scarey green paint on ally hull

[Guest]

hello, i recently got an ally boat (rivited) but it looks like its been painted by a child with a stick! Can i remove the paint, any ideas on how? If i do am i going to have a corrosion problem as i would like to leave bare? Any ideas much appreciated.

 

[John_Hampton]

Is she an ex-life boat? Mine is 30 foot and of 1954 vintage, where there is bare metal it is un-corroded. Where a fender is rubbing badly the aluminium is polished like chrome, that would be a lot of hard work though keeping a whole boat polished!

 

[Guest]

Lots of french boats are bare ally. The stuff oxydizes very quickly indeed, so when it is painted (at least, by a child with a stick) eventually it bubbles up and has to be taken back and repainted. Try a small area that you could repaint if unsure.

 

[Guest]

many years ago I stripped an ally horse box with nitro mors, paint stripper. It worked well, then polished back with wire wool, primed,undercoated, then laquered.
It lasted years , still looking like new. Maybe you could use the same system.

 

[oldsaltoz]

It might need paint

You may have to establish what sort of paint has been applied to get the right paint stripper but after that you should be able to leave it unpainted without any problems. Should you decide to paint it later you may have to etch it (this will provide a surface the paint can stick to) thus preventing plasters or flaking.
Note, some alloy boats, particularly riveted ones may actually need paint to prevent leaks when they get a bit older and the rivets loosen or the sealant between surfaces fails. Happy boating.