Restoring Blue 1977

Hello! 

First-time poster here. Sorry for the long post, but I want to include all the details for this project. 

I’m surprising my husband, Brian, while he’s out of town by restoring our blue 1977 Ski Nautique. Some of you probably know him, so SHHHHH! ;) 

He replaced the carpet and it runs great, so we’re good there. 

For the surprise, I’ve already had all the seats, engine cover, and intake cover (sorry if I’m not calling these by their correct names) reupholstered to as close to the original color and pattern as possible. It looks AMAZING! I’ve ordered two sets of the original stickers from outboarddecalset.com, On and Off to clean the hull (thanks to reading through posts on here), and teak oil to restore the swim platform. 

I hope this is okay and that it works: I’ve linked a Google folder so you can see all the photos.

I have three main goals left, with some questions for each:

• #1: Repaint the Ski Nautique lettering and stripes on the hull (the previous owner [RIP our good friend, Bobby V] hand-painted over the original lettering/stripes with a brush). I read on here that Rust-Oleum V7527 Royal Blue is a perfect match, so I ordered that and the black gloss for the outline.

• I purchased this 12”x100’ transfer tape that I’ll place over the lettering and then use an exacto knife to cut out the letters/stripes. Prior to that, though, should I very lightly sand the lettering (mostly to knock down the hand-painted brush strokes), blow it off, and wipe clean with acetone? Anything else I need to do to prep the area? What grit should I use?

• Do I need to seal all of this with a clear gloss?

• I also read on here that I should pull the transfer tape off ASAP. Does that mean while it’s still wet, or right after it’s dry to the touch?

• #2: We are missing two of the small 7 ¾” teak inserts that slide into the steps on each side of the boat. Where in the world do I find these?? I’ve looked online, but cannot find them. Do I just need to be patient and wait for someone to part out a ‘77? What years did they use that style? Again, hopefully you can see the link to the folder of pics.

• #3: Lastly, the plastic Correct Craft emblem is completely gone on one side and broken on the other. It was black on white. I can’t find that style anywhere; and I can’t find the other style that’s out there (silver on black), in stock anywhere, either. I did find these silver on black replica stickers, but these are 16” and I measured the ones on our boat at 21”.  Again, do I just wait for someone to part those out? 

Thank you soooo much for your insight, advice, tips, and patience with reading this long post!

Camden