Duetto Decals

Hi, can anyone help, part of our Decal above the cab has become de-glazed, some one said that this can be fixed, as it is something to do with the lacquer? Just wondered if anyone can give us advice on how to do this?
The photo below hopefully shows the problem....
Cheers,
Paul & Caz

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Paul

I'm not 100% on this but the green may....or may not be, painted on with red/gold pin striping decal strips to the top and bottom. 

I do know for sure that that's how it is on the body panels of my Duetto as last year i had my rear doors and front doors attended to by a bodyshop and he told me the green section was spray painted.

Unfortunately what you have is common to all Duetto's as the roof in particular suffers from weathering.

Thanks Bulletguy, that's helpful to know, our duetto is going in next week to have any rust spots delt with, wheel arches mainly, then sprayed. Just wanted to get that decal sorted as it looks so unsightly. Maybe see if it can be removed and painted or something like that. But thanks for the info :)

Paul

Paulwest55 wrote:Thanks Bulletguy, that's helpful to know, our duetto is going in next week to have any rust spots delt with, wheel arches mainly, then sprayed. Just wanted to get that decal sorted as it looks so unsightly. Maybe see if it can be removed and painted or something like that. But thanks for the info :)

Paul

Paul

If the guy you are using is a 'top body man' and knows his stuff, he will be able to advise you. Decals on any surface are an absolute pain. Fortunately they are only cosmetic but when they start breaking up or 'weathering', you are better off without them! Pinstriping on the other hand is fine as that can be easily sourced from accessory shops, ebay, or even your bodyshop. When i had my rear doors done (typically Transit problem on the bottom edges), the body guy actually told me even though he could stripe the bottoms, in his opinion i'd be better off leaving it 'plain sprayed'. I couldn't agree more as the decaling there actually hides any rusting issue you may have....so by the time you do notice it, it's bad!

the Decals on the Duetto are made from 10-15 year Vinyl. The gold & red striping is available from Autosleepers but this large front decal & the brush script Duetto text as well as the large green stripes around the van are not.

The only way to sort the problem you have is to get a new decal made to replace this one by a sign writer. there where also some available on ebay sometime ago & I know at the campervan shows you can quite often find companies with replacement decals.

scovell001 wrote:the Decals on the Duetto are made from 10-15 year Vinyl. The gold & red striping is available from Autosleepers but this large front decal & the brush script Duetto text as well as the large green stripes around the van are not.

The only way to sort the problem you have is to get a new decal made to replace this one by a sign writer. there where also some available on ebay sometime ago & I know at the campervan shows you can quite often find companies with replacement decals.

Glad someone else popped up to try and help this guy out. As i said, i couldn't be 100% if the green strip on the roof is actually a decal. Best strip the entire thing off and if still wanting something like that, get it sprayed on. It's interesting to note that the shades varied. My mate has a 1997 Duetto....mine is a 2000 reg, yet the green is quite different. His pinstriping is also different as is the upholstery cloth.

Incidentally unless A/S have now completely sold out, the "Duetto" script was certainly available two years ago as i bought a pair.

Another thing which might help the poster.....there is someone on the forum who has the facility to make up almost any kind of decal. Not sure if it's "modelman".

 My mate has a 1997 Duetto....mine is a 2000 reg, yet the green is quite different. His pinstriping is also different as is the upholstery cloth.

The Duetto & the Duetto LE have different colour pin striping.

Here on the Island, out local MH Vendor Ŵebbs, replaced the over cab decal on a 98 duetto. I'm not sure where they got it from, but it was paler green almost like a light Pea Green. Whereas from the Duetto's I've seen the darker green over cab decals looked to be the same. Maybe your friend had his decal replaced before he bought the van!

I've also seen that to a certain extent no 2 Duetto's are the same when it comes to graphics it seems as though Autosleepers had a laid back attitude with regards to vehicle livery one year to the next, or could it be that the decals have been replaced/bodged on over the years!

scovell001 wrote:

 My mate has a 1997 Duetto....mine is a 2000 reg, yet the green is quite different. His pinstriping is also different as is the upholstery cloth.

The Duetto & the Duetto LE have different colour pin striping.

Here on the Island, out local MH Vendor Ŵebbs, replaced the over cab decal on a 98 duetto. I'm not sure where they got it from, but it was paler green almost like a light Pea Green. Whereas from the Duetto's I've seen the darker green over cab decals looked to be the same. Maybe your friend had his decal replaced before he bought the van!

I've also seen that to a certain extent no 2 Duetto's are the same when it comes to graphics it seems as though Autosleepers had a laid back attitude with regards to vehicle livery one year to the next, or could it be that the decals have been replaced/bodged on over the years!

Actually there are many differences between the Duetto LE (which mine is) and the Duetto. 

First thing i noticed was the huge Heki 2 rooflight which all LE models have. Now there are 'positives' and 'negative's to that. The obvious positive is the amount of natural light it lets in....but of course it also lets the sun through too so you have to fit a reflective cover to keep the rays out. When parked up of course, it's brilliant to be able to open it up. The 'negatives' are they are crazily expensive. The dome only retails at £300. Total madness given that you can buy a complete new one for £380. So if you crack the dome......you might just as well fork out the extra £80 and replace the entire thing! I've just had to replace both air struts for my Heki 2 which cost £50 though i've seen them selling at much more.

My van also has steel wheels and not alloys but that's no great shakes. Also no rev counter. The LE doesn't come with power windows either but i managed to source a pair and fit them. A/S fitted a much posher sink unit and oven in the LE though by far the biggest 'positive' was they had the bodywork rust treated by a specialist. And that definitely has made a big difference!

There's an easy explanation for A/S's 'laid back attitude' to variation of livery. They sub-contracted out for certain things and would buy in X amount of whatever. When that ran out they'd re-order, only to find the contractor couldn't supply the identical so had to go for whatever else they had. This is why my upholstery is slightly different to my mates. At a glance, it looks identical.....but isn't!

Even the crockery sets varied too as i know the supplier they used to buy from (the factory closed down 2005).

Yes you are right about the shades of green involved....even that varies! My mate hasn't had his replaced though is now looking similar to Pauls. I'm lucky in that up to now mine is still ok.

Hi thank you for the replies it seems that each duetto was a individual even form the factory our decal got damaged whe the snow a couple of years ago became compacted on the roof and stuck .looking to remove them from the top as its just Likey to happen again and at the moment looks a mess.and it's not the easiest places to reach replacing the aerial 
Was a challenge .
Paul and Caz

Paulwest55 wrote:Hi thank you for the replies it seems that each duetto was a individual even form the factory our decal got damaged whe the snow a couple of years ago became compacted on the roof and stuck .looking to remove them from the top as its just Likey to happen again and at the moment looks a mess...and it's not the easiest places to reach replacing the aerial 
Was a challenge .
Paul and Caz

Ufff!!! That was definitely one of the worst jobs i tackled on my van so i know exactly what you mean! 

The actual ball/cup on my rubber duck had rotted away so the mount itself had to be replaced. Rather than buy another rubber duck i sourced a much neater looking setup from a local scrapyard. Base mount came off a Rover 216 but the Rover aerial is too long and 'whippy' so i then found a shorter one which had the identical thread off a Citroen. But that was the easy part!

To get at the mount meant unscrewing God knows how many screws to remove two inner roof sections....just so i could get at the base mount which was secured from inside. Next came the problem of 'how to' fit. Easy if you have 10ft long arms, but not if you are a normal size human! Eventually i got someone to help by holding the base mount straight on the outside whilst i tightened up the nut on the inside.

What on earth possessed A/S to drill a damn hole in a newly fitted roof in the worst possible place (where all the weather is) just to fit an aerial, i have no idea. A length of copper braided wire secured to the inside of the roof would have avoided all that nonsense, plus a total trouble free aerial.

Hi Bulletguy I think someone at AS had wicked sense of humour when it came to design. When we altered the inside of our duetto finding out how it was put together was worse than a rubick cube.
Paul and Caz