Decals - removing completely?

Hi,
 
I've searched and read many questions on replacing the decals, but what's the opinion on removing them completely?
 
Shortly after purchasing my W reg VW Trooper last year I removed the Vinyl decals from the bottom of the sides, the bonnet and tailgate. They were getting worse for wear and didn’t match where the sliding door had been touched in, stone chips on the front etc. As I’ve read if you want replacements you have to get them made up.
 
IMO the van looks so much better, clean and fresh like a plain van conversion but of course takes a bit of the auto sleeper identity away.
 
Came to look at what the main stripes were like to remove on the sides and tailgate yesterday but found that the main blue wide stripe appears to be painted on. Then the gold vinyl etc is put on top of the edges of this.
 
With various searching i've seen a trident/trooper that appear the owners have removed these all, only keeping the name and badges.

I'm thinking of doing this to our Trident. Any photos?
If I could afford it I would like a total colour change respray, probably in a gunmetal metalic grey. 

I'll have to get some up, but it's the standard for that era.

Are yours painted?

A full proper respray sounds expensive, and finding a body shop that can do an expert job is another thing (from experience).

Homegrown wrote:
Came to look at what the main stripes were like to remove on the sides and tailgate yesterday but found that the main blue wide stripe appears to be painted on. Then the gold vinyl etc is put on top of the edges of this.

This was true on my '99 Transit based Flair as well - though in my case it was the wide green stripe that was sprayed on, and gold and red vinyl stripes added on top. This unfortunately looked a bit odd with just the vinyl stripes removed, but it would have been impractical to remove the painted ones.

You're quite right - a full respray in a different colour would be very expensive. I would have thought £3k minimum on a high-top van if you have a proper job done.

-mojo- wrote:
This was true on my '99 Transit based Flair as well - though in my case it was the wide green stripe that was sprayed on, and gold and red vinyl stripes added on top. This unfortunately looked a bit odd with just the vinyl stripes removed, but it would have been impractical to remove the painted ones. 

You're quite right - a full respray in a different colour would be very expensive. I would have thought £3k minimum on a high-top van if you have a proper job done.

Thanks for that.

Guess it depends how well they masked it, (not know until the vinyl is removed) vs how well the vinyl stripes have kept over the years. What gave it away when you look closer was the blue over spray mist between the front door and wing on the the door hinge.

Homegrown wrote:..............
 ..........
 
Came to look at what the main stripes were like to remove on the sides and tailgate yesterday but found that the main blue wide stripe appears to be painted on. Then the gold vinyl etc is put on top of the edges of this.
 
.

This was how AS did the stripes on vehicles of that era. As Mojo says a good re-spray is expensive and you probably have few options if you leave the painted stripes. Remember fashions change and it's cheaper to use stick on decals these days rather than paint. On the plus side your painted stripes won't fade or peel off:smile!:

hoopman wrote:

Homegrown wrote:..............
 ..........
 
Came to look at what the main stripes were like to remove on the sides and tailgate yesterday but found that the main blue wide stripe appears to be painted on. Then the gold vinyl etc is put on top of the edges of this.
 
.

This was how AS did the stripes on vehicles of that era. As Mojo says a good re-spray is expensive and you probably have few options if you leave the painted stripes. Remember fashions change and it's cheaper to use stick on decals these days rather than paint. On the plus side your painted stripes won't fade or peel off:smile!:

Maybe remove the vinyl, then put white vinyl over the blue paint.... 

If you give Alan Osborne a call at A/S and give him the build number from the glove box, he will be able to tell you everything that you need to know about your stripes. Hope this helps..Algy.

algy wrote:If you give Alan Osborne a call at A/S and give him the build number from the glove box, he will be able to tell you everything that you need to know about your stripes. Hope this helps..Algy.

Thanks Algy, will bear that in mind.

I was only at A/S only the other week, prior to thinking of doing this. Unfortunately anything other I asked for at the time, this, that and the other, I wasn’t in luck.