Motor Hood Decals

It's that time again, the cold winter months give most of us up north here time to work on our tin's before the spring and summer fishing season in upon us. I found a great article on a post that cajuncook1 added to another thread on how to restore an old outboard and I would like to do the same with my 1968 Evinrude 18HP Fastwin. The trouble is the decals on the site (while they are the exact orginals and probably took some research and time to design ) are very expensive for me. $60 + International shipping from Canada. Mix in the paint and supplies needed and I can see this becomming somewhat expensive. I've looked on ebay ( where I purchased decals for my Evinrude 9.5 that I sold last summer to buy the bigger motor ) and have found nothing even close to matching what are on the motor now. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can find decals that are close to the original without breaking the bank? I see one of the tinboat.net sponsors makes vinyl car wraps and large boat graphics. Any help would be great.

Bulldog does printing I believe and aviaanah does graphic design...they may be able to help.

Check ebay, I think safsateri or something like that sells the decal for your hood for like $6-$10 with free shipping. Go to you local auto parts store and get a match from like duplicolor. Its a lacquer paint so it holds up to engine heat as well. Heres my rattle can paint job using the duplicolor

Heres my `55 fleetwin done with rattle cans of duplicolor and the ebay decals i got for $ 5 and free shipping

If you can't find what you want on Ebay, let me know. It is hard for me to meet the really low prices on Ebay but I know for a fact I use the best vinyl on the market and I'll stand behind my product for the duration of the warranty.

JD - Thanks for the help but bulldog found the thread before I was able to contact him.

Ultra - Those motors look awesome. That is exactly what I would like to do with my mine. Do you have any pictures of the process while you were working and restoring them? Did you pull the entire motor apart to paint or just the main pieces? Did you take them down to bare metal or just clean and rough up the surface? Self etch primer? Clear coat? Finally, what was the name of the color of the duplicolor paint that you used? Sorry to bombard you with questions lol it's just that you did an awesome job that I would like to at least come close to myself.

Bulldog - In the pictures below I have the two ideas for decals that I would like.

This is the exact motor that I have on my boat now. It's the Evinrude name in the italic lettering which I have found on ebay but to get the blue and red band that wraps around the hood I have not been able to find. I thought about using a template and paint the band on there but I think that would not look as good as a decal.



I found this style from their 1965 model that I like as well. It seems that it's just two decals on either side. Would these maybe be easier to make? I think they're easier to install than that wrap around piece?



Possible price to make either one? I understand the ebay $9 price is out but let me know what you think.

Thanks atuck, I remove the motors from both and lower pan off the `75 and then sandblasted the exh housing/ lower units. I would`nt have sandblasted the `75 except the previous owner had used a paint brush and some type of epoxy paint that was a bear to remove ( blasting makes a mess and gets everywhere, powerwash it when your done). You can use a wire wheel on a drill and sandpaper to remove any loose paint if you don`t blast it. You don`t have to get it down to bare metal just make sure its clean and smooth. Any metal showing u must use a self etching primer, the hood is f`glass so just sand it down. On your decals, take some measurements and tape it up and get the closet color match and start spraying, thats what i did for the stripes. Again, the better the prep work the better the end result.
The paint i used is Plasticote( not duplicolor that i thought originally- your choice) is Truck/sport utility #1586 on the `75 -25hp. On the `55 i used #1568. Its a bit darker and not as much metallic in it. then i clearcoat everything

Thanks... like I said work is awesome. I will have to look for a lighter blue, but I like the metallic fleck in there. Honestly my motor isn't chipped or scratched too bad for its age. Most of the original operating decals are still on it and readable. It's just very greasy and the paint is very faded, which is why I would like to re-coat it. The hood is actually the worst part, being scratched, chipped, and faded.

I know to get a good job I will probably have to seperate it into a few smaller pieces. I am just worried I won't be able to get something back the right way and cause it to not run properly. It runs now like a champ, but I will carefully plan everything out before I start pulling it apart.

I read a great article ( the one posted on here ) on how to restore an old outboard. It helped greatly, but on the final step do you sand or rough up the surface before the clearcoat? What type of clearcoat did you use? The same brand as the paint you used?

I let the paint dry, then just use the clearcoat- no sanding. I justed used the local hardware store clearcoat. Use the clear not the matte finish clearcoat. Figure about 3 or 4 cans of paint, 1 can of rustoleum self etch primer( walmart) and 1 can clear.
If your transom/pan/ exh housing is greasy, get a couple of plastic bags cover your motor real well so no water gets to it and get some type of degreaser and powerwash it. On the inside of the cover use a spray bottle and a toothbrush and have at it. Take the carb off, its much easier to get at the block and lower pan, just cover the intake well and just wipe off the dirt with rags/papertowels. I cleaned my `69 johnson 20hp this way and you can eat off it now.
If you get into a bind, just ask. Good luck

I realize this is a lil old, but did you ever find decals for your motor?
I have the same exact ob and I am wanting to restore it.
Any help on this would be great.

I did. I found them online. I have it posted on my build...if you follow the link in my signature.

I must be overlooking where you found your decals.
I read through your build twice, by the way nice job it turned out sharp!!
I would like to get factory decals ,
but I may end up getting custom ones made.

Tx,

I'm sorry, I thought I had it posted on the site where I found my decals. I am pretty sure I found an eBay vendor that had them. I think I ended up paying $30 for them, but they were exactly what I wanted. I tried to look on my account but it only shows up to the last 60 days. eBay and Amazon were my best friends during the build when I needed something specific. Sorry I couldn't have been of more help.