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I know a lot of you have looked at your old, faded, and cracked decals and thought about replacing them. Here is a picture of my 92 ITASCA Spirit I did myself. It cost less than $200 but took several months to complete. I would be happy to share any info on this project if you have questions.

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That looks great. I have simple strips on my Escaper and am looking into replacing them. A vinyl shop here in Baraboo is checking out materials to give me a price. I am looking forward to getting it done.

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Wow, you did such a fantastic job! Very professional, and the cost is something I think most could invest to beautify their home. I can understand how it took some time, as I am assuming you had to lay patterns out and cut them out? I do love the color scheme, were those the original colors, or did you change to your desire? The black, red and grey really pop! The condition all around on your TOY is incredible, and your pride of ownership truly shows.

My 83 dolphin has nothing nearly as elaborate a design as those gorgeous graphics you so perfectly applied opon your sweet Itasca. So, I decided to redo the faded ones on mine. As with most Dolphins I've seen, the tan had turned to almost a light pink and dark brown faded to and ashy light brown. I clean and wet sanded the old stripes, taped off the design, and used some close to matching spray-paint.

I painted them on the Toyota cab, and the length of the 2 thinner stripes on the upper sleeper overhang front and sides. The larger stripes on the home stripes were actually a part of the siding instead of the applied stripes by National, and were not too bad. I took some good paint cleaner and conditioner along with some elbow grease to get those looking pretty good again. Thank you for the share, and for posting your awesome project results! Happy Travels!

I added a couple matching color stripes to the hood where it was peeling for some reason on both sides.

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A couple more of the cab and sides

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Some closer up shots

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The vinyl decal set came from ebay. Here is the old link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FEMA-CAMPER-DECALS-HORSE-TRAILER-CAVALIER-GRAPHICS-HOUSEBOAT-JAYCO-KEYSTONE-ALJO-/280825747259?_trksid=p4340.m503&_trkparms=algo%3DRIC.CFNP%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D160407876977%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6289273499755863548

I don't see this set listed anymore but the seller, cajunmoney77, is constantly listing others and I think he has a big stock. The ITASCA lettering I purchased from a vinyl lettering booth at our local flea market for $7.50 each.

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  • 1 year later...

I replaced my Sunrader logo's and the black vinyl between the window. Had a local vinyl installer cut the logo's and he also sold me the black 3m vinyl. I use the rv dealers packet for the logo design. My rv came with the Sunrader classic logo and I want to try the orange Sunrader design instead of the classic.

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  • 8 months later...

I replaced my Sunrader logo's and the black vinyl between the window. Had a local vinyl installer cut the logo's and he also sold me the black 3m vinyl. I use the rv dealers packet for the logo design. My rv came with the Sunrader classic logo and I want to try the orange Sunrader design instead of the classic.

Hello Roy,

Very nice Sunrader!!! I am working on mine right now and I would like to replace the decals. By any chance do you have the information of the local vinyl installer? I live in Florida and I might be able to get them in the same place, maybe he has the files that he used to cut the logos.

Thanks,

Guillermo

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A place to source someone to take your logo image and turn it into a decal for you is www.etsy.com Enter the keywords "custom decal" into the search field when you get there. The prices are often much better than at a physical storefront vinyl and sign shop. Etsy is a website that was created for people who are artist and craftsman to sell their goods and services so custom graphics fits into that category There are lots of people on that site who offer custom decal and vinyl cutting. There is good strong buyer protection guarentee on Etsy. But be sure when you contact the person about custom work you let them know this is for an outdoor application. They have to use appropriate materials and inks for that situation.

If you take a photo of the logo image and open it in a program such as Adobe photoshop or an open source version such as the program Gimp you can correct any skewing of the image using that software. Then using the function for it in the software trace the outlines of the graphics and use the software to do a color fill of those areas with the approriate colors. You can not print the color white so if you need that color you will want to buy white decal paper instead of clear decal paper. Next size the image so that the graphic is true to the size needed for your rig.

Now you are ready to print the image onto decal paper made for ink jet printers. Follow the instructions for application on the vehicle. After the decal is firmly secured and dry you need to spray it with a recommended product to protect the decal from the weather and UV damage. Be sure you tape the area off but let the protective spray coating extend a very small amount past the edge of the decal. The spray coating will help seal that edge to prevent lifting of the decal.

Fortunately for myself I own a vinyl cutter so I can cut my own. But don't forget you can hand cut vinyl, it does not have to be cut on a machine. Steady hand needed for cutting curved details. Straight edge for cutting long straight areas. The cutting tool needed is a very sharp knife and/or one of the cutting wheels that are easily found for sale in any fabric stores. The hand pressure you use when cutting needs to be enough to cut through the vinyl but not cut all the way through the backing paper. It is OK if once in a while you cut too deep as long as you still have plenty of areas that did not cut all the way through the backing paper. Vinyl is stretchy and the backing paper is what stabliizes it while you are cutting.

You will also need to read internet information about vinyl graphic installation so you understand about using temporary adhesive transfer material when applying the graphics.

Be sure you purchase vinyl that says it is for use outdoors or it won't hold up. You usually get around a 7 year lifetime before vinyl starts to fade and crack.

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Ed--In removing the old decals, what did you use, what worked best and how hard was it? I am now involved in the same project on a 1994 Itasca and am frustrated and dismayed at the time and effort it takes to remove the old and decals that were baked on for 20 years. I have used heat gun, eraser wheel (works best but the wheels are fairly expensive and I've used up three so far and still have about a third of the way to go), citrus glue remover, WD-40, you name it. No easy solution. Some of the stripes (a very few) decals peeled right off),others are so cracked there is no way to get them off without sanding them down and that still leaves an image of the old stripe. If you can add to my knowledge, it would be greatly appreciated.. By the way, yours looks great.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the detailed explanation Corbin. I just installed illustrator and Photoshop on my Mac and I will try what you said. I will post my results, but it will take a while... I think...

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No matter what method you use decal and pin stripe removal takes time, patience and steady hands. It is not going to be instant gratification so don't go into the job with the mental mind set that it will be cheap, quick and easy. Approach the job thinking this will be tedious labor but it is worth doing.

You are right in that some areas and types of decals and pin stripes will be easier to get off than others. One thing is that motorhomes tend to be parked facing the same way most of the time when they are at home. Therefore some sides of the motorhome will have more UV and heat degradation on the surface than other sides of the rig do. That effects how difficult the removal can be from one side of the rig versus another.

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