I have to say, for being 30 years old, my boat still looks pretty darn good. But, I want the bottom paint GONE! I keep the boat on a trailer, so it's useless and does nothing but slow me down. Since it's flaking off, I'd rather get rid of it than paint over it. Doing this has turned into a full-on hull restoration. Only because I'm kind of OCD. I have to sand and buff the bottom, so might as well do it all. I have found a couple very small places that need the gelcoat repaired. My cousin works at a boat yard and can get me color matched gelcoat at cost. Can't complain there.
I know some of you are going to cringe when you see what I'm using to soften up the bottom paint. Paint stripper from Home Depot. But, it's working and hasn't even thought about damaging the gelcoat. I actually have a piece of the original transom that the last owner gave me. He had the transom cut out and replaced, due to typical transom rot. I used the paint stripper on that before I put it on the boat. I know I could take it to get soda blasted or peanut shell blasted, but what's the fun in that? Plus, I can't see spending $1,000 just to do something that I can do at home for $30. Sure, it'll take alot longer, but I'll appreciate it more.
In the process, I plan on replacing all of the plastic thru-hull fittings with stainless fittings. I just took off the teak swim platform today, so that I can sand and polish the transom. I still have to remove the trim tabs, tri-ducer, and bow rail. I also removed all of the striping on the hull. My plans are to replace it with new stuff. The old stripe tape looked horrible.
LOTS of sanding, polishing, and buffing in the near future. I plan on taking lots of pictures during this process, so stay tuned. Time is limited, so this may take a couple months. Here's what I have so far..
I know some of you are going to cringe when you see what I'm using to soften up the bottom paint. Paint stripper from Home Depot. But, it's working and hasn't even thought about damaging the gelcoat. I actually have a piece of the original transom that the last owner gave me. He had the transom cut out and replaced, due to typical transom rot. I used the paint stripper on that before I put it on the boat. I know I could take it to get soda blasted or peanut shell blasted, but what's the fun in that? Plus, I can't see spending $1,000 just to do something that I can do at home for $30. Sure, it'll take alot longer, but I'll appreciate it more.
In the process, I plan on replacing all of the plastic thru-hull fittings with stainless fittings. I just took off the teak swim platform today, so that I can sand and polish the transom. I still have to remove the trim tabs, tri-ducer, and bow rail. I also removed all of the striping on the hull. My plans are to replace it with new stuff. The old stripe tape looked horrible.
LOTS of sanding, polishing, and buffing in the near future. I plan on taking lots of pictures during this process, so stay tuned. Time is limited, so this may take a couple months. Here's what I have so far..