decal "remnants"

[VanDiemen23]

I'm removing the decals on my 99 beaver while they are still relatively pliable and untracked - just a little lift around the edges right now. Hope to re-paint the whole rig in a couple of years.

when the decals come off there's a "phantom" decal underneath. It's a little off-white compared to the pure white of the coach and you can just barely feel the edges with your finger.

I've tried brakleen, white rubbing compound on a buffer, and a couple of different goof-off type products, and nothing seems to phase it.

I'm guessing it's a hardened glue layer (it's not sticky, and the undersides of the decals weren't very sticky either). Might be "virgin" gel-coat that isn't suffered any sun erosion.

Was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to how to remove it short of sanding.

[Karlos]

Your decal "ghosts" are common problem for all of us who have removed older decals. Mine were a brighter white color compared to my slightly yellowed body color. Also slightly raised above the body level and very shiny.

I hit the areas vigorously with a rubbing compound applied with a dual-action polisher and couldn't remove them. The compounding did remove a lot of oxidation from the non-decaled body areas, which tended to minimize the contrast.

I decided to live with the ghosts, and just applied a good sealer to slow future oxidation. Others on this forum either allied new decals or paint to hide them further. Search on the forum and you'll read other people's experiences.

Good luck on your project.

Karl

[DMTTRANSPORT]

This is what I use in my Sign Shop to remove residual glue etc. Works great with a plastic razor.