Anyone remove the factory decals?

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FlyboyZR1

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Has anyone removed their factory decals, and was their much fading visible afterwards? I prefer the clean look of a boat without a bunch of factory decals, especially with the nice lines of the Challenger models. I'm mainly talking about removing the "210 Challenger" decals on the bow as I'd like to place my boat registration numbers there instead. I've already removed the sea-doo emblems on the hull and the challenger decal on the rear transat seats.
 
Can’t wait to see the responses from guys who’ve actually done it... I’d like to do the same thing. (97 challenger 1800)
Hope you get it done and then post some pictures of it, before and after. Good luck
 
You may need to wet sand and buff to remove the "ghosting" left behind by the decals. Shouldn't be too difficult. You won't know the extent of the fading until you remove them. An eraser wheel may come in handy if the decals give you any trouble.
 
You may need to wet sand and buff to remove the "ghosting" left behind by the decals. Shouldn't be too difficult. You won't know the extent of the fading until you remove them. An eraser wheel may come in handy if the decals give you any trouble.
Thanks for the ideas... you said it best, which is the biggest concern... you won’t know the extent of the fading until it’s removed.
No other way.
 
Some really good info HERE about ghosting. I'm a member there as well for our previous boat. These guys know their stuff. There are many threads on the subject there, but they go over the products and steps used for the process.

Good luck.
 
You better take that decal removal talk somewhere else. Don't you know most of us here spends hundreds of dollars to have the factory decals restored or replaced to factory looks?

Just kidding, on all the ones I have seen the gelcoat actually changes shade with age and even wet sanding can't always remove it. If the boat was always covered or garaged you will have a better chance.
 
Thanks for the info, guys! I'll do some research on ghosting and tips on correcting that. Not sure if I'll take the plunge on this but this certainly helps me get pointed in the right direction.
 
Worse case scenario, you buy replacement decals to go over the ghosting. Gelcoat will look sweet after the buffing and the new decal will top it all off.
 
Worse case scenario, you buy replacement decals to go over the ghosting. Gelcoat will look sweet after the buffing and the new decal will top it all off.

Good point! Didn't think of that ... new decals alone might be a nice touch from the 7 years of sun-exposed fading of the original decals. Might give it a shot!
 
I removed the decals on my 06 Challenger last summer and put some new ones on. I don't recall any ghosting, but maybe I didn't look that close as I didn't intend to leave to bare. Unfortunately the only picture I have is on the shade side of the boat so I can't tell, but it's certainly not obvious in that pic.

20180628_115201_HDR.jpg

20180628_141048_HDR.jpg

I put a matching Sea-Doo decal on as well. That's still the original in that pic. I also put it farther back on the hull.
 
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