I just purchased a older boat, with a couple thick coats of paint on the exterior in interior of the boat (14ft alumacraft). I want the exterior to have a brushed aluminum, does anyone have any good ways of getting the paint off of the exterior?
My thought was to get a brass brush attachement for my drill, then try and scrape it off, but i thought i would see what everone else suggested. Thanks in advance!
Hey im in the same boat as you!! i have a older 14ft alumacraft that has thick old paint on it. i am currently sandblasting it off. it works really well. it takes a long time but its alot quicker then with a buffer or a DA grinder. the sand makes a slightly rough surface so the paint has somthing to stick to. im probaly going to use a paint sprayer on my boat. but it would problay work well with a brush. hope that helps. maybe ill see you on the water
F4U
I refinished an old Lund a few years back and had good luck using “aircraft stripper” It is a paint remover that you can buy at an autobody supply shop, It worked VERY well, took off 3 coats of paint realeasy, just be sure you have good ventilation and read all instructions. I then bought paint from a lund dealer along with a self etching primer and had a body shop spray the paint(they charged me $100 in 1990) for me. it turned out like a factory finish! Good luck!
I went through this a couple years ago. I used an aircraft aluminum stripper from Checker/AutoZone etc. Bought a good respirator, rubber gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves, cheap brushes etc. Yes the stuff burns your skin. I turtle shelled the boat. Applied the paste. Follow the directions and remove the paint goo with wood shims. This is a layer by layer process. The last bits of paint were removed with paste and a paint stripper pad from the Depot. White handle with a blue-green scouring pad. This gums up. The scouring pad also left swirl marks in the aluminum from the scrubbing. I was told by a sandblaster that you could get pin holes in the aluminum if someone wasn’t careful. He may not of wanted the job.
How are you sandblasting it? I don’t have an air compressor, or do you need a special machine to do it?
well it looks like i’m going to have to get some of that airplane paint stripper!
Do NOT sandblast your hull. If you don’t eat the metal, your hull will look as rough as mille lacs during a typhoon!!!!
Aircraft paint stripper works great.
But listen to Bob. He stated some important safety tips.
I used aircraft paint stripper on an old Mustang I had years back. I didn’t use a respirator and I can still remember that odor…….almost 20 years later!!!!!
Just make sure to follow directions to the “T”. If you do not wash off the paint stripper, you will never get new paint to hold.
Yes, you can blast a hull of a boat and not make it look ruff. It depends on the type of material used to blast. You will have to apply enough primer to fill the proile left form blasting.
I’m an industrial sandblaster by trade. I have blasted a few jon boats myself. With our set up I usually can do a boat in an hour or less. I don’t know where you guys are from but I would be willing to blast your jon boats for you.
Our shop is in North Central Iowa about 10 miles south of Algona. Send me a pm if anyone is interested.
Thanks
Kirk Moe
Wow Moe!
I guess I need to catch up with the times!!!
What are you using today to blast aluminum with only 0.1″ thickness in metal? I would have thought this would warp the snot out of it? Atleast it used to in the past.
do you need a respiratior if you do this outdoors? Is there a minimum temperature you can do this at?
I use to strip cars back in the 70’s. We bought our paint stripper at Sears. I believe there is a product called Strypeeze that might do the trick. Keep the surface wet with the stripper until it bubbles and scrape off with a bondo spreader. Keep mutiple layers of news paper below the boat as you will be throwing it away as you are taking layers off. Wash the surface off with a scratch pad and cheap lacquer thinner. All the safety precautions mentioned should be applied. It’s nasty work and plan on throwing those old tennis shoes away or clean them off as best as you can. This is a chemical strip so stay out of the house until you change. Never grind a surface as you will possibly warp the surface as well as decreasiing the hull thickness. My neighbor s kid wire brushed his 72 Cutlass last summer and all I can say is “OUCH”
Quote:
do you need a respiratior if you do this outdoors?
YES
Where can i get a cheap thinner? Sounds like i’m going to need lots of it. Thanks!
After you have all the paint or as much as possible off of the boat then wash it off with the lacquer thinner. Apply the stripper from the top and let it run downhill. Use a cheap brush. I like the reference to “turtle” the boat. Keep it off off the floor, maybe on sawhorses. Thinner can be found where you get the stripper. Start out with a gallon of each and do the boat in stages, may be a third at a time. Whatever you do do,nt leave the stripper on for any amount of time where it will dry as you will double your work. You should be able to do this in a short afternoon if your set up properly. Like I said previously this is a nasty/messy job so keep kids,pets and your dearly beloved should you be so encumbered away from this toxic goo.
I may have the solution for you, N-Methyl-Pyrrolidone. I am a coatings chemist and this will take off 90% of all paints. I use it quite a bit for cleaning up lab reactors and such. It is a solvent but you can soak paper towels and put it on the sied of the boat and in about 24 hrs it will be ready to peal off. If you would like a little sample to try out let me know. Internet search “NMP solvent” not all that toxic either.
I grew up rebuilding AirPlanes with my fauther. BE extremely careful with that stripper. Spend the money on a resperator.
If you don’t want to use the harsh strippers try 3M Safest Stripper. Put it on thick and cover it with kitchen type stretch wrap to keep it wet. It may take a couple applications but you don’t need a respirator to use it. It’s not as fast as the nasty ones but it worked very well.
I stripped my old Lund with dock rash sanded it and sprayed it with a few cans of spray paint. I picked up some new style stickers and it shaved 20 years off the look!
Good Luck,
Ferny
Gary
Ya a person can warp the heck out of it if they get on it too hard.
As far as what kind of media to use. Soda, Silica, corn cob fines, plastic, sponge, walnut grit the list goes on.
Its sometimes not what you use but how hard you blast. 
Moe, have you ever heard of some thing made from ground up linoleum that’s suppose to work good for blasting aluminum boats. I want to do my 1960 lund mapping boat so I can paint it bright yellow with that stuff they put on pick up boxes.
WarrenMN
If it were mine i’d use my propane torch. You have to be careful not to get the aluminim too hot or it will warp it and it dosen’t come back very well if its gotten (too) hot. If you take a propane torch and try it on a corner and get the feel for it and watch it that will tell you what you want to do. After it flakes or peels just take a brass brush and rubb firmly to get the burnt paint off. A 16 ft’ jon should take about 2 bottles for about a $5 total and some elbow grease and an afternoon. If you decide to do it this way after the paints gone wash it with some muratic acid and a nylon bristle brush diluted 10 to 1 then rinse it with soap and water. Id do mine this way, it’ll work plus its cheap and a little heat will go along ways when it comes to paint, oil or water based.
well i checked wal-mart for the airplane stripper, and the also have the thinner to clean up with.My only questions is, is there anywher that would have it cheaper as i will probably need quite a bit. Thanks!
I had excellent results with”Dads Easy Spray”.You can brush it on,or use the sprayer included.I repainted a Lund 1650 Angler a few years back.With this stuff,you can use water to remove it.I used a pressure washer.and put a sheet under to catch the paint chunks.I did about a 2 foot section at a time.Repainted hull with primer/Cabelas duck drab paint,and it looked pretty good.I guess now you can get what is called Camo clad.Use safety glasses when spraying.
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