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Bottom paint removal

R

Ray Hughes

Member I
I will soon be hauling my 1971 E-29 for new bottom paint. I would like to remove what is left of the existing bottom paint, apply a new barrier (primer) coat, then apply new anti-foul. The yard won't allow sanding or grinding. Any suggestions on products and procedures? Thanks, Ray Hughes, E-29 CAPRICIOUS, Oceanside Harbor, CA.
 
J

Jet Stream

Junior Member
Just finished my bottom on Thursday night.
I started on last years haul out removing up to 4 layers of previous paint and went right to gel coat on one side only as I ran out of time and energy. Basically get yourself a paint scraper and lean into it as hard as you can and start pulling. The scraper does have sharp corners that can gouge the gel coat if held at the wrong angle. You might want to file off the corners to prevent this. Also keep a file handy as you'll want to sharpen the scraper every couple square feet of scraping. It took me a day and half to do one side of my 27 and another day and a half this year to do the other side. A friend added a scrub brush pole to his scaper to provide better leverage and this did help. I don't wish this job on my worst enemy as it aint very fun. Although I wore a painters suit, it still took two days before I got all the blue paint off my skin.
Good Luck and try to find a friend to help as it provides more competition as to who can scrape the most or spell each other off as it becomes very painful at the lower levels, pushing while pulling over you head.
 
J

JORGE

Member III
that's right, but

I used about two gallons of Kleen strip instead, a Tyvek suit and long gloves, and used a pull down carbide scraper. As long as the area around your boat is covered "well" with tarp, the mess is gathered and disposed of correctly. I believe the law is on my side.

You can't leave the chemical on very long because it eats gelcoat, but on multiple layers the strippers only can melt about 3 layer at a cycle. I have done the keel area only the hull was previously barrier coated. I used the Inteprtect , about 1 gallon. This little project took about 20 hours, and the antifouling paint is not on the keel yet.

Note:The stripper dries very fast, you may have to recoat frequently to make it work. It will burn the skin, so you need fresh water to rinse yourself if you splash.
 
gjersvik

gjersvik

Member II
Wear a respirator

I did my boat's bottom this spring and I agree with everything said to date, except the one thing that was not mentioned... Old bottom paint may be toxic. Don't rely on a dust mask, get a real respirator with HEPA filters. Also learn how to do a qualitative fit test (covering the cartridges with your hands and breathing in to check for leaks, as well as blowing out with them covered, the respirator will be drawn into the face by the vacuum and then pused away by the pressure). Any other results mean you have a leak. :eek:
 
A

Art Mullinax

Member III
Cover the Kleen Strip.

When re-finishing furniture, I'll cover the paint stripper with saran wrap or plastic drop cloths. This keeps the VOC's from evaporating too fast and allows the stripper to work better. But, don't leave it on too long...
Art M.
 
T

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
The latest method I haev heard of around here is using dry ice and basically sand blasting. The ice evaporates and you are left with the paint on a drop cloth. I will see if I can find out the name of the company. They came up with this method to directly address the environmental issue/laws. Another method is soda blasting.
 
N

NateHanson

Sustaining Member
Anyone else use KleenStrip? I thought conventional strippers couldn't be used because it would harm the fiberglass.

If it's safe to use the regular stuff, maybe I'll get a bucket of that gel stripper that you cover with paper, then scrape off. It's about 1/3 the price of the WestMarine stuff.
 
Guy Stevens

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Old Truck Spring

I had the folks up in the yard at Port Townsend, Fleet Marine, teach me a way to do it that was great!!!!

Get a old truck spring, preferably broken, about a foot or so long, maybe a little longer. Most spring shops will have one in the scrap heap they will give you. Grind off the end to perfect 90 degree flat end. Wrap the other end with Duct tape, or not, then put it on a spot on the hull press and push. Voila, off comes the bottom paint. Keep making and following the edge of the pain that you are peeling off, and you can make a lot of progress a lot faster than with a scraper.

The chemical strippers make a huge mess, and cost a bunch, and you still have to do all the work. Having done a bunch of boats both ways, and a couple more ways not worth mentioning, I use the truck spring method in yards where I can't use my Hutchinson linear air sander and water.

Guy
:)
 
R

Richard Murphy

Member II
Truck spring

About the truck spring, I assume you are refering to a truck leaf spring and not a coil spring. I guess a 6 or 8" long piece would do?? How much gouging of the surface can I expect?

Thanks Rich
 
Guy Stevens

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
Yeah Leaf....

I should have said leaf spring, but the words plumb evaded me.6-8 inches would be fine, we found a little longer and the weight actualy helped a little, of course it is a balancing act....

Actualy found that there was very little if any gouging. We didn't hurt the surface of the boat at all. After we did the leaf spring trick we lightly abraded the gel coat with a sotch bright pad and applied three layers of barrier coat to that boat.

Guy
:)
 
Guy Stevens

Guy Stevens

Moderator
Moderator
It is a body sander that auto body shops use. It is about 3.5" wide, by about 16" Long. It hooks to an air source, and vibrates either back and forth or orbital. You put your sticky backed sand paper on it, and hold the hose and the trigger in one hand and the other hand on the little knob handle. Then you take a big swipe down the hulll while pulling the trigger and pushing it against the hull.
Like magic the paint flows off with the water. Here in N. Cal you have to use water if you are going to sand, no wet sanding, no sandblasting, (even if you use walnut shells.)
As for blasting the bottom of the boat, great idea, never been in a yard that would let you do it. Anywhere I have been. Sure there have been a few yards that would be more than happy to take the old bottom paint off that way, for say $3000-$5000 dollars....

Guy
:)
 
N

NateHanson

Sustaining Member
My boats in the driveway, and I'm considering renting a sand-blaster and giving the walnut husks a try, if I can find a place to buy just a couple bags of the walnuts (so far only found 500 pound minimum - but even that's only $250, so maybe it's worth it. Just not sure what I'll do with the rest of it!) Any idea if I'll need a different nozzle or something for walnuts instead of black beauty sand (that's what the rental blasters are set up for).

Nate
 
C

chaco

Member III
The Yard

Hi Ray

I recently had my E35-II hauled and painted at the Oceanside Yard
They will grind and sand anything you want for a price.....:eek:
You just can't do the work yourself. They do allow you non-hull work
while your boat sits in the yard.
I had blisters ground off, filled, primed with barrier coat and painted.
Didn't need to remove the bottom paint (yet !)

Good Luck :egrin:
 
C

chaco

Member III
Spot Blisters

The 10 +/- largest spot blisters where ground off down to gel coat/glass-filled
with epoxy and sealed with (2) coats barrier coat. Then the entire hull was
bottom painted. This was the first look see on this hull and we will see as
the blisters settle down or get worse. Next haul-out might have to remove
all the bottom paint :eek: -apply barrier coat and bottom paint
My surveyor indicated that the NASTY was not nessesary and that the hull
showed no signs of a complete hull blister disaster, just spot gel failure.

Thanks to all for helping us keep these beautiful beasts in the water !:egrin:
 
vabobadams

vabobadams

Member I
Hey Ray
I used Bix Tuff Job, you can get it at Home Dept, 1 gal completly stripped the hull on my 23'. the good thing is it neutralizes with soap and water (burns the skin if touches)
 
M

marid22

Junior Member
We removed 6 coats of existing bottom paint this spring. Hope to never do that again. We dreamt about scraping, our arms were like jelly. I believe it took a total of 63 man (person) hours. There was a boat near us that used stripper, but it appeared to require scraping afterwards, so I am not sure of the efficiency of using it.
Make lots of friends, keep your scrapers sharp, lubricate the process with your beverage of choice and go for it!

Margaret
Vega E-27
Hudson River NY
 
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