Paint Removal

[T_Herrod]

How do i remove paint from the hull of an aluminum boat. It looks like the paint was put on with a brush or roller and is really thick.

 

[Star]

Re: Paint Removal

T_Herrod,
I went through this proceedure over 9 years ago on a 14' 1961 Starcraft. It had a lot of paint on it, some of it was epoxy. I used a gallon of Heavy Duty Paint stripper. I brushed it on let it sit (out of the sun) 10 to 15 minutes, and then used a very coarse Green 1' x 3" x 5 scrubbing block to remove the soft paint. It took about 3 applications of chemical remover to get it off. I also used a 3M rubber abrasive 3 or 4" diameter fingery cup on a right angle grinder. They come in different coarsness the whit one being the finest. Any good
auto paint supply or welding supply should have it. The rubber finger were great around rivit lines and hard to get spots. It is a very fine abrasive and I think I used two of them. My boat was very thick aluminum so I didn't worry about cuttng through it. If you went to sleep with the grinder on a corner you might grind off too much so becareful. I finished it with plain old SOS pads for kitchen pots. The metal on this boat was never in salt and it was made of a high quality alloy. It now takes less than 20 minutes just to freshen it up every three months with just two SOS pads. If you want to polish it to a mirror body shop liquid rubbing compound and a lambs wool pad on a right angle grinder does it. Sears sold one for $40 back then but the quality isn't the same so just rent one to get the job done. After it is done any medium duty polisher will keep it up. I will post pics of my boat if you want.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Paint Removal

I like a stripper called CitrusStrip, it's non-flammable, doesn't have any noxious fumes (smells like oranges), and is biodegradeable. You can find it at Wal-mart and Home Depot.

Brush it on like paint and let it set 12 - 24 hrs., then scrape the goo off with a scraper and wash it down with a pressure washer. Use a wire cup brush in an angle grinder to buff off any residue.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Paint Removal

How do i remove paint from the hull of an aluminum boat. It looks like the paint was put on with a brush or roller and is really thick.

Ayuh,... Save yerself Alota work, 'n sand it Smooth, 'n paint over it....

Strip it to bare metal, 'n you've gotta zinc it again...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Paint Removal

I'm kinda in agreement with Bond-o on this. What are you wanting to do? If you want to get down to the aluminum for looks then, JNG has you on the right track with the Citrus Strip in the Orange Can. If you just want a new color then Sand her smooth but make sure to reprime her and then paint.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Paint Removal

Have it blasted IMHO ..

If you want all the paint off..

Or just prep out were the paint is failing..do a quicky on it ..

Kinda like Hop-scotch .. pull your rock back to square one..or risk it ..

Its up to you what progression you have to take with an Alum repair/paint job. .. its not glass .. so your kinda limited on your Pro options here ..

Quicky dirty ... or quicky cheap .. or full blown prep for cheap paint .. or full blown for good primer/paint ..

Your options are Greater then a fiberglass boat that has only one option .. GEL .. other than that we have to work within the same gradient standards of the final prep.

Whats gonna be different is the substrate .. alum .. there are many ways to skin the 'alum cat' .. but not the gel cat ..

There is No way your going to strip that down .. prep/prime/reprep/reprime/reprep/paint/prep/paint/prep/paint .. etc within the confines of a good job without the proper preps.

Do you have a paint system in mind ?

YD.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Paint Removal

This is what I used, it worked great, from Home Depot. (Orange can, not Red!)

But no matter how you look at it, removing paint is a lot of work, unless someone else does it for you!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Paint Removal

I wouldn't have a problem with sanding down a factory paint job smooth and painting over it, but since this is a crappy homemade brush job I'd be very wary of it.

Whether you remove all of the paint or not depends on how good of a paint job you want. There's no telling what kind of paint the PO used on it, it could be a latex house paint for all we know.

The first boat I bought had some kind of latex house paint on it to try and stop leaks I think, it didn't stop the leaks and the paint didn't stay on very well.

If you want your boat to look nice with a nice paint job I suggest removing all of the paint and start from scratch.

Leak test your boat after you remove the paint and before you prime it, it's better to fix leaks then instead of after you worked hard on the paint job.

 

[SteelNuttz]

Re: Paint Removal

when sanding a boat down from the factory paint job, what would you use? what grit, and would you use a belt sander or just do it by hand?

 

[Star]

Re: Paint Removal

Bondo I know that you live here but you always take the short way out, Painting over crap gives you more crap. It probably wasn't etched or primed by previous owner. Two days of work won't kill anyone. A wire cup brush will score the aluminum and brass brush won't cut the paint. All you fiber guys spend more time cleaning and polishing your oxidized hulls. Tinny's are not pretty but I have one tenth the maint an 4 times the durability. 0 cost for paint and touchup. They are very light to tow. They are a poor mans way to the water,, Let us all have a good time out there and stop making fun of good old tinny!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Paint Removal

when sanding a boat down from the factory paint job, what would you use? what grit, and would you use a belt sander or just do it by hand?

Sand by hand, too hard to get an even finish with mechanical sanders... at least it is for me anyway.
I use one of these:
http://allwaytools.com/?s=sanding+pad&search_term=product

I'd start out with a 120 grit and work up to a 220 grit.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Paint Removal

Bondo I know that you live here but you always take the short way out, Painting over crap gives you more crap. Let us all have a good time out there and stop making fun of good old tinny!

Ayuh,... I guess We've got different expectations in life,...

A spit-polished rowboat ain't so high on My to-do list....

Whatever the paint on the hull,... If sanded Smooth, 'n it ain't fallin' off,....

Good ole Rustoleum will hide it quite nicely..... til ya drag it over a rock...
Then the "Repair" is a brush stroke of Rusto, 'n done, til next time....


'n who you callin' a Fiber guy,..??
My current ride is a 21' tin barge....