Remove and paint stripes

Thanks everyone for your experiences and insight. Looks like quite a job ahead of me!

Did not sand the fiberglass. The original decal protected it pretty well over the years. I did clean it with mineral spirits followed by a scrubbing with ammonia and a strong detergents. Wanted to ensure I got all the wax off. Lots of water for a rinse. Almost couldn't see the outline since the fiberglass was so clean.

The between coats sanding was very light and never got down to the fiberglass. All I want was to smooth out any splatter or maybe a run. I tried not to disturbed the fiberglass. Looks good and passes the 30/30 test. 30 MPH at 30 feet. If you can't see it, it isn't there. I do have some fading on the side that gets sun in the drive way. Might sand it down and repaint using automotive as PRodacy suggested.

The hard part was masking around the compartment doors. I didn't want to see any white outlines so the door frames took a bit of work to mask and limit over spray.

I would not use Krylon or any other paint in a rattle can. These tend to fade pretty rapidly, and after all of the work you'll be putting into it, you'll be disappointed . Instead, go to an automotive paint supplier and get some one-part automotive paint. You can get a low-end HPLV paint sprayer (Husky brand from Home Depot are very good - they have a kit with both HPLV and standard guns for about 70.00 that is excellent.) and, if you don't have a compressor that will put out enough air, just rent one for an afternoon. Use the HPLV gun and make sure the airflow is sufficient for the spraygun - that's critical. You'll pay a little more taking this route compared to rattle cans, but the spraying is much easier, the finish is way better, and you won't see any fading for years. Also, the automotive paint tends to adhere better. The prep (removing the old decals, cleaning the surface and so forth us the same for either paint you chose.

Did you sand the fiberglass before you painted?

The first side I used a heat gun and mineral sprits. Took a lot of elbow grease but the cost was near nothing. Second side I used 3M Stripe Off Wheel. Much easier and very quick but I needed 2 wheels.

Once the decals were gone I scrubbed the area with a strong soap mix to ensure I got ALL the wax and dirt off. Used cheep lawn plastic bags, I stopped using since they seem to split open after one mower load of grass, to mask off the areas I didn't want to paint. Also I picked up a roll of 1/4" tape to mask the tight bends of the original graphics. The wide tape doesn't bend as smoothly as narrow tape.

I also did a very light sanding with wet 600 grit paper before the final coat which gave a very smooth surface. Spray cans can splatter a bit.

Dale.Traveling wrote:
The black decals on my coach more or less got sun stroke. The others are OK so I stripped the black decal off and painted with maroon spray paint. The fiber glass under the decal was pure white so it was easy to mask the outline and apply paint. Not very difficult for a weekend (actual two weekends per side) to remove and paint. Say it with Krylon. The hard part was waiting for good weather. Warm, moderate humidity and low to no wind.

How did you remove the decals or did you paint over them? I have the same problem with faded cracking decals.
Mel

The black decals on my coach more or less got sun stroke. The others are OK so I stripped the black decal off and painted with maroon spray paint. The fiber glass under the decal was pure white so it was easy to mask the outline and apply paint. Not very difficult for a weekend (actual two weekends per side) to remove and paint. Say it with Krylon. The hard part was waiting for good weather. Warm, moderate humidity and low to no wind.

Before we decided to move to a Class A from our 5th wheel, I was about to mask and paint over our vinyl stripes with Color Bond paint. I contacted the company and they said their paint would adhere to the vinyl fine since it is also used to paint interiors. I was going to order one can as a test, figuring it can't look any worse than it did all faded and cracked.

If you have experience, then it is just a matter of stripping, cleaning, masking and painting. Having it done can be thousands.