Removing and replacing Chromax Letter

[s_kelley2000]

I have one broken Chromax letter on my boat and have a new letter to replace it. Any tips to removing the broken letter? Guessing just heat gun and plastic scraper but if anybody has been through this before and has tips that would be great. Once I have it off I assume just remove all of the old adhesive and residue and then make sure there is no wax left over. Then just peal and stick and give it a lot of force for a couple minutes to make sure it is stuck?

[MN Ryan]

I have never done this, but I would use gentle heat and a plastic scraper/plastic razor blades. Once you get it off, acetone (found in any hardware store paint section) to clean up any residue and wax.

[Scooter G]

2 cents, like MN Ryan, never pulled boat letters, but a menagerie of other similar badges & lettering.
You are on coarse with the heat, softens the glue. Fishing line back & forth will cut like a knife, and you can get close to the gel surface. Razor blades are accident prone and may lead to an accidental scratch to the surface. "Goof Off" is a great adhesive remover for the left over carnage. Ditto the acetone, but it can be a little aggressive if it ends up in the wrong place, or a massive headache after the buzz wears off, lol.
Denatured alcohol for the area prior to install.

[MN Ryan]

Definitely not a regular razor blade! Plastic razor blades work well, though. I like the fishing line idea, too!

[Scooter G]

Oh, ain't never seen that there gadget before, those could come in handy.
Will it take away the scratches and gouges already rendered with me using a normal razor blade? (Too late)
You could of told me about those a little earlier MN Ryan, lol

[MN Ryan]

Oh, Scooter G, I believe we've all had that "it'll be fine if I'm really careful" experience with razor blades!

[charlesml3]

Yes. I've done this on several boats. Here's the procedure:

1- Pull the bad letter off. Doesn't matter how. Just get it off the boat. It's going to leave some residue.

2- Clean off the residue. Goo Gone works pretty well. Just keep after it until all of the residue is gone.

3- Rubbing alcohol. Use rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to remove anything left on the surface. It has to be VERY clean.

4- A straight edge. A paint stirring stick works well for this. The idea is to create a "shelf" for the replacement letter. Use some blue painters tape and a paint stick. Position the stick so it's under the bottom edge of the existing letters. Up tight. Tape it down. This establishes the bottom.

5- Pull the backing off the new letter. Rest the bottom of it on the paint stick but don't let it touch the side of the boat yet. Once it goes, it's there for good. Have someone stand behind you and look at the spacing between the letters, and the angle. Match it the best you can.

6- Press it down. Once you do this, there's no going back. Press it down firmly and evenly.

7- Remove the paint stick.

That's about it!

[BasaltRMK]

Whaaaa? MN Ryan, I can't believe you've been holding out on us with these amazing gadgets!

- bob

[s_kelley2000]

Thanks guys, the letter came off easily but left lots of residue. Goo Gone and a plastic paint scraper and the cap of the Goo Gone bottle eventually got it all off. Wish I knew about those plastic razor blades as that would have made much quicker work of it. I gave it another quick clean with rubbing alcohol to be safe. I used a level on the bottom as a straight edge to line it up with the letters on either side. Then some painters tape to create a hinge at the top. Checked measurements and eyeballed it a few times then lifted it up on the hinge and removed the backing paper and stuck it down. I learned the hinge method from Domed Numbers when I was putting on my new reg numbers.

[MN Ryan]

It's crooked.

(Just kidding. Looks great!)

[Scooter G]

Brand new boat again, looks great!

[zmnypit]

Eraser wheel and a drill the easiest way to remove the the left behind tape. I removed every letter on my boat on both sides to replace the double sided tape. Ended up using the eraser wheel on both the boat and the individual letters before applying new doubled sided tape.

[s_kelley2000]

Yes I was really wishing I had an eraser wheel on hand at the time but luckily it wasn't too bad with only 1 letter to replace.