52
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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Mike,
I learned the hard way that a razor (hot or not) is not the tool for me. I will be hunting for some touch-up paint as a result. Even when I thought the razor was doing something useful, it was leaving glue on the coach.
After a lot of trial-and-error, here's what worked best for me:
1) Heat Gun - on a warm day, heat up about 8 inches of stripe - always keep the gun moving. Keep the heat even and go beyond the edges of the decal. In cooler weather, I'd heat just 4" of stripe.
2) Peel the sticker up. If you have gotten the surface to the right temperature it will take the adhesive with it! Really! When the adhesive begins to stay behind, stop and re-heat. This is critical. If you leave adhesive on the coach, you are just making work for yourself.
3) Clean up residual glue with professional strength Goof-off and a rag. Put the Goof-off in a sprayer of some kind. Do not scrub with anything rough - it will take the paint off.
4) Use an eraser wheel to remove crusty/dried decal edges and other artifacts. I found a really inexpensive one at my local Carquest parts store: Astro Pneumatic Tool Company, Smart Eraser Pad, #400E. I bought an arbor adapter to use it on a regular 3/8" drill. That and the pad was less than $20. It worked really well.
Jim
Jim Curran
1976 Palm Beach
Alexandria, OH
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184772 is a reply to message #184764] |
Sun, 16 September 2012 21:45 |
jcurran
Messages: 52
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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John that's intriguing. Are there photos of your stripes anywhere? I noticed that, certain places, my decals somehow caused deep oxidation of the paint - down to the primer. That would suggest putting stripes back down where the originals were...
Thanks for any images of the before-and-after, etc.
Jim
Jim Curran
1976 Palm Beach
Alexandria, OH
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| Re: Re-Striping ? [message #184824 is a reply to message #184770] |
Mon, 17 September 2012 12:16 |
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mike miller
Messages: 3576
Registered: February 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
Karma: 0
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| jcurran wrote on Sun, 16 September 2012 19:40 |
... Even when I thought the razor was doing something useful, it was leaving glue on the coach. ...
...
3) Clean up residual glue with professional strength Goof-off and a rag. Put the Goof-off in a sprayer of some kind. Do not scrub with anything rough - it will take the paint off.
...
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There are different stripes used different coaches. Some of the strips seem to come off best with different methods.
From my 1978 Coachman stripe (vinyl) removal the heat gun worked well but it did leave quite a bit of adhesive. I removed it with acetone. (Seems like the main active ingredient of Goof-Off.) Also some of the last coaches in 1978 had different paint that isn't as good as the earlier coaches. I found a lot of runs and the paint lifting in OEM paint. Be careful with any stripe removal.. especially the earliest and the latest coaches. (And any after-market paint.)
Something I noticed when working on the stripes was that acetone would remove the color from the vinyl stripes. If I had known that before I started the removal, I most likely wouldn't have removed the stripes.
My the stripes where faded but intact. (Other than across the front hatches... the PO butchered them before I got the coach.) I am thinking it would have better to remove the color and repaint the vinyl stripes with vinyl paint.
This idea doesn't seem to be an option on my '77. the stripes are different on it. In fact there seems to be two different types of stripes. (I suspect GM put the front stripes on and then Coachman installed the rear with something that 'matched' at the time.)
-- On reproduction stripes, does anyone make reproduction stripes in the style of the 1978 GM up-fitted coaches? (The three color horizontal stripes, like in this brochure: <http://www.bdub.net/publications/1978%20GMC%20Motorhomes/1978%20Models02.htm>
They look simple but I have seen them poorly done around the front corners.
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
More Sidekicks than GMC's and a late model Malibu called 'Boo'
http://m000035.blogspot.com
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