Bottom paint removal?

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

i'd like to not paint the bottom as I keep it on the trailer and never in the water over night. i've only ever used regular bottom paint on any of my boats so i'm not sure what to put on the bottom. i know i have some blisters on the port side at least at the bow anyway so those will have to be dealt with. I can just use a few coats of epoxy barier coat on the bottom and that will be fine right?

I will try a 3500 pressure washer this week with just water and then will try some with the recycled walnut shells that i sweapt up after the first try (after i screen it of course)

Chance,

I went thru what you're doing a few years ago. Had the boat soda blasted and it left the surface pretty rough, going all the way thru the gel coat in a few places, quite a bit rougher that what you're getting. The pressure washer eliminates the need for building a tent under the boat to capture all the debris and greatly improves visibility, which I think makes a big difference in the final surface finish. Here's a link to the post I did on it including some slide shows showing the soda blasting, priming, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, etc. http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...inting+project I'm sure the final Interprotect thickness is less than optimum for blister protection, but I wasn't worried about that because I never leave the boat in water for more than a couple weeks at a time. The Signature paint has worked out very well. It's tough stuff, very easy to apply, and it's easily repairable, which is important for a trailerable boat because a few random nicks and scratches are almost inevitable.

I see you have a roller trailer, so it should be easy to pull out from under the boat as you put some boat stands under it for easier access for sanding and painting. If you can't find boat stands, it's easy to make up some pyramid type stands like the soda blasting place had using a few 2x4's. Suggest you totally refinish the spots where you'll put the support stands before pulling the trailer, as that will save a lot of time later. Hope this helps. Denny

[CHANCE1234]

Wow. That does help Denny. Thanks

[erebus]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

...In the last pic below you can see where the fiberglass is exposed. I don't know if it's from the washer or 40 years of use and abuse.

Looks like maybe there were some voids in the layup between the gelcoat layer and the glass layer.
The gelcoat gets sprayed in the mold and then when the glass gets layed on top sometimes it can be tricky to get the glass to lay up right against all the gelcoat.
Especially in the nooks and crannies, like those chines. So you end up with a little bubble between the gelcoat and the glass.
The gelcoat is super thin and has no real strength of it's own so it eventually just kind of "pops" exposing the bubble.
It happens. You still see it on newer boats too.

No real harm there. I'd fill it and fair it though.

[CHANCE1234]

thanks Zak, i read somewhere that 6-10 epoxy is good for filling those kind of voids. Does that sound right? Thanks.

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

thanks Zak, i read somewhere that 6-10 epoxy is good for filling those kind of voids. Does that sound right? Thanks.

6-10 is handy stuff and good for filling screw holes, etc, but it's expensive! I used the Fasco Fas-stone #7 Epoxy http://www.fascoepoxies.com/products.html that Capt. Chuck recommended for ALL the filling and fairing work. It's very strong but about the same hardness as gel coat, so it sands great and the 50/50 resin/hardener mixture makes it real easy to use! I got a quart of it (1 pint cans of resin + hardner) and it was more than enough to do the whole bottom of my 20. I think you can buy a whole quart of it for about what you'd spend for one tube of 6-10!

[Tugboat2]

I am going through this right now on a 1969 Formula 233. Try easy off oven cleaner, then power wash. I used about 5 cans, and 3 pressure washings, it did not take all the paint off but took off a few layers that made sanding it much easier. The only place that it did not make much difference was towards the bow where I assume the bottom paint was dry most of the time when the boat was in use and was therefore much harder. I finished removing all he paint on the port side. The oven cleaner also took a bunch of the boot stripe off. I think if it was warmer the oven cleaner would have worked much better. I also tried interstrip and another nasty chemical stripper from the hardware store but I think honestly the oven cleaner worked best. When it came down to it, about 50, 80grit sanding discs and 3 days of sanding worked best. If you want check out my results, the bottom paint removal is at the end. I also have those nasty air pockets on the chine. I was going to use the interlux watertite to fill the dings but now I want to look into that 6 10 http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-...storation.html

[erebus]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

thanks Zak, i read somewhere that 6-10 epoxy is good for filling those kind of voids. Does that sound right? Thanks.

Pretty much any epoxy would be fine for filling those voids.
But because it's below the waterline, make sure it's not thickened with micro-balloons like System Three Quik-Fair or Interlux Interfill, etc. etc. (unless you're going to coat the bottom with epoxy primer)

You could mix up your own filler with a little West System 105 Resin and 205 Hardener and some colloidial silica (cabosil) or other high density structural adhesive filler.
Make it thick enough so it wont run, but not so thick that you cant work it. The thicker it gets the faster it'll kick too. Usually when your trying to trowel it on. :-P

[CHANCE1234]

Well, the weather was decent today (40 degrees) so I decided to bite the bullet and sand the bottom after trying many different methods to removing the bottom paint. Only took 4 hours to do the port side. One guy, one orbital sander and two numb arms.

This is what the port side looked like too (I didn't get any before shots). Then how it turned out. Next week I'll do the other side than pull it off the trailer to get the rest unless I can get my hands on some boat stands sooner.

[Tugboat2]

Damn, I can't imagine what a bitch that was with the boat being on the trailer. I still have 2 little spots to do where the keel blocks were before I moved them. I keep putting it off. I got a good deal on some 3M marine filler. It's vinylester based, found a gallon on amazon for $79 I think. What are you planning on doing to the bottom after you get the paint off? Home depot in hyannis has diablo sanding discs that are reasonably priced.

[CHANCE1234]

Yeah it was a pain in the butt, but it wanted to start this before it got to warm and I don't have any stands. I have many many gel coat failure ares that need to be addresed than a few layers of hard bottom paint. Maybe roll on some gel coat, I don't know, I've never worked with it. What would everyone recommend. It stays on a trailer and I have a limited budget. Spraying any paint or gel coat is not an option. Man hours I have...