Registration numbers under varnish need changing

[pvperezcfp]

I'm the proud owner of a 1947 Deluxe Runabout previously owned and registered in Michigan. The restorer did a great job of refinishing this beauty. I have one small problem in that I live in Louisiana and the registration numbers (which are under 3 - 4 coats of varnish) need to be changed. Any ideas / suggestions on how do I remove the varnish and old numbers and replace with new numbers and varnish. I'm wide open for suggestions. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

[tkhersom]

I have never replaced the numbers from under varnish, so this is more of a guess than experience, but I suspect you will want a flexible long board and plenty of sandpaper.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[boat_art]

I would try a heat gun and scraper, start on low heat and test it out first. Pass the heat over an area carefully until the varnish starts to lift then carefully scrape.
We remove stickers and old varnish this way, and we never use chemical strippers. I know what heat does to the wood but I have no idea what all those chemicals do.
Tom

[joanroy]

Are your numbers painted on or plastic stick on? If their plastic stick on, you may be able to just carefully peel off, light sand, and re-build the varnish to blend. If painted on you'll have to sand off, restain and revarnish that plank to match. Good Luck!

[boat_art]

By the way...that Deluxe is my favorite example of the classic runabout!
Let us know how it goes and include pics!
Tom

[drrot]

I'd varnish up a mahogany board that would cover up the old numbers. Put the new numbers on it and screw it over the old.

[Captain Nemo]

I'd screw a board over it like Jim said. You may create more of a mess trying to remove the finish and the numbers.

[Greg Wallace]

if painted on they were likely painted over some initial varnish coats. You may be able to very carefully sand then off with out breaking through to underlying stain. Then build up some varnish and replace registration numbers then more varnish to blend with rest of finish. It can be tricky but I have done it. Hopefully there won't be a remaining "shadow" that will not be hidden with the new numerals. Best of luck!

[Doug P]

I'd varnish up a mahogany board that would cover up the old numbers. Put the new numbers on it and screw it over the old.

yep

[tkhersom]

Dang, if Dr. Rot and Doug P say do it, than that is what I would do.

What do you guys think about doing it on a piece of finished Luan?

[Doug P]

I was thinking knotty pine

[mbigpops]

Your are not going to blend a varnish repair and have it look decent. You will see where you varnished over.

Either strip the coats, remove the letters and refinish the whole topside or do the wood over like Jim Staib suggested.

Mark

[boat_art]

We have had good results removing with heat. The board works fine for the numbers but not for the name on a transom. Of course the only way to do it perfectly is to strip.
Tom

[joanroy]

So, Proud Owner of 1947 Delux. There are your answers, and their all correct so now it's up to you to pick one. Thing I love about The Buzz is you soon find out there can be lots of different ways to go about any little project on our old boats. As you get to know your boat you'll find, sometimes through trial and error, what works for you depending on how you want to maintain and use her. Always make sure she's safe and seaworthy first and then everything else, like how perfect should my varnish look, is optional.

Congratulations and best of luck with your new/old Chris Craft. That's a beautiful model! Welcome to the Club.

[boat_art]

I second Joanroy! And....post pics of your progress!
Tom

[steve bunda]

Let me know if you can view this FB post. https://www.facebook.com/terry.coughlin ... 694272174/

[tkhersom]

Let me know if you can view this FB post. https://www.facebook.com/terry.coughlin ... 694272174/

I was able to.

[Pete DeVito]

Just a thought but maybe you could go to your DMV and ask them to accept the registration numbers you currently have on your boat. It is just a number and I am sure if it is from another state it would not be a duplication. I sold my 17' Deluxe to a fellow in Texas and he never did change the registration numbers the whole time he owned it and ran it in Texas. He did by a new registration each year and kept with him but he did not remove the numbers on the boat. I would check with whoever is in charge of this in the State of Mich and see if you can do something without messing up your finish.

[Doug P]

Pete. I have done the same

[boat_art]

I saw the posting too...looks like it is working well!
Tom

[Bilge Rat]

One thing that I have seen is the "ghosting" of the old numbers on the wood where they prevented sunlight from reaching the stain/varnish underneath. Actually, it's more like a shadowing. Saw this on a transom where the owner changed the name. The rest of the hull slowly lightens with the sun's UV rays but the parts hidden by the numbers remains darker. Too many factors to say if this happen on your boat but at that point, either cover it up with a numbers board or strip the hull and start again.

[steve bunda]

Sanding can work if you are very careful. My background in steel mold making and mold polishing helps to have the touch . 180 grit on 6 inch fein sander, we plan to varnish the complete boat with refresher coats. Sometimes there is shadowing of the old numbers, try to cover that condition with the new ones.

thanks, and good luck,, steve

[pvperezcfp]

Thanks everyone for the advice. At this point, I think I'm too "scared" to mess up the beautiful job the previous owner did on the varnish, so I am left with two choices. One is to request the same numbers from my State (Louisiana). The other is to attach a board with the new numbers over the old numbers.

Does anyone have a picture of how this board overlay solution might look? Anyone done this before? I'm trying to imagine what it might look like before going down that road.

I guess a final option would be to just leave things as they are and see how long before I run into trouble!!!

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

No matter what I do, I will post pictures as we go along.

[steve bunda]

Another option , Paint the new numbers with a painted cloud around them to cover the old.

[Captain Nemo]

Does anyone have a picture of how this board overlay solution might look? Anyone done this before? I'm trying to imagine what it might look like before going down that road.

I just planed a piece of mahogany to about 1/4-3/16". Stained and varnished. I have a connection at the sign shop at the highway dept. cut and apply vinyl numbers to them. I cut a separate piece of lexan for the registration stickers.

[maritimeclassics]

This is a runabout not a cruiser, I would not add a board over the top and put screw holes in the side planking. We definitely don't use a heat gun on good varnish either and would only do this to get to bare wood. We change names and number all the time and this year have done about 5. The process is easy if the numbers are laying on enough coats of varnish. We first sand with 320 by hand to see how far they are under the top coats. If we feel its going well and can be achieved then we sand them all off with a machine. In this process we do add 3-4 coats over the new name or numbers varnishing the whole side of the hull or transom to protect the new artwork. Sometimes there is some shadowing but it goes away after a while.

[tkhersom]

I made the first comment to this post because it sat for a day without any attention and I was hoping to bring in some opinions on this subject. Now I feel a little bad for pvperezcfp because he is probably curled up in the fetal position crying like an 12 year old girl who just got cut from the cheer leading team.

Like Joanjoy said there are many answers that may or may not work for you.

I would like to refer you to an article that Steve Bunda wrote for WoodyBoater about the different types of people in this hobby/lifestyle/addiction. I would take his story one step further and say that if you end up owning more than one Classic boat you may have different desires for each one. You may want one to be a concourse level restoration while another to be a scratch-able user boat.

http://www.woodyboater.com/blog/2013/05 ... rspective/

It is all up to you! Good Luck!

[Doug P]

Hell, just "Photoshop" the new numbers

[joanroy]

Great piece by Steve Bunda! Should be required reading by all perspective antique boat buyers.

Whatever floats your boat and makes you happy!

Joanjoy

[kiitos]

I am the previous owner of the17' Deluxe Runabout. The registration numbers are under approximately 6-8 coats of varnish. The numbers were produced by a vinyl graphics company. They are only a couple years old and would not have any UV "shadow" as the boat was seldom in the sun for prolonged periods. The boat was varnished in 2015 with multiple coats.n there is no name or graphics on the transom.

A qucik solution would be to have a vinyl graphics company produce the new set of registration numbers with a rectangular background say in black. Round the corners the same as you would if making a mahogany board fro the registration numbers. Then have the graphics company overlay the new registration numbers in a simulated gold leaf and add shadow the numbers if you wish. My experience is that those would run approximately $150 a $200 per pair. When it comes time to freshen up the varnish the vinyl numbers can be removed with heat from a hair dryer or a heat gun set on low. Then the layers of varnish can be sanded and the original numbers removed. A good vinyl graphics company can cut the shape of the panel so that when installed the panel will follow the sheer curvature.

The company that I have used for many projects on boats as well as my business is Vinyl Grafix in St. Clair Shores, MI. www.vinylgrafix.com.