paint removal

[Guest]

Can anyone suggest the best way to remove paint from fibreglass? (yes, I'm changing the name of my boat). I'm told sandpaper/paint remover will damage the gelcoat. I've tried a heatgun with a plastic scraper, but it's proving a bit slow, and No 1 thinners, suggested by the chandlery, is also proving painfully slow. Is wet and dry paper a possibility?

Many thanks for any ideas.

 

[coliholic]

Is it just the painted name on the gelcoat, or is the hull painted too?

If the former, then try No9 or No10 thinners that should certainly soften it. No1 is the right thinners for single pack paint and is actually White Spirit )or as near as dammiit) so won't have any effect on dry paint. No 9 or 10 (can't remeber which) is the thinners for 2 part poly paint and will soften dried one part paint. Get the chandlers to let you just dip a rag in some before you actually buy a tin 'cos it's horrendously expensive (about a tenner), wipe it over the name bit and then use a very SHARP chisel with the blade almost flat on the fibreglass and gently scrape it off pushing the chisel away from you. You could round off the corners of the chisel, but that would then ruin it for future use, just be gentle with it.

If the hull's also painted, then unless its painted with two pack poly, don't try this cos you'll bring your hull paint off too. In that case rubbing compound or fine 2000 grade wet and dry, used wet followed by cutting compound and polish.

Next time use stick on graphics, much easier to remove with a hot air gun. Or hairdyer.

 

[BarryH]

Davids, the people who make Isopon, the plastic car filler stuff, do a paint stripper for fibreglass. I know it works cos i used it on my Scimitar. You should find it in most good car accesory shops, (does this sound like an advert or what!!) or halfords, cost will be around a fiver for 500mls