Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Post 6 - Removing Non-Skid
My next battle: removal of the non-skid.
Overall, the non-skid was still attached extremely well, but it had come loose or cracked in a few places. Most of the non-skid had been painted over twice, but wherever it was exposed, it had turned a yellowish color. It had to go. To remove it, I went with a suggestion from a friend on the Plastic Classics Forum; I bought a 4 1/2" grinder and used 40 grit flap-disks to grind the bulk of the non-skid material off. On the picture above, you can see how far I went with the grinder on the left side, and then you can see the finished result on the right side after I had sanded it off fairly smooth.
Unlike the Porter Cable Sander, my Milwaukee Grinder has no dust collection system. The grinder paired with the flap-disks throws an amazing amount of material into the air. My garage is covered with light-blue dust. Still, progress is progress...
After getting the bulk of the Non-skid off with the grinder, I switched to the Random Orbital Sander in order to smooth the very uneven surface left from the grinding. The non-skid clogs-up the sandpaper much quicker than the paint does.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Post 5 - Stripping Paint
I started with a carbide scraper, and it worked well on the Hull, but not nearly as good on the deck and upper surfaces.
Next, I purchased a gallon of Franmar Soy Strip. It cost roughly $80.00 per gallon. I decided to test it by putting it on a small area first, and letting it sit for an hour and a half. I spread it over the paint and made sure it was at least 1/8" thick. I could see the paint start to lift off even before the time was up. I used my carbide scraper to remove the loose paint, once it was time. The top two layers of paint came right off, but the bottom layer of paint didn't budge.
The next day, I decided to try it on a larger area, and leave it on for twice as long. I applied it to the cockpit area of the boat, and then I covered it all with waxed paper in order to keep it from drying out too soon. After three hours I peeled the waxed paper back, and I could tell that the Soy Strip had penetrated much deeper this time. As I scraped the first spot, the scraper went all the way through the paint and even took off a bit of the gel-coat. I looked closer and I could see that there were small areas where the soy strip was pitting the gel coat. I hurried and wiped off all the soy strip and loose paint, and then cleaned the whole area with water and vinegar. In this second picture, you can see some of the pitting caused by the Soy Strip. I probably won't be using it again on this boat...
For my next round, I purchased a Porter Cable model 7335 Random Orbital Sander, and a pack of 20 (40grit) disks of sandpaper. This should have been my first move; these things work great. Dust is kept at a minimum, since it comes with a vacuum hose that I can attach to my shop vac. It removes paint quickly, and it's a pleasure to use.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Post 4 - Removing the Rubrail
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Post 3 - In the Garage and Scraping Paint
The boat now sits comfortably in the garage. Much of the past few weeks was spent simply organizing the garage, so I would actually have room to work. After multiple trips to the dump and storage, the work has resumed.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Post 2 - Hurry up and Wait
Much of the last few days has been spent learning about the boat I have purchased, and learning in general about the restoration process of old fiberglass boats.Today I ordered a book entitled "This Old Boat", which is revered as a bible of sorts for people wishing to restore these type of boats.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Post 1
Here Goes, my first post.
Today my wife and I completed our purchase of a Vivacity 20’ Sailboat from a guy named Aaron who lives in Heber City.
Purchase price was $650.00. It included boat, trailer, sails, anchor, and various other extras. No Motor. No Title either. He said this won’t be a problem. Most recent sticker next to the numbers is a California sticker for 1989. Perhaps that means 22 years on the hard. Will need paint stripping, minor fiberglass repair, many new fittings, all new woodwork, complete interior finishing. All new electric, as well. We are very excited. No name on the boat , either, so we will get to name it.
Wired the trailer today, in order to get it home. Trailer could use some work too, very rusty, old leaf springs, old tires. Adam had the wiring for it, so no cost there, besides cost of duct tape to temporarily secure wiring. The whole way home, I was afraid that I would get a flat.
After I made it home, I used a shop vac to vacuum water out of the bilge, along with various other leaves and debris.
Zach and I also removed the motor mount and three old wooden cleats. Aaron included some new galvanized cleats with the purchase, but I may want to go with either brass, or make some new ones out of mahogany. I will have to consider…
Downpoured on us for a while. For some reason, rain is more tolerable when you are sitting on a boat. :) I will have to get a tarp to keep it covered. I will also have to modify my side fence so I can remove it and get the Sailboat out of the driveway.
Lots of tasks before us.