Stripping old paint vs not!

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dblbarrel

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Well, I took the plunge. I finally found the boat I was looking for and brought it home. It's an old Monark 1772 gutted and ready for work. I will be doing a leak test and bucking any rivets that need it. Then I will start working on the paint. Now iit obviously has at least 2 coats of paint on it and it's going to get a camp job from me. My question is.....if its not leaking should I remove the paint or paint over the original coats?
 
No reason to strip it if it is holding good and has a fairly smooth finish...give it a light sand, fine grit, and you are good to go.
 
This would depend on how you want your new finish to look. I stripped my back to bare aluminum. The factory zinc-chromate primer was a real ***** to get off. I went through four different kinds of stripper. As stated many times on this site, aircraft remover, seems to come up alot....its way more expensive. I will not use it again. The quick strip from home depot worked the best followed by a good pressure wash got most of it off. Don't let the stripper dry or you will have to sand even more...trust me on this one. I am at a point where I will be using 5200 to seal the factory seams....then on to primer. I am hoping to have a factory finish when I am done. Good luck and remember that the prep is more important than the paint.

See ya
Kevin
 
When I steelflexed my boat, I just sanded and wirewheeled the paint that wasn't flaking off. If it already has a good bond, there's no reason you should have to sand it all down. Unless you want to. It's up to you.
 
dettmer13 said:
When I steelflexed my boat, I just sanded and wirewheeled the paint that wasn't flaking off. If it already has a good bond, there's no reason you should have to sand it all down. Unless you want to. It's up to you.
i just ordered my steelflex about 10 min ago, saw this and had to ask you if you primed before you applied yours? its expensive and im really nervous about screwing it up. i bought the teflon type, super slick 2000 i think it was called.i was gonna hit the bottom with a wire cup and wipe clean with acetone and then apply. thanks.
 
I have not started that project yet! I live in Ft. Worth and the boat is currently in Oklahoma. I'm going to order a gallon of the 9X 2000 Super Slick on Monday. Should be applying during Spring Break.
 
BTW, I talked to a guy named Jerry who seemed to be extremely knowledgable about the product. He was very accommodating and told me to call him if I had any questions or issues.
 
yep thats the stuff i got. what did you end up paying? i bought a gal. it was 99$ and 7$ for the black pigment + shipping, the lady didnt know what the shipping was gonna be yet. I live in Indiana.
 
You don't have to prime it first. Just make sure you scuff it up well, then wipe it down 2-3 times with a acetone soaked cloth. I've never worked with the teflon stuff before, but a quite a few others on here have. I went with the regular stuff. 1) it's half the price, and 2) I heard it's easier to work with. Yeah, the teflon stuff only needs one thick coat but time really wasn't an issue for me. And you're a braver man than me going with black pigment. That's gonna heat up QUICK in the summertime. Oh yeah, and Jerry is awesome. If you have any questions about the product, just call him. He'll answer anything you got.
 
you think im gonna have a prob with heat being on the bottom and in the water? i hope i dont regret my choices, im a little intimidated by this stuff, but ill have some help applying it so ill be alright. total price is 130$ shipped to Indianapolis. im thinkin its money very well spent from everything ive read about it. also, Jerry made mention that a customer called him back after installing this to report a 10 mph gain. thats pretty sweet!
 
If you are interested, look in my signature at my 12' flat bottom modification, I did a step by step on the steelflex application about mid way through that thing. You can see how we prepped it and how it went on. I suggest using 2 people.

Bufford
 
I suspect your boat is a leaker and the paint was applied in a half-assed effort to stop leaks... it never works for long if it works at all.

Instead of rebucking rivets, you should replace them. A leaking rivet is already weakened and will leak again if rebucked. It only takes about a minute longer to drill the old rivet out.

I would strip all the old paint off and then check for leaks and replace all bad rivets, then prime and paint the boat. This will be a job well done and you shouldn't have to worry about leaks or messing up your new paint job trying to fix them.
 
Don't jump to conclusions without evidence. It may very well not leak at all...some people just prefer a painted boat.

Have you done the leak test yet, OP?
 
If it's obvious that the boat has 2 coats of paint I take that to mean that one if not both coats have peeled. The paint job you put over another paint job is only as good as the first one. Why spend the time and money to put on a third coat of paint only to have it peel off. If you do a job right the first time you don't have to worry about doing it a second time.
 
Well, since we haven't seen pictures that again is an assumption. Not trying to be mean, just saying. It may be holding well on 98% of the boat, and it is only obvious from seeing a small spot that has flaked.

Roughing it up a bit with sandpaper is an effective way of checking the overall adhesion. A small amount of peeling or paint that has been scraped off does not indicate that the whole job has to be removed. There could be a number of explanations to there being two coats. One coat could simply be primer, one coat could have just been faded from age, one coat could be a color that the owner didn't like and the list goes on...

I understand all too well that doing a job right the first time is going to ensure longevity but doing it right does not always necessitate taking the longest and most arduous route.
 
Removing paint from a tinny is neither long nor arduous if done properly.

Apply CitrusStrip paint stripper and let set for 24 hrs.. Blast goo off with a pressure washer. Go over stripped area with a kinked wire cup brush on an angle grinder to remove any residue and to roughen the aluminum for priming.

Some people don't even use the stripper and just use the cup brush on the grinder, none of it is that hard... unless you just don't like to work, and if that's the case you really shouldn't even be trying to do a resto or mod to a boat.

If it was me, I'd strip the boat and not paint it unless it was going to be used in salt or brackish water. Again, a lot of people think that if they paint their boat it'll stop/prevent it from leaking and that ain't gonna happen... and when it does start leaking again they have to mess up their paint job to fix the leak(s). An unpainted tinny is much easier to work on and you don't have to constantly worry about scratching the paint.
 
Well I love to work on my Tinboat, but I can tell you first had that my mirrorcraft had zinc cromate primer and it was a real pain in the arse to get off. I spent two whole weekends and that was with a 2600 psi washer too. Like stated before, if the primer is properly applied it will last a long time. I think patience in all applications is the hardest part. My advise is to just do what your capable of. If you make a mistake learn from it and move on. Now if I can just get the weekends not to rain on my parade. [-o<
 
Agreed with the above poster...it is often a long job.

Saying it isn't a lot of work is ridiculous and attacking the work ethic of those who don't believe it is always necessary is uncalled for.
 

Latest posts

Top