Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

My Shabah 182 is 11 years old and I am considering removing the side graphics. I do not love the look and would consider adding some more modern graphics if I did not like the "clean" look. Will they come off okay? Will the outline of the old graphics show on the gelcoat after removal? My boat is a light color and not very faded. Anyone try this before?

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

Hi Brophy,

I had mine removed and had new graphics painted on. You can check out Spink's from Madison, WI Z202 (1995) in the gallery.

You can see some areas where the old graphics were but you have to get very close to see them. People think my boat is new now but it's 15 years old. Without refinishing the entire boat, you most likely will see the old marks. That will get very expensive and its not worth putting that much money into an older boat. New graphics will bring you a long way but it may not be the PERFECT look you are seeking.

Danny

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

Danny - I checked out your pictures in the gallery. For a 1995 your boat looks modern and unique. Very cool. I was thinking of doing mine myself......first just removing the graphics to see how it looks. If I do not like the look without graphics, my plan was to buy some custom vinyl graphics and install them myself. I am afraid that paint will chip off and be hard to maintain. The site I have been eyeing is customvinylgraphics.com. I think I will give it a go based on your boat.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

I took off the graphics on mine with a heat gun and a lot of patience and even after buffing if you look at it just right you can see some ghosting. Under normal conditions it is hard to see and most people don't notice. I have left mine one color and still get compliments whenever I fill up the gas tanks :wink_thumbup:

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

me too. heat gun, patience and some aqua buff 1000, then followed up with Wenol polish.

In the right light, on the trailer you can still see the ghostly outlines of the old stripes.

Ive been looking at Raceline Digital Store

Ive called 3 different peps here in town, the most was $150 to install, the other two were $100.

granted I have a 30' boat, but still quite reasonable

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

You guys should post some pics of the boat with removed graphics, and with your new graphics packages!

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

I agree...it would be great to see a few pictures of your boats with their new graphics and with the graphics removed. By the way, that "Raceline Digital Store" site is awesome. And reasonably priced. It has so many cool graphics available it would be hard to choose!

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

One old pic and two new pics-if you get to about a foot within the boat you can barely see where the old graphics were. The sad thing is a pier took a good chip out of the side last year. Hopefully I can get it fixed. I'd like to get the trailer painted this year, but don't think I can justify the cost right now.

Danny

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

I will.

I removed the ship to shore radio, along with the antenna, so I have some gelcoat repairs to be made next month. Right now the whole boat is stripped of it's pin stripes and graphics, except the Mariah logo on the side.

I havent chosen yet a graphic theme, but I have decided to change the boat over to basically Black, White & Grey.

Im also going with Marine Carpeting | Aquamat | Snap In Carpet | Boat Carpeting | Corinthian Marine Carpet for my interior carpet. They are local to me and am thinking of a grey base that matches the carpet color attached to the kick panels in the main lounge, with a 4" wide stripe border outlining it inset 1 inch. Then the mariah logo in Black in the middle in front of the rear seat.

Im then swtiching over the bow, aft and bimini covers to Black. Bentley's Manufacturing also a local company.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

no kidding. add $100 for local install and you can update your boat for $400-500

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

Your boat looks great, I'm going to do some changes to my graphics, if the weather ever warms up.

What part of Madison are you at? I'm from the Deerfield/Cottage Grove area.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

If you haven't removed them yet you can use a decal eraser. Most parts stores have them. We use them often to remove PSV on our trucks and pickups.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

I have a Z260 and my detailer removed the decals and detailed the boat. I decided to go with the clean look and I love it. All that is on the boat now is the green pin strip and I get compliments all the time; people think I bought a newer boat. I'll have to post pics.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

I removed mine with a heat gun. Planned on new graphics but it looked so good with just the Mariah logo I left it as is. Did a lot of buffing and like everyone else I can see it in the right ligh but no one else seams to see it.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

The decal eraser worked great! Took the graphics off my Jubilee today after work. Stripped both sides in about 45 minutes. Too easy!

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

Here is a photo of my '98 Shabah 180 Limited Edition with graphics removed. The prior owner did this and I really like the look.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

In 2018 we launched a Discontinued Series for obsolete graphics from a number of manufacturers. They are not 100% OEM correct however the subtleties are such that they don't distract from the look of the original design.

Discontinued Series / Mariah Graphics

Take a look, you may find what you've been looking for.

Chris

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

These are Raceline Digital Graphics. I took the old ones off with a heat gun and buffed it out with Presta Gel Coat Compound. The Graphics are holding up well and look great. This was a 3 piece set in Black, Gray, and Silver. Here's a before, during, and after photo.

Re: Anyone tried removing their side graphics?
 

That looks great! Thanks for posting