Repainting a 20CC
 

Hello again! I want to repaint my 20CC and have a question: When going over the boat recently it appears the original color was a yellowish gelcoat color underneath. It was painted white when I bought it almost 2 years ago and am wondering, is there a paint stripper I could use to get all the white paint off and take it back to it's original color? The paint looks like some type of marine paint like Petit or something like that.

If anyone has any ideas on getting it off they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Hank

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

Im not sure but i think you have to do ALOT of sanding


Arioch :D

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

I tried bottom paint stripper/remover and it DID NOT work at all.....

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

I think you may need to find out what the paint is. Stuff like LP is a kissin cousin of epoxy and virtually bullet proof. If thats the case I'd take a liking to the color:D

According to Practical Sailor this is the best one. I have never used it but maybe next time. Surely it's better for you than the Marine Stripping Gel I use.

http://www.franmar.com/product_info....products_id=85

Either way you will do some sanding.

What did you use Reelclassic?

Good Luck

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

Are you going to repaint or are you trying to restore the original gelcoat?

If you want to take all the paint off you might be in for a lot of sanding. Removing bottom paint with a soda blaster usually is very sccessful, I'm not sure it would work to well for topside paint. Someone else might be able to chime in here..

If you are just going to repaint, you might be able to get away with using a high quality primer and and skip the process of removal.

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

I'd go with what Rich said, if you want to go back to gelcoat, I'd get used to the paint. In addition, even if the paint was enamel, you could prime over in and put on a polyurethane based paint, provided the enamel has been on long enough, sounds like whatever is on there is pretty tough.

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

I think someone did this in one of the northeast boating magazine, he used soda blasting


Arioch :D

Re: Repainting a 20CC
 

Soda blasting is fine if you are doing the bottom, if you are doing the topsides it will leave voids and pit the entire gelcoat surface, at which point you will either have to regelcoat the hull or fill,prime and paint it again, which you already have, so unless the paint is peeling off there is no need to soda blast it, prime it and paint it, nothing wrong with a good poly paint job, for some of us it is better. it's a big boat mentality.

Re: Repainting a 20CC - Reelclassic
 

Guys thanks for all the inputs. I guess going back to the original gelcoat (yellowish color) is probably not an option as the work sounds tedious and will take a long, long time, and in the end will probably not work.

Question for all, especially Reelclassic: What's a good poly paint to use to paint it white again that is easy to put on and will be sturdy? As always you guys are all the best advisors I've found online.

Hank

Re: Repainting a 20CC - Reelclassic
 

Guess it depends on how good you are with roll n tip, if you are good, either Sterling or Awlgrip, if you are going to spray it, Sterling, Awlgrip or Alexseal. Those are the top poly paints, you could go down from there to Imron,PPG,Etc. Or you could go with an acrylic paint---------

Re: Repainting a 20CC - Reelclassic
 

I was faced with the same decision you have. My boat had bottom paint and had been painted inside and out with cheap paint from west marine on the inside and an auto enamel on the outside. I sanded the whole boat. Outside was a major pain. Had to use 60 grit on the random orbital to get the enamel off. Like the others have said, if the paint isn't flaking off then you might be better off just priming and repainting. I was concerned about using a two part lp paint over a one part enamel so it had to come off. I used a product called Aqua Strip on the interior paint and it peeled right up. A friend has used it on bottom paint for his sailboat with 30 years of build up on it and he said it worked well. You just need to let it work all day and keep it wet by misting it with a spray bottle. Here's the floor of my boat.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...s/DSC01239.jpg
I only used the stripper on the floor in the recessed groove where I couldn't get a sander in. The guy I bought the boat from did a horrible job of prepping the interior so the paint wasn't bonded all that well. I'm not sure how it would have worked on the enamel as I hadn't discovered the stripper before I sanded the outside. I can tell you that the stuff is easy to work with, not toxic and worked very well where I used it. Might be worth a try.

Re: Repainting a 20CC - Reelclassic
 

If the enamel has been on for years and is not peeling off, there is a good chance you can prime over it with 2 part primer, try a patch, if it doesn't lift when it flashes chances are you are good to go.