nooga Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 After hours and hours of slaving to remove faded, sun-baked decals from my 1994 Itasca Spirit, I've now believe they are a clever conspiracy by manufacturers to force us to junk our old rigs and buy new ones. My reasoning: Decals last no more than 5 to 10 years (depending on the climate) and replacing them is so hard and expensive that frustrated and worn out owners like me will be persuaded to sell my otherwise wonderful 20-year-old Toy for a new pimped up MH. The background: I love my Toy and I want anything I love to look nice. So in late summer I decided to replace dreadful faded and cracked stripes and swooshes. I got estimates from several local shops and they all quoted me a price of more than $1,000 to remove and replace the decals. If I removed the stripes, they cost ran $700 or more for a professional replacement job. I decide to take them off myself and then find a way to replace them at a reasonable costs. I read up on the process and this forum was very helpful. I bought a heat gun,scrappers, an eraser wheel and several brands of chemical glue removers. The heat gun is useless--just bakes them on more. I'm on my second eraser wheel and only about half finished. Winnebago put 12 runs of stripes on the Itasca, running from about five inches wide to pinstripes, including a broad swoop that starts one run of stripes, covering fiberglass siding and metal access covers and the cab. My fingers are nearly crippled. I'll probably get lung cancer from breathing in all the chemical dust generated by the eraser wheel. To make matters worse, I have to work at my storage lot since I live in a townhouse complex than bans just about everything, most of all motor homes. I have to run my aging generator to power my various tools. The onset of winter has slowed the process, and I'm beginning to peruse e-bay and craigslist ads for newer vehicles. You can see why I now believe in conspiracy theories. Sorry to trouble you with this tale of woe but I wonder if any members have similar stories and evil thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 http://www.crystaltek.us.com/crystaltek-vinyl-off.htm Some folks have good results with this stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nooga Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 Ya Baby--Thanks for the tip. Just ordered a small bottle to see if it works. However, I think I may have some of the stuff on hand, which doesn't work very well because vinyl stripes are so cracked you can't peel off like the ads describe--in one long strip. Will update on results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 A member of the Toyota campers group found a guy who simply sanded the old stripes smooth and repainted over them. Charged him about $250 for the whole job. He probably paid extra for the matching cute little trailer. Pic is at toyota camper group and I can't copy it to this page. Here's a link http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/photos/album/2110246114/pic/1492565996/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbit Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Ok, now I want to paint mine..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I had a tow behind camper with the same issue. They had turned it into a mobile bill board, Good Sam's lots of numbers visit here etc.I tried every thing got some off with a professional heat gun decal eraser etc. It looked pretty nice repainted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charm City Toy Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I happen to own a sign shop and a Toyota Escaper. The graphics are painted on my Escaper and look very novice. You can tell they taped it off before painting, but I don't think it looks so good. As for the vinyl, if you go that route, be sure that you buy high performance vinyl that lasts longer. If you wanted to do a simple stripe, I can tell you where to locally purchase vinyl. You can then cut it yourself. As for removal, vinyl off does work. Heat does too. But at the point the vinyl is brittle and dried on to the vehicle, sanding is your best bet. This Spring I am going to attempt to re paint the base coat of my Escaper. Was inspired by videos suggesting Rustoleum and mineral spirits. I will then reprint vinyl stripes for my Escaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I happen to own a sign shop and a Toyota Escaper. The graphics are painted on my Escaper and look very novice. You can tell they taped it off before painting, but I don't think it looks so good. As for the vinyl, if you go that route, be sure that you buy high performance vinyl that lasts longer. If you wanted to do a simple stripe, I can tell you where to locally purchase vinyl. You can then cut it yourself. As for removal, vinyl off does work. Heat does too. But at the point the vinyl is brittle and dried on to the vehicle, sanding is your best bet. This Spring I am going to attempt to re paint the base coat of my Escaper. Was inspired by videos suggesting Rustoleum and mineral spirits. I will then reprint vinyl stripes for my Escaper.Marine topside paint is the norm now for those jobs. Rustoleum makes one http://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-catalog/consumer-brands/marine-coatings/topside-paint Interlux is better though and has more colors http://www.wholesalemarine.com/interlux-brightside-high-gloss-polyurethane-marine-paint-81887.html?gclid=CJ_R08vE47sCFYlDMgodWikA9Q Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Guy who painted mine first removed all the stripes, even the ones on the toyota. I love the look of it now and am getting comments / gawkers almost daily. Last week a couple walked around it 3 times, we were inside watching, and he said " that's the best looking Chinook I've ever seen". Do chinooks look like dolphins ?? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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