1965 Starcraft Jupiter Restore/Repurpose

[Dabbler_E]

I'm going to strip the bottom from keel to chines and leave bare aluminum. Still trying to decide on paint scheme for the gunnels.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Trailer is in pretty decent shape. Needs derusting, new winch, new bunks and better rollers.



Tongue has the worst rust


Junk bunks

 

[Dabbler_E]

Also hoping to lower the bunks a bit to make shallow launches easier.

 

[Watermann]

Oh man you have lots of work lined up right there. The paint removal and trailer work are by far some of the worst most tedious work in the process.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Watermann -- Yeah I'm really not looking forward to the trailer. Oh well, c'est la vie and all that.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Flipped, and now stripped (partially). First pass with Kleen Strip premium (orange can) and pressure washer.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Progress is slow, but progressing. The blue paint stripped off easy peasy but the cream-colored primer under it is tough stuff. Stripper softens it but it doesn't want to lift.


So I'm giving up on the chemicals and going with a brute force approach

 

[jbcurt00]

Please not w that cup wheel, though......

A fiberglass or Nyalox wheel maybe.

That wire wheel can damage the rivets if you get on them

I suspect you're not working in warm enough temps.

Try applying the stripper and covering it w thin plastic for about twice as long as recommended by the directions. Increase waiting time covered until the syripper is more effective. Warm temps would help immensely.

 

[pckeen]

I feel your pain. At least three layers of paint are waiting for me on my chief, and I've stripped a boat before. If you do use a wire wheel, don't try to strip every drop of paint around the rivets. Those wheels seem to grind aluminum faster than paint. It's very easy to damage the rivets.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Thanks for the warnings all. I had done a section of the bow before you brought me to my senses. Hopefully the rivets below look OK to you all. For the rest, you were right that things improved with a warm-up. Still never really peeled, but softened up to where a scotch brite got it up easily.


Any way, the underside is now fully stripped.


Next up: the trailer! It's now fully broken down. My plan is to soak pieces in vinegar (using WOG's ketchup trick for the big parts), scrub, apply Rust Converter, prime and paint. I'm also going to repaint a rusty WheelHorse tractor, so the trailer will be glossy red too.

 

[pckeen]

That's what my rivets looked like when I learned the hard way too. So far, no reports of any problems, but I was real careful after the first few I had done.

 

[Dabbler_E]

That's what my rivets looked like when I learned the hard way too. So far, no reports of any problems, but I was real careful after the first few I had done.

I don't know. The rivets I never touched look pretty much the same, dimple and all.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Here's your chance to chime in: help me decide on a paint theme! With the bottom stripped, it's about time to start prepping for paint. Remember, I want it to be camouflage-ish in the sense of using OD and possibly also brown & tan, but have a bit of style. However, maybe I'm just better off K.I.S.S.

I've narrowed it down to these 3 contenders.

Option 1: K.I.S.S.


Option 2: Stripes


Option 3: Swoosh

 

[Watermann]

Yeah 3 is going to be less than simple and surely not KISS with the multiple edges and taping for the different colors. That would be a challenge and straight lines are super tough to create, even in paint shop :lol:

A simple solid color you have in the #1 choice is best for a boat that has a utilitarian purpose. I have been really glad that I didn't paint the bottom of my SS after launching at some unimproved launches with no dock.

 

[pckeen]

I like 1 and 2, not 3. 1 is simple, but 2 looks better.

 

[Dabbler_E]

I'd love to have some variation of the Starcraft Swoop, but the lapstrake design and the gunwale rub rail really fight hard against it. It would work so much better on the V5 hull. Ah well.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah I hear ya, my swoosh is not perfect and I thought about using some 1/4" pinstripe to cover some of my issues but when I'm inside it fishing I don't notice anything :lol:

If you want to make some stripes up under the gunnels I would suggest using wide 3M pinstripe rather than paint.

 

[Dabbler_E]

Applied self-etch primer to areas with bare AL showing

 

[Watermann]

So you just sanded the old paint rather than strip it down to bare AL?

 

[Dabbler_E]

WM -- Yes I scuffed the old paint but there were bare patches where I stripped off the purple stripe decals and where stripper dripped (and lapstrake edge)