77 Hydrostream Vulture resurrection, remove bottom paint??!!

[BoostLover]

So I'm well into my first restoration of a boat. I've been learning a ton about this stuff. Just finishing up the transom fairing and putting the floor down. The new core, stringers, transom and splash well delete are in place with west system epoxy. The boat has been painted over at some point and with all of the damage it suffered plus my less than perfect repairs, the gel coat can not be saved.

The previous owner or owners have lathered several rough coats of bottom paint on the hull. It is lumpy, ugly and I'm sure slow. Any tips or tricks to removing it? I've gone this far so I my as well do it right and blueprint the hull. I've read that it makes a tremendous difference. I can imagine either them running it with the rotten core it is not going to be straight. I'll attempt to add some pics of the progress. Thanks for any input. Pics are in no certain order.
Aaron477530477529477531477532477533477534

[LakeFever]

Your work looks great so far. Thanks for posting keep updating as you go

[BoostLover]

Thanks. I'd really like to use gel coat but I was reading that gel over paint isn't a good idea. Won't adhere. And I'm not taking all that paint completely off. Still not sure how to get that awful bottompaint off and smooth. Picking up a 2.5 promax 225 for it this weekend. Spring time goal.

[BoostLover]

477553
Lov477553ing loving how this splash well is turning out. The hydrostream lines flow so well. Love Howard's design.

[LakeFever]

There is a paint stripper you can use that will remove the paint and not harm the old gel or fiberglass. I can’t recall the name but I’m sure someone else will chime in. That should remove the paint and I agree gel the hull if you can, paint the top is ok many do it but gel has that bowling ball kind of look to it

[XstreamVking]

Tal-strip is the brand that I used for years. Even if you re-paint, strip the old stuff off.

[BoostLover]

Great, thanks guys. I'll give that stuff a try. Be a shame to go through so much work and the finish is junk after a season.

[keefallan]

i have used all the strippers on the market. It really depends what kind of paint was used. I had inherited my grandfathers crabbing boat...........and it was done(finished, dead, kaput). The paint was good old anti-fouling, non ablative mess. He was never one for details.......just throw a coat of paint on kinda guy. I had to get the paint off. It laughed at the stripper(I had purchased a gallon of the(KleenStrip) aircraft stripper). When it was all said and done, IMO, heavy grit and sanding will be your least messy, fastest approach to a clean bottom. Then use another finer grit to take the heavy scratches out.......a couple of coats of epoxy paint and apply your paint of choice.

Scrapers do work decent too, but, you will need to constantly put a new edge on them every 10 minutes, but you will remove alot of paint in that time. Its the square footage that kills ya!!

I do agree with XTREME.......the old paint needs to come off.....some say its optional..........its not optional

Looks good by the way.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[BoostLover]

So I'm working on stripping all this paint off. I've been using Total Strip from Total Boat. Working really well. Where the bottom paint was is all pitted out. What should I smooth it out with? It's to deep to sand out. I'll have to fill it with something. I've used Total Fair in other places on the boat but not sure if it would hold up on the bottom. I've thought about thickened epoxy but I've heard gelcoat doesn't stick to it as well. Any suggestions?
Also making a windshield since the original was cracked. First attempt is a little rough but I think it will look good when smoothed, trimmed to fit and gelled black.478420478420478421

[XstreamVking]

3m vinylester filler is a good water resistant product that will accept gellcote.

[BoostLover]

Great, thank you.

[BoostLover]

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And just like that (about 10 hours of labor later) the true color of the vulture is revealed. I really like the metal flake dark kinda cherry red. Bummer that it cant be saved. Next I'm gonna flip it and strip the bottom. Then new gelcoat and back over to finish the top. God help me flip this thing without any drama! I appreciate everyone's advice. Keep it coming. I'm a newbie.

[RONNIE]

paint stripper and lacquer
thinner

[BoostLover]

Not sure if anyone is interested but I'll keep posting my progress. Got it out of the garage today and made some dollies to put it on upside down. Glassed the floor in yesterday. And the most stressful part for me..... drilling new holes in the transom I spent countless hours making. My Bob's jackplate bolted right and the measurements came out fine so I believe its straight. Cant wait to get the bottom done. I'll be in the home stretch. So freaking excited to fly this thing!478984478985

[BoostLover]

paint stripper and lacquer
thinner
Do you mix them them or use the stripper then clean off with thinner or what? I've been scrapping for 2 nights now and will take any advice I can to help the process. It sucks as bad as removing the old core and transom did.

[BoostLover]

Got it flipped and starting the task I was drea479144479145ding. It's in worse shape than I expected in some places, not as bad in others.

[LakeFever]

I’ve used stripper on cars before. Getting the paint saturated and dwell time really helps. Sometimes I would use a bondo spreader to slice some scratches into the paint when the stripper was applied to help it get through all of it. I would think the lacquer thinner is used to completely clean the surface after the stripping is finished. If the paint on the hull has no hardener in it then lacquer thinner will strip it off. Again saturated rags and let it sit and dwell til paint curls makes things easier. Not always ideal on vertical or sloped surfaces but it beats sanding lol

[XstreamVking]

Saran wrap over the stripper works wonders....

[BoostLover]

Just an update to keep my progress stored. All of the bottom paint is gone, thank god. Some stripper (mainly total boat) and a floor scraper that take 4" razor blades, worked great. A ton of sandpaper too of course. Now filling all of the many, many imperfections with 3m vinyl esters. Have my color scheme picked out and my gelcoat, sprayer ready to go. A bit more sanding and then to finally start making it look good.479732

[XstreamVking]

Priming with gell cote? Or a pre mix primer?

[keefallan]

Boosted, if you like metalflake, you can shoot two coats of gel coat........color for a base and then put flake in with a small amount of clear and then another coat of clear(much heavier coat) to bury the flake.

There's also shooting paint in your color and then flake with a 2k intercoat clear and then a clear gel coat on top of that. But you would have to check for compatability on that.........may have to paint and let the solvent work out of the paint for awhile and then gelcoat. I've never attempted it, but I may experiment with it.

[BoostLover]

Priming with gell cote? Or a pre mix primer?

In the areas where I used totalfair I'm using an epoxy primer to make it able to take the gelcoat. Everywhere else I used the 3m that supposedly is able to be sprayed with gelcoat.

[BoostLover]

I bought a gallon of neutral gelcoat with some color pigment, a quart or 2 of black gelcoat, a gallon of clear gelcoat, a pound of metal flake, styrene for any thinning I may need, and some wax additive for the final coat of clear. And a butt load of wet/dry sandpaper from 220 - 3000 grit. Now I just need a week or so of free time. That's the hardest part when you have a wife, kids and a full time job.

[RONNIE]

yeah use the thinner to clean it off after using the stripper saran wrap does help allot gel is great I have a bunch of flake left over from Kodys boat if you need some

[FUJIMO]

https://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=479732&d=1609114751

[XstreamVking]

I always thought the pad area in the pocket was an after thought by howard. Not sure what it does beside create suction. These boats ride fairly flat anyway right?

[MattGreen]

There are carbide-tipped paint scrapers that last seemingly forever. A dull steel one is a pain in the ass. Sandvik and Bahco makes them, try a woodworker's supply store.

Matt

[BoostLover]

This is a little off the topic of my build but thought I'd throw it out there to see if I can get an answer before going elsewhere.
My motor is a used 96 2.5 225 that I got from a guy who put a ton of work into it. It has a hydromotive nose cone but no low water pickup. I really don't want to cut this cone off to install another with a pickup. I dont really have the money for one. I'd like to find another but I thought about installing a transom mounted water pickup instead. Does anyone know any pros or cons to doing this. I know I'd have to have a hose running from transom to motor which is kind of a pain. And drill holes in my brand new transom... but other than that, what are the down sides? Appreciate any feedback.

[BoostLover]

480309480310480311

Just a few more pics of progress. One is a rough sketch I did while determining what colors and where. The other is just before gelcoat and then just after the first coat of grey. More gelcoat supposed to be delivered tomorrow so I'm hoping to finish spraying the bottom this weekend. I did not buy nearly enough neutral gelcoat.

[unearthed]

Did this project ever get finished?