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Painting Old Aluminium Boat


wttmrwolf

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Hi Folks,

Picked up an old punt for $200 with 5HP and its a bit worse for wear. No major leaks but it looks haggard.

I bought all the sanding gear (rotory disks, brushes) but it taking for ever to take off the old paint. Can I use paint stripper to dissolve off the old paint.

I bought some citrus paint remover which does nothing except smell nice. I'm want to use the strong paint stripper but is it going to eat through the hull?

Interested to hear others thoughts. Maybe a chemist is in the house.

Ben

Edited by wttmrwolf
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I have painted a couple of boats. I like a chemical stripper, then an orbital sander with 180 grit. You need to get all of the aluminium properly sanded then etch primed to get good adhesion. If you use the products available to the general public then it will peel. 2k catalysed urethanes are about all that will protect and keep a shine. Not worth it on a $200 punt. My punt has more money worth of paint on it than what it is worth, only because I had the paint laying around.

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I concur on the volume of stripper. I repainted my fella about 2yrs ago, and its not a small job, I can tell you. I went through many, many litres of stripper. And countless manhours of elbow grease. Seriously, get it blasted, as the BlacknBlue suggested. In hindsight, I would have. I know nothing about this process though. A have heard that sandblasting is no good for aluminum?

The thing about the blasting is that may allow the paint to key (if it is anything like sandblasting). And this is a DOUBLE BONUS, because you don't need to etch the aluminum, probably.

The process i went through:

scrape

strip

wire brush

clean

fill

sand

etch

prime

paint

Add to that the removal of all the fittings, and it becomes an effort. I'd suggest that fishing is more fun!! But I understand your motivation because I have done it myself. In hindsight, I'd probably not bother, or buy a new boat. But I am extremely happy with my boat and the result.

PS BlacknBlue, are you a Chain fan?

Edited by Seagoon
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Thanks for all the advice peoples :)

I agree the stripping is turning into a royal pain in the backside. I'm calling around to see if I can get it sandblasted and save some $$$ on stripper. Used over 1 L to strip a tiny section.

I'll be starting a thread soon with some photos so you can all follow along for the ride. Thanks again for all the tips.

This is more a pet project because I have an empty double garage and I don't sleep that much.

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Hi mate,

I understand - there is more to it than just the outcome. There is the process, and also the satisfaction etc etc. A man has to have a hobby!

Also, you will know your boat inside out once you have done it. Looking forward to seeing the photos come along :-)

Cheers,

Jon

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Hi mate,

I understand - there is more to it than just the outcome. There is the process, and also the satisfaction etc etc. A man has to have a hobby!

Also, you will know your boat inside out once you have done it. Looking forward to seeing the photos come along :-)

Cheers,

Jon

Hi jon,

I'm interested in the process you went through on your boat. Did you use a car repair style bog to "fill" small dents? Not sure if I should try my hand at panel beating or filling. Did you find a good bog?

Found a soda blasting shop nearby. Got a quote over the phone of about $400-$500. I think I'll use up the last 4L of stripper I have on the stubborn paint so when he quotes properly I can get it down below $300.

Its going to be a few late nights this week with the gas mask on. Fun fun fun.

Ben

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Hi mate,

Sounds like a plan, re the stripper then the soda blasting. I recommend buying a few of those $2 plastic drop sheets from a HW shop plus some tape, and wrapping up the boat in between blasting and the first coat of paint - just to keep it in tip top condition. A bit like this:

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=148351

I'm not sure how the soda blasting compares to the sand blasting in terms of allowing the paint to key, so you may or may not have to etch the aluminium.

The undercoat on my boat is on really well - it's there for good. I etched then under coated, within a day or so of each other. The top coats came a month later, so they haven't knitted so well to the undercoats. But the undercoat will not come off, even with bangs where the top coat has chipped off, the primer is on for good.

So I'd recommend doing all the painting within the minimum time separation allowed. Are you going to spray it? If so consider 2 pack. I didn't, but it may make life easier because of the faster drying.

Geoff, who is a regular on this site recommended selleys plastibond to me for filling the holes/dings/scratches/pitting, and I too can recommend it. Its excellent. It's an epoxy, so it dries fast, and eventually very hard. And you can sand it. It has a little bit of flex too, so its not brittle.

I'd also recommend 3M blue masking tape. Cheap masking tape is rubbish and is a NIGHTMARE to get off. The blue stuff is good.

Mate I could talk for hours about this - PM me if you have any questions - also I know from first hand experience that this site is loaded with very helpful and knowledgable people. And very generous too.

A few links to my boat stuff:

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=164964

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=164967

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=144776

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=148706

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...st&p=148351

Cheers,

Jon

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Thanks Jon,

That restoration you did on your boat gives me hope. I'm at the early stages where I'm still full of energy and scraping away paint using stipper. I was up until 2am last night. The neighbour popped his head out the window to see what all the racket was, woops.

Now I've just spent all morning at work reading all your posts. I'm using up the last tin of stripper then taking it for a soda blasting quote. I figure if I remove all the stubborn paint when they quote it will be a bit cheaper. I've removed 90% of the paint from the inside. Yay!

I loved the idea you had to wrap in plastic after blasting. Would be a shame to get any grime or corrosion before painting.

Luckily I have a spray gun. Need to build a spray booth in my garage with plastic sheeting. I don't think the kids will like the smell of 2 pac paint wofting up into their bedrooms (or the :wife: )

Wait until people see how old this punt is. They will think I've gone completely insane.

It fills time while I wait for the right conditions for Jew fishing. Later this week should be good. thursday or friday I'm taking a break from boat repairs to catch some fish.

Ben

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Mate - that's the key - go hard while the motivation is high! Putting all the fittings back on is the fun part, especially when you have some new fittings or ideas to try. It's a bit like decorating a cake that you have spent ages making - that said I have no idea what decorating a cake is like....!

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  • 7 years later...

if you don't remove all the old paint, you will fin that it will "bloom" when you apply the new etch prime.

in other words, remove all the paint!

good luck

Blooming is "normally" caused by moisture trapped between the paint layers and spraying when it's too cold or high humidity identified by a milkish appearance to the surface of the top coat.The cure is having a well prepared clean surface,using filtered air and heat lamps if spraying in cold conditions.

What your referring to I think is "Frying" which is caused by many things including not feathering your paint edges properly or spraying over incompatible paint.Again the cure is prep-work,cleanliness and sealing the old surface before applying the new paint.

By the way it's totally illegal to spray paint 2k paint outside an approved spray booth.

Hope this clears a few things up.

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