Removing non original paint from Trillium

[34Roy]

I recently obtained a 1979 Trillium 4500 in New Mexico. The trailer was originally titled there so it seems to be in great shape. However, instead of replacing the decal striping w/ new decals, the original owner painted stripes and it wasn't done all that well as there is some bleeding through where it was masked off. Any suggestions as to how to remove the paint. I'm sure it was applied with a spray can. I have a heat gun, have stripped plenty of furniture w/ stripper.., But I have never worked with fiberglass before and I don't want to harm the fiberglass. I'm not sure if I'll just remove the striping and leave it without striping or remove and then purchase decal stripes. I suppose it will depend how it looks after the I get the stripes removed. Thank you in advance for any tips.

[John in Michigan]

John, congratulations on your recent acquisition and welcome to the forum!

My DW used a heat gun on low setting to remove much of the decal stripe on our 4500. She was careful to keep the heat gun moving and used a plastic scraper. We tried metal scrapers, etc, but they tend to damage the gelcoat.

You could try the heat gun. Others on this forum have also had success with fiberglass-specific paint strippers. Still others have removed paint from gelcoat using just a 3M purple pad (EDIT: purple pad with lots of water).

When we removed the stripes, a shadow was left. Surprisingly, we were able to mostly get rid of the shadow by applying bar keepers friend with a soft cloth where the stripe had been removed.

Good luck!

[34Roy]

Thank you the reply, I didn't realize there was stripper specifically for fiberglass. BTW, I'm also a John from Michigan. My 34Roy name is taken from my 1934 Gibson Roy Smeck guitar that I play, also made in Michigan, Kalamazoo that is.

[John in Michigan]

Sweet guitar!