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Adhesive Recommendations for Drip-Molded Decal?


EchelonMike

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All:

I have a 2002 XTI and the "Wakesetter" decal on the port side, near the transom, peeled off when surfing this summer. My son saw it start to peel, so we pulled it all the way off to preserve it. Right now, the decal's "mounted" on my beer fridge in the garage with a few small pieces of double-sided tape.

Anyway, I have searched high and low for a replaement decal, but it is out of production and no longer available. Since I was able to remove the old one perfectly, my thought now is to attempt to re-attach it with some sort of adhesive.

Anyone done this? Adhesive recommendation?

Thanks,

-- Mike

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If you post a pic of it someone might be able to point you in the right direction to get a replacement.

As far as adhesives to get it to stick if you want to reuse the one you have, I would stop by the local auto body supply shop and talk to the guys there. I would recommend a trim glue or adhesive meant to stick trim on cars. That stuff is pretty serious adhesive and is meant for the same sort of application.

Another alternative would be a adhesive tape made by 3M called VHB. It is unreal. I remember seeing some pretty impressive claims of it being stronger that using mechanical fasteners when joining most surfaces. Just to be warned, most of it is for industrial use and is not cheap. There are a lot of car parts held together with similar glues and adhesive tapes now.

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The Gorilla tape is pretty good stuff and has an almost clear appearance when applied. It is rated for 50lbs a 3' roll so it will stick very well even on radiused corners. It isn't cheap either, but I don't know the price comp to the 3M.

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FYI, VHB is not "that" special -- you can get it at your local walmart. It's marketed to hold trim on the outside of houses or something like that. about $6 or $7 for a roll.

It's the same stuff gopro uses for their stick on mounts. Be warned... it is CRAZY strong and holds very well. Until it doesn't. It tends to fail very abruptly without warning. In other words you'd be unlikely to see it peel up a little at a time... it will just fail all at once if it's going to. If you do use vhb, I'd strongly recommend heating it up first to get the most stick out of it. A hair dryer works well.

That said I think it'd work just fine to hold a sticker on.

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Quick update: The guys @ No Wake were able to track down the drip molded side decal for me - but it is $71 bucks + ship + tax. Yee-ouch. Do I try the 3M adhesive route for a few bucks or just bite the bullet and get a new one? If the 3M won't stay-stuck and I have to screw with it repeatedly, I'll go new. Thoughts/informal poll?

-- Mike

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Quick update: The guys @ No Wake were able to track down the drip molded side decal for me - but it is $71 bucks + ship + tax. Yee-ouch. Do I try the 3M adhesive route for a few bucks or just bite the bullet and get a new one? If the 3M won't stay-stuck and I have to screw with it repeatedly, I'll go new. Thoughts/informal poll?

-- Mike

Sounds like a plan and is probably what I would do. I knew the drip molded decals aren't cheap. If the adhesive fails and you loose the decal at least you know where to get another one.

One other ideas would be peel the other one off a pick a pair of decals you like that are a bit cheaper. It would kill me to peel off a good $71 decal though! Cry.gif

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murphy's law says that the likelihood that the adhesive will work is inversely proportional to the cost of the item being adhered. A $1 decal would stay stuck on the boat forever with vhb. A $71 decal? anybody's guess....

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murphy's law says that the likelihood that the adhesive will work is inversely proportional to the cost of the item being adhered. A $1 decal would stay stuck on the boat forever with vhb. A $71 decal? anybody's guess....

Well, that is my other concern. I have applied a few new Malibu decals (on my old Echelon) and even after careful surface prep, letting it "cure" for a week+, the factory decal would begin to peel. Not a huge deal on a $5 Echelon LX decal, but painful with a $70+ one. I am going to try to re-adhere the original and cross my fingers.

-- Mike

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VHB @ walmart:

3376596446_fcc531b418.jpg

EDIT: I will say that surface prep is important (clean both surfaces), as is heating up the vhb with a blowdrier. The vhb becomes very maliable, almost putty-like, when you warm it up and it's likely to stick WAY better. After you heat it and adhere both surfaces, it's also good to put some pressure on the two items for a few minutes at least to insure a good seal.

Edited by shawndoggy
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VHB @ walmart:

3376596446_fcc531b418.jpg

EDIT: I will say that surface prep is important (clean both surfaces), as is heating up the vhb with a blowdrier. The vhb becomes very maliable, almost putty-like, when you warm it up and it's likely to stick WAY better. After you heat it and adhere both surfaces, it's also good to put some pressure on the two items for a few minutes at least to insure a good seal.

I will show this pic to my wife and let her know VHB makes an awesome last minute stocking stuffer!! :-)

-- Mike

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