Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

[bluey]

Hi,
Over the years my 19 foot fibreglass boat has had many coats of paint of various types and colours applied to the topside and deck. I am in the process of restoring the boat and intend to strip all of the old paint off. I have purchased a drum of "Peelaway 8" paint stripper to do the job.

Peelaway 9 is said to be safe for use on F/glass boats, but it is no longer available in Australia so I was told to use Peelaway 8 instead. I was told by the product distributor that when using Peelaway 8 to leave it on the boat no longer than 3 to 6 hours so that it does not harm the original gelcoat.

I'm just wondering if anyone on the forum has had experience with Peelaway 8. If so how successful was it and are there any pitfalls I need to be wary of before I begin.

Regards,
bluey

 

[Bondo]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Donno,... Never heard of it over here...

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Oh sorry, I thought the product was made in the US. Here is an American website that mentions it.

http://www.dumondchemicals.com/html/appsolutions.htm#marine

Cheers.

 

[registeroot]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

post before and after pictures plz bluey, would be interesting to see the results.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Have you considered soda blasting? How about a razor blade? We used razor blades to strip the paint off a corvette years ago.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Couldn't find an MSDS for peel away 8 on that site, so no way to tell what might be in it.

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

post before and after pictures plz bluey, would be interesting to see the results.

G'day registeroot,

Well, here's some "before" pics but it'll take me a fair while to do the job so there'll be a delay in posting the "after" pics, stay tuned.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2087.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2082.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/Bluey/DSCF2086.jpg

bluey.

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

G'day Bob_VT,

I have thought of Soda Blasting but I believe it is mighty expensive and there is nobody in my region that does it. You must have the "patience of Job" to even consider using razor blades!

bluey

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Hi ajgraz,

Here's a link for the Australian Peelaway website if you want to take a look.

http://www.peelaway.com.au/total_products_fwameset.htm

bluey.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Wow......that would make me wonder. I see the boat is in your yard and I am not sure I would want that paint removal residue penetrating the property.

Do you have a trailer? I would go with a soda blasting if I was determined to strip it.

Looks like a nice boat project.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

I have been looking very hard at the USA products and I will yield to the Yacht Dr and ask for which chemical to use. I see many available online however, I am not aware of the overall effects on fiberglass. Here is one such product http://www.amazon.com/Strip-Paint-Finish-Remover-REMOVER/dp/B002KMC8ME

The primary ingredient is methylene chloride which is pretty nasty stuff.

 

[sasto]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

A local boatyard a friend works at uses the Peelaway. He likes it. They are on the water and it's much less hazardous to the enviroment than any stripper they found, including sanding or blasting.

Good Luck!

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Wow......that would make me wonder. I see the boat is in your yard and I am not sure I would want that paint removal residue penetrating the property.

Do you have a trailer? I would go with a soda blasting if I was determined to strip it.

Looks like a nice boat project.

Hi Bob_VT,

I have thought about the stripper residue and will be using plastic sheeting to catch the scrapings, then will dispose of it all properly. This method is recommended by the Peelaway website blurb and it says that the product is less harmful to users and to the environment than normal strippers.From what I have read it seems that most strippers are too harsh and will damage the gelcoat but this stuff does not. I have tried a sample patch and it seems to work well.

I don't have a trailer for the boat so would have to hire one and this would add to the expense of having it soda blasted. It would also be a big hassle getting it to a soda blasters yard because of my small country town location. So chemical stripping is my first option.

bluey.

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

I am also wondering what kind of paint I should use to do the topsides and deck once I have finished the stripping and sanding. I was thinking of a two pack epoxy paint but don't know if this is suitable for a boat which will be permanently moored in salt water. I also would like some suggestions on which type of single pack paint I can use for the interior. It is really confusing with all the different types of marine paint available, so I'm not sure which paints I should go for.

bluey.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

I rreally do not know about what good paint is available in AU. I will do some looking I know that Yacht Dr will recommend Awl Grip (I think he is addicted to that stuff LOL ) If it's available or the AU equal would be good.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Hello Bluey..

I would probably use a stripper like your intending..Soda blasting ( even if you can find a guy to do it out there ) would create such a storm of dust.

If the peelaway 8 does the job then use it..if you have to try some Interlux Interstrip use that..or some Orange safty strip..whatever works best.

I would try the Safest possible stripper first. Your going to have to sand afterwards and you dont want some toxic stripper in your sanding dust getting everywhere..

Or even just using abrasives.. get a good DA and just sand it off ?..

As far as your topcoat.. It looks from your pics and info that this would be a perfect GEL-COAT canidate.

As BobVT has stated I use Awl-Grip for my larger jobs..But not allways. I did a 40+ sailboat deck in gel because it was loaded with crap latex,enamel, who knows what else. after all that sanding I felt that Paint was just too thin to apply and give it a straight look.

YD.

 

[merc850]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Watch out which stripper you buy, methylene chloride is the chemical that does the stripping but it has been banned in N.A. I bought some "stripper" without MC and it wouldn't remove year old spray paint. You can scrape properly loosened paint off.

 

[godelescher]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

I've used Peel Away a few times and it's a lot more marketing than science. All chemical paint strippers work essentially the same way. Typically methylene chloride is used as the active ingredient and it's suspended in a gelatinous goo. That's the delivery vehicle.

When you apply a chemical paint stripper to a surface, it isn't the goo that does the stripping, it's the vapor as the methylene chloride evaporates from the goo. When a chemical stripper is used, it tends to dry out. Also, you'll notice on the instructions of every chemical stripper that it says to lay it on thick and leave it alone. That's because if you over-brush it, you're aerating the product which accelerates the rate of evaporation.

The difference between Peel Away and other strippers like interstrip 299e or even Jasco, isn't the chemicals or the process, but the solvent resistant paper backing. All the paper does is slow down the rate of evaporation by creating a physical barrier between the stripper and the air.

At an exorbitant price, Peel Away will gladly sell you more of their paper backing, but what you'll never hear is that a roll of waxed freezer paper from the grocery store will do exactly the same thing.

The ease of clean up with Peel Away is also over endorsed. The paint goo doesn't adhere to the paper in any magical way. When you peel away Peel Away, you will find that the majority of the chemical stripper and emulsified paint is still on the hull (or deck) and still requires scraping off.

The name implies otherwise, but the cleanliness of paint removal is only moderately better. The real reason for the paper is to increase the effectiveness of the chemical.

I hope that was helpful

This goes in to more detail: http://glassclownboats.com/ChemicalStrippers.aspx

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Thanks everyone for all the good advice.

Another problem with this painted boat is that the many layers of paint have filled all the grooves of the non-slip finished gelcoat on the deck and gunwhales. The only way I can restore the non-slip surface is to soda blast or chemically strip the paint off. I can't scrape the paint off using a heat gun and it is useless to try to sand it off because it will remove the non-slip pattern. Soda blasting is too expensive and so, as I've already purchased the Peelaway product, I will be using the chemical method, but will proceed cautiously. I will also need to get some neutraliser to use afterwards.

Yacht Dr said -

"As far as your topcoat.. It looks from your pics and info that this would be a perfect GEL-COAT canidate."

Thanks for that, I will certainly check it out as an option.

godelescher, your comments were very interesting and make me wish I had read your information before I bought the Peelaway stuff. The link you provided has certainly given me some interesting reading with lot's of good advice, thanks.

Bob_VT says "...Yacht Dr will recommend Awl Grip (I think he is addicted to that stuff LOL ) If it's available or the AU equal would be good."

It is sometimes really annoying to find that some of the products on this forum, used and recommended by you blokes in the US, are not available over here and it becomes necessary to hunt around for an equivalent. However, I just had a look on the web and it seems that Awl Grip is indeed available in Australia, so thanks for the tip I'll check it out.

Cheers,
bluey.

 

[bluey]

Re: Stripping Paint from F/glass boat

Well, I have begun the process of stripping the boat with Peelaway8 and the results so far are satisfactory. It makes short work of the top coat but the layers underneath are not so readily lifted by the chemical, even after leaving it on overnight. They are however softened enough to remove with a paint scraper with a bit of effort and the original gelcoat is not affected at all.

I have decided to stick with my original plan to use a two pack paint on the boat instead of regelcoating as Yacht Dr suggested. It seems like too much work and I am not sure I could do a half decent job of it anyway. Trouble is I can't figure out which type of paint is best suited for this job. The boat will be permanently moored at Port Albert on the Southern Eastern coast of Australia. Temperatures at this place range from a minimum of around 10 degrees C in the winter to over 40 degrees C in the summer months. I read somewhere that Epoxy paint is not good for boats that are constantly in the water, has anyone any thoughts on this?

Do I go for Epoxy or Polyurethane?

bluey.