# Stripping paint off aluminum boat



## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

have a rough old 14 ft riveted aluminum hull. Has 2 coats of paint on the inside. I have some tuffcoat and primer that I plan to apply to.
Currently using a product called strypease to remove the old paint. Comes in a gallon, metal can. It works ok, but a little slow. Have to use 2-3 applications and scrape/scrub with each application to get down to bare aluminum. My nephew is doing most my scrubbing. Any suggestions for better/stronger paint remover? Any general experience with tuff coat is appreciated as well. Thanks


----------



## Pike (Apr 7, 2004)

I think this is what a friend of mine used on his boat. I remember it being pretty nasty stuff...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Klean-St...j-K0PDB3HSWmBn_xGz3rzcvirUP9H3-0aAuU4EALw_wcB


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

just find a sand blasting shop and have it blaster. does a great job getting down to the bare metal for painting. I bought an old 18' Cherokee boat many yrs ago and had the outside blasted by my brother who worked for a friend who owned a sand blast shop. then had another friend that owned a body shop who painted it for the cost of the paint. it looked gooood up until I sold it some yrs later.
sherman


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Been there. If you have free time and want to do it yourself, this works decent..









Otherwise, have it sandblasted. Chemical strippers take forever and will never get it 100% clean. Not to mention the mess.

Edit: Now I remember what I settled on when I stripped mine. I used a chemical stripper and then used the wire brush. Scraping took too long. It'll feel like you're getting stung by sweat bees. Wear safety glass.


----------



## gLoomisSR781 (Aug 8, 2012)

M.Magis said:


> Been there. If you have free time and want to do it yourself, this works decent..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I restored an old 14' Ouachita flat bottom and used wire wheels for the whole thing inside and out. I was not in a hurry to get it done but getting it sandblasted would've been they way to go.


----------



## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Used a local sandblaster, whose "real" business was large commercial jobs - bridges, etc.. He did car/motorcycle parts/whatever, after hours. Very reasonable.


----------



## ShaneMC (Nov 27, 2012)

Sandblasting will be too rough and possible cut into the metal. I attempted grinding with a 3m paint remover wheel and gave up! its too long of a process. I would recommend using paint stripper. 

Check out how this guy did his.


----------



## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

ShaneMC said:


> Sandblasting will be too rough and possible cut into the metal. I attempted grinding with a 3m paint remover wheel and gave up! its too long of a process. I would recommend using paint stripper.
> 
> Check out how this guy did his.


I had my boat sandblasted and it didnt hurt the metal at all. just left a good finish for the paint primer to stick to. sandblasting wont hurt metal unless its rust on steel or corrosion on aluminum.
sherman


----------



## SemperFi (Mar 10, 2014)

Glass beaded nicer finish. After that zinc primer it.


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Sand blasting is just an generic term, there are lots of medias besides sand. If the person has half a clue what they’re doing, it won’t hurt a thing.


----------



## My Demeyes (Aug 2, 2010)

This is what worked best for me. Much stronger than the paint stripper. The key is to cover the recently applied stripper with plastic. You will be amazed what it does.









Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


----------



## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Still working on it. I do it this time of the year so I don’t have to be in a rush. I probably won’t pay someone to sandblast... although I am curious roughly how much it would cost. The first layer comes off a fairly easily with the stripper and drill brush. The bottom layer is a Little harder to get off. The dude in the video and blue boat, I’m thinking his paint isn’t adhered to the boat like mine is...lol.
Will try laying the plastic over the stripper as suggested. Will let you know how that works. Seems like the solvent would dissolve the plastic, but maybe not.
Thanks again for the replies


----------



## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Will also try the adhesive remover!


----------



## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

Aircraft paint stripper. O'Reilly's auuto parfs sells it.


----------



## SemperFi (Mar 10, 2014)

If you have the time to use the stripper and wire brush. The glass bead does nice job and it's clean with no mess. To glass bead say would cost few hundred bucks!!!


----------



## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Aircraft paint stripper. It’s methylene chloride. The paint will bubble right up. Use a respirator. 
The DBE stuff that you are probably using it too slow and not the greatest.


----------



## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

https://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19014003

Methanol
Acetone
methylene chloride 
toluene 

Should be some good stuff. The aircraft stripper is all methylene chloride.


----------



## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks again all, especially Demeyes, Lewzer and freyedknot.
The aircraft stripper uncovered works a little better than the strypeze that I started off with. I tested both products covered with plastics as Demeyes suggested..... dayum..... the aircraft stripper worked great when covered with plastic!


----------



## My Demeyes (Aug 2, 2010)

Harry1959 said:


> Thanks again all, especially Demeyes, Lewzer and freyedknot.
> The aircraft stripper uncovered works a little better than the strypeze that I started off with. I tested both products covered with plastics as Demeyes suggested..... dayum..... the aircraft stripper worked great when covered with plastic!


The plastic is magical isn't it? It traps the vapors under it, to keep working on the paint.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


----------



## FlyFishRich (Feb 3, 2016)

Try heating the area before putting stripper on but don't use a heat gun just a hair dryer is fine.... Rich


----------



## Jake/Rob (Dec 7, 2016)

I used rust oleum aircraft stripper and it worked really well. I think I used two cans on my 14’ Starcraft but it turned out well


----------



## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

My buddy used this Guy and was very pleased with the service. Reasonable price and he can come to you.


----------

