Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

[vintageglass]

I picked up a super clean older MFG last week, however a former owner has their company name hand lettered on the side in huge 12" letters. I know you can use Ezy Off oven cleaner to remove lettering from a truck, but will it work on fiberglass without doing damage to the gel coat?
If not, whats the right method to remove painted sign lettering from fiberglass. I tried just buffing it off with compound but it just sort of smears and stains the surrounding white hull. The paint is old, I was told it was lettered in the early 80's. Its done in Black, silver, and orange outline. The orange outline came right off, but the gray and black lettering and painted shadow isn't phased by rubbing compound.

I don't want a big smudge or stain on the side no more than I want their company logo on my boat. I also don't want to have to paint over it.
Will Ezy Off attach fiberglass gel coat?
Is there any better remover to try?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

Ayuh,.... Any paint remover will work just fine...

Though you better expect there'll be a unfaded shadow when yer done...

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

I suspect you'll be painting over whatever you do to remove the lettering whether you want to right now or not.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

Try some acetone and other similar things, you may be able to wipe a good share of it off. At worst you can sand and buff the area, this may reveal the original color of the boat though, so you may need to buff the whole thing so the area is less noticeable.

 

[vintageglass]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

I tried Acetone, but only by soaking a rag and trying to wipe the lettering, it don't seem to affect the paint at all.
The boat has been garage kept and rarely used since 1967, so the lower hull is still pretty decent as far as color and gel coat but I'm sure there's some fading under the letters. I will be buffing the whole boat either way but was pretty surprised that the lettering didn't seem affected by compound. I've buffed lettering off of trucks before with no problem. It appears to be standard sign paint or enamel. What makes it harder is that it encompasses several of the strakes on the side, its not a smooth area to clean off. There was a small bit of lettering on the transom which came right off with compound leaving no trace of it ever having been lettered.
Since these hulls are so thin, there's a lot of flex in the middle of the side of the boat which makes it difficult to apply pressure when buffing.

Are there any chemicals I should not use on fiberglass?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

Have you tried a heat gun and a razor blade scraper to get the big stuff and then follow up with Acetone?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

I tried Acetone, but only by soaking a rag and trying to wipe the lettering, it don't seem to affect the paint at all.
The boat has been garage kept and rarely used since 1967, so the lower hull is still pretty decent as far as color and gel coat but I'm sure there's some fading under the letters. I will be buffing the whole boat either way but was pretty surprised that the lettering didn't seem affected by compound. I've buffed lettering off of trucks before with no problem. It appears to be standard sign paint or enamel. What makes it harder is that it encompasses several of the strakes on the side, its not a smooth area to clean off. There was a small bit of lettering on the transom which came right off with compound leaving no trace of it ever having been lettered.
Since these hulls are so thin, there's a lot of flex in the middle of the side of the boat which makes it difficult to apply pressure when buffing.

Are there any chemicals I should not use on fiberglass?

Nope,... I can't think of anything but Extreme heat that'll soften fiberglass or gelcoat....

Though there must be somethin',....

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

Probably gonna have to sand and buff it off.

You can try your EZ off and razor blades to get the bulk of it off before you switch to the sander.

YD.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Removing painted on lettering from older fiberglass hull?

Try some of this stuff. Won't harm the Gelcoat.
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/...358/Cat/1471?gclid=CKnJsNeyibMCFaV_QgodYVQAdg