Removing Cascover

[JKelly7142]

I am restoring a couple of 50 year old National 18s. One has the hull, below the waerline, covered with Cascover (and about 20 coats of A/F)which is starting to peel off in some ares but is firmly attached in others. Does anyone have any tips on removing this covering?

 

[ccscott49]

Its an absolute swine to remove, I just peeled it off on one boat I did, but it may be easier to repair it. Cutting out bad bits and repalcing with epoxy and mat. Otherwise split the loose areas and clean up and epoxy back.

 

[Poignard]

My coachroof is covered in what I think may be Cascover and some of it was deteriorating at the forward end. I decided to strip it off for a couple of feet and replace with epoxy and glass cloth. In some areas it peeled off easily in largish pieces but where it was still stuck it was quite difficult to remove because the ant-skid paint it was covered with soon blunted scrapers. I didn't want to grind it off because it was windy weather and there were other boats next to me whose owners might not have appreciated the dust. Eventually I got it off using heat* and pushing a scraper under it.

I've got the rest to do someday and I'm not looking forward to it.

* The heat gun I use is a De Walt type with variable temperature. It's very controllable and cheap

 

[JKelly7142]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately repairing the sheathing is not an option as the boat is to be restored to its original racing condition. I have a heat gun so will try that. Any other suggestions welcomed.

 

[ccscott49]

If it's real cascover, heat wont touch it, as it's cascamite glue, if it's epoxy glue, then heat will do it but very messy!

 

[flykeith]

Just stripped a the cascover from Cayenne. Took a full day, strong teenage son was an invaluable addition to the toolbag, some places came off OK, others had to scribe into strips and lifted a corner then pulled with heavy duty molegrips/pliers which gave easier grip.

What has been a bigger job is getting the old resin glue off, still scraping and sanding after 3 days.

Seams will have to be recaulked, as the resin is very brittle with out the cascover covering.

As a newbie I think she looks much better without the sheathing, lets see how I feel in a few years time!

Best of luck

 

[JKelly7142]

This seems to be the answer. Cutting into the sheathing with a hook shaped blade and then jerking the free end with mole grips pulls the whole layer off in long strips. This is a clinker hull so each plank makes a natural area to cut.