Re: How to strip paint off of existing fibreglass?
Rick,<br /><br />I had to scrape the bottom with a paint scraper (few layers of old paint), washed it down with acetone and then sanded it down with 150 grit. Then I washed it down with acetone once again and applied Pettit's Polypoxy. My boat doesn't see salt water and is trailered so I didn't need an antifouling paint. I applied 2 coats and it didn't require sanding between coats. I chose Pettit's Polypoxy paint for the bottom cause there were some very minor stress cracks and the boat is 30 years old. Figured I'd might as well seal it right off.<br /><br />The reason behind washing it down before sanding is so you don't end up embedding any foreign material into that paint while sanding.<br /><br />The Burgundy and white top paint are Pettit's Easypoxy. It covers extremely well and is very forgiving. I applied 2 coats of each and this paint has to be sanded between coats.<br /><br />First I washed down the surfaces with acetone, sanded with 150 grit, removed the dust and then sanded with 220 grit. Between coats I used 220 grit and found it wasn't necessary to wetsand as long as I didn't go through the first coat. Sanded down to a dull finish, washed the surface and applied the 2nd coat.<br /><br />For my project I applied all paints with a short nap roller and tipped it off with a good quality brush. Rolled on the paint vertically and tipped it off horizontally. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the finish considering it wasn't sprayed on and I'm no pro. Like I said before, this paint is very forgiving and covers very well.<br /><br />I had quite a bit of fiberglass work to do on the floor so a fiberglass kit was out of the question. I bought a few yards of fiberglass cloth and a bunch of cans of resin. At first it was a bit sloppy but after applying enough resin and cloth, getting that sticky stuff on your hands and clothes, you get pretty good at it. Just follow the instructions on the can.<br /><br />For those minor dings you mentioned, I used 3M's Marine Premium Filler. Easy to mix, sand and paint over. I have to admit that I didn't use any primer on my boat. I might regret this later but the paint covered over with the first coat. If it wasn't for durability, I could have got away with only one coat. That's how well it covered.<br /><br />Now for getting the boat off of the trailer. I got the idea from a website which unfortunately I can't find now.<br /><br />As you can see in my pics, I made my own boat stands. They might be a bit overkilled for my boat but I figured if I was going to work under 1700lbs, I wanted it to be secure. Now you ask, how did I get it off of the trailer?<br /><br />Lower the tongue of your trailer onto the ground. (make sure you can get a floor jack under it). <br /><br />You want your stands to fit snuggly under the rear corners at the transom. When you jack the tongue up now, the rear of your boat will rest on your stands and of course the trailer will stay on the ground. As you jack it up, you'll also want to place cinder blocks in the middle forward section of the hull (just incase the floor jack were to let go on you). You'll want to jack the tongue as high as you can.<br /><br />Now with the tongue raised as high as it will go, you'll want build up the cinder blocks with a piece of wood on top of them under the middle section of the hull. Now lower the floor jack. Your boat is now resting on the rear stands and the cinder blocks.<br /><br />Make another pile of blocks behind the first pile, put a piece of plywood on top of the blocks, now the floor jack and a block of wood on the jack. You want to jack the nose of the boat until it's level with the stern. Once you've done this, build up your first pile to support the now level bow of the boat. Now remove your blocks that the jack was on.<br /><br />I hope I'm being clear. If not, stop me at any time
<br /><br />OK, if you can imagine this in your mind. The stern of the boat is supported by your stands and the bow(hull)is supported level on the cinder blocks. At this point your trailer should be free to roll out from under your boat. Yup, you guessed it, those darn crossmembers are in the way now.<br /><br />Ok, now roll your trailer forward until the first crossmember comes to rest at your pile of blocks supporting the bow in the center. Now build up that pile of blocks again with the jack on top right behind your crossmember.Jack the boat until you can take down the first pile of blocks. Roll your trailer forward until the next crossmember comes to rest at the jack. Repile your fisrt blocks at the same spot as they were originally. Once that pile is back up and supporting the bow, remove the jack and the blocks supporting it. Roll your trailer forward until the next crossmember and so on. All you're doing is using the two piles of blocks and the jack to support the boat so you can get the crossmembers past them. Your piles are always in the same place, just supporting your boat on opposite sides of the crossmembers. <br /><br />Oh yeah, once you get the trailer out, you'll have to put some stands in at the bow of your boat. I also left a pile of blocks in place to support the middle of the hull.<br /><br />Took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get my boat off of the trailer using this method.<br /><br />I hope this helps. If I've left you totally confused, let me know and I'll try and clarify those grey areas. <br /><br />If you go to the link where my pics are at the bottom of this post, you can see what my stands look like.<br /><br />Good Luck,<br /><br />Dymo
