Removing raised decals?

[Edziu23]

I am about to wet sand my boat over the winter and was going to start taking off all of the add on stuff (cleats, trolling motor, etc....) I have an older Ranger and have the raised lettering on the top cap. I am assuming that I need to remove them to get an even look on the entire top cap and it will be much easier for compounding and polishing.
Can I remove them with a putty knife and maybe goo gone?
Can I re-apply them? If so what do I use as glue?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Ed

[BASSCAT7]

Be careful using a putty knife on the gel, you might end up doing some scratch repairs....

Heat the decals with a hair dryer to soften the adhesive, then try to get a corner peeled up, might have to use the putty knife here.

Once you get a corner up use a plastic kitchen scraper, old credit card, or something similar to get under it and lift it off while keeping the heat on, they should peel up in one piece.

You can use goo gone or acetone to remove the leftover adhesive.

[Dazed66]

I used a heat gun to remove them on my 94 354XT and they came off very easily. Just make sure you don't focus the gun in one spot for too long. Contact Iguana Graphics for a top notch set of replacements. They are a board sponsor and do outstanding work with very reasonable pricing. See their site or the Bling forum to see some examples of the things they came do.

[Edziu23]

Thanks I may have to borrow a heat gun from work. Does anyone know if you can re apply the decals? If so with a spray on adhesive? I plan on placing an order with Iguana for my boat numbers etc but prefer the raised decals and "original" look for the factory lettering.

[ChampioNman]

Try placing them on a piece of wax paper, those letters are no longer available from Ranger.

[limitedex]

I doubt the original decals will reapply.

I agree with using a hair dryer, but I've found that running fishing line underneath will separate the pieces. Also, this might be a good idea if you try to reapply since it shouldn't bend or crease them.

Just my two cents.

[rutleep]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by ChampioNman &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Try placing them on a piece of wax paper, those letters are no longer available from Ranger.</td></tr></table>

I hope you're wrong. If you're right, I will be getting the wrong decals in a couple days from Ranger. I just ordered the raised decals for my 488 and they claimed to have them in stock. Or maybe we had some miscommunication. I guess I'm about to find out....

[rutleep]

ChampionMan, you had me worried! But I got my decals yesterday and they were exactly what I needed. They do still have the raised letters available at Ranger, thank goodness.