Bottom Paint Removal - It can be DONE

tginz · Jan 19, 2010

First I freely admit I'm here for bragging rights. For those of you who want to remove bottom paint - IT CAN BE DONE.:grin: I finally finished after months of sanding and it looks great. When I originally purchased the boat, I intended to keep it on a mooring near my house. That got old quick and we started trailering and love it. Living on a trailer I wanted to loose the wearing Pettit ablative. I started by sanding to gelcoat with 220. Then I wet sanded with 600, then 1000, then 2000. Followed that with compound and a nice wax. It became an insane labor of love, but now truly looks like brand new again. By Thanksgiving, I was down to the wet sanding with 2000 stage and couldn't wait anymore. I dropped her in the water in 50 degree weather for a run. After different directional runs to account for tides & wind, I picked up an average of 2.3 knots (as per the GPS). Last summer with paint @ 3100 rpm I ran @ 18.5 kts. Now @ 3,100, I'm running 20.8 kts. It is a beuatiful thing.

I had considered soda blasting, but recieved quotes all over the map at no less than $1,000 and I would still have considerable finishing work afterward. I skipped the gym and built my upper body under the boat. I did have the advantage of a heated warehouse and large forklifts to safely lift and block the boat so that bunks could be removed and thise areas under stripped.

For all those who have considered this - IT CAN BE DONE and the results are extremely rewarding, your upper body growth is just an added bonus.

Spring is just around the corner.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

tginz

C-SIDE · Jan 19, 2010

Nice work - I wish I had the patience to do that

MaddyDean · Jan 19, 2010

"First I freely admit I'm here for bragging rights."

you earned them...looks great.

Alex F · Jan 19, 2010

It looks very nice, but I don't know if it was necessary. I trailered my 240DA and it had bottom paint when I bought it. I just did some touch ups and it was holding fine. One year I had it all repainted. Since we had it in water for some periods (transition pariod from trailering to being in the slip) the bottom paint came in handy. Since the boat does mid 40s at WOT those 2kts is not a big deal. But, I guess it all depends what works for you.

kpetry · Jan 19, 2010

Beautiful! I'm envious.

Tonka Boater · Jan 19, 2010

MaddyDean said:
"First I freely admit I'm here for bragging rights."

you earned them...looks great.

You did earn them....great job.
.

Nehalennia · Jan 19, 2010

Looks really good. I need to do the same thing.

Russ Calasant · Jan 19, 2010

Very nice !!

tobnpr · Jan 19, 2010

You earned the bragging rights- no doubt about it. Nice job.
And, you increased the marketability and the value of your boat as well.

What I don't understand is how you were able to start out at 220 grit. Most manufacturers of antifouling (or barrier coat) require the bottom be thoroughly sanded with 80 grit to get a solid mechanical bond with the paint. I guess, lucky for you, that wasn't done. Did you paint the boat initially, or was it painted when you bought it?

tginz · Jan 20, 2010

Thanks for all the pats on the back.....

As for the 220 grit. I'm assuming the dealer primed right over the bottom after wiping with acetone - no sanding onhis part. Originally, I started stripping with acetone, which took some limited areas right off to bare gelcoat in a single wipe. Then I hit areas (90% of the bottom) where the primer had an incredible bite in the gelcoat. However, there was absolutely no evidence of previous sanding by the dealer. There were times when I thought the 220 grit was too much and I could have gone with 400/500 and achieved the same clean gelcoat.

I must share one brainstorm which did help.....After sanding with 220 on an electric random orbital, I want to move to 600 wet with some type of power method. I invested $24.99 in a Harbor Freight air driven random orbital. With this, I could wet the bottom, dunk the unit & paper in the water, and away I went. No electricity near water and the air bew the water out of the tool. I figured for $24.99 I could buy several. That crazy thing took me through 600 wet and 1000 wet and it still runs. I then went to 2000 wet by hand for that final touch. While by Harbor Frieght gizmo worked great, it still takes a lot of hours pushing up for all you're worth to achieve those results.

Tom

n focus 2 · Mar 28, 2010

Re: Bottom Paint Removal -

so does any one know the best procedure to getting bottom paint of the hull. i am repainting so it doesnt have to be a smooth fiberglass finish...i have about 10 years of paint and its thick and chipping.ive scraped what i could. now what?:huh:

Bottom Paint Removal - It can be DONE

tginz

C-SIDE

MaddyDean

Alex F

kpetry

Tonka Boater

Nehalennia

Russ Calasant

tobnpr

tginz

n focus 2

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