[mansueto]

My aluminum runabout has 1 coat of paint over the entire hull that someone rolled on years ago. The deck/hood is covered with a slightly tougher coating called DuraDeck...which the DuraTech company put on there 40 years ago. It's a bit tougher than paint, more like a very thin plastic texture finish. Which blast material should I be using with a 2200 psi power sprayer to get the paint and coating off? THANK YOU in advance.DJman

[LubeDude]

Sand blasting aluminum is not a very good Idea, it will make the aluminum "VERY" rough and can actually deform it! I vote, DONT DO IT!!!!!!

[tommays]

DOUBLE NO there should be a stripper that will remove ittommays

[noelm]

there are lots of alloy strippers around, but it can be blasted but only by people who have a record of alloy blasting as it is tricky and indeed "normal" blasting can deform and even "blast" right through the metal

[Dead Eye]

Hope you like worms, 'cause I think you'll open a big alum. can of them. I'd try a stripper (I lean more towards red heads) or find a good color and repaint it. Dead Eye

[noelm]

I have used a stripper that was used in the aircraft industry and it worked a treat, but I also had a big aluminium boat blasted and they used some sort of smooth black kinda beads that sort of felt like plastic, did no damage at all and the boat was etch primed by the same people straight away to prevent any impurities and the paint is still good today some 10 years later.

[noelm]

Oh and Dead Eye the stripper was not a redhead!

[brownies]

Walnut shell or plastic media for blasting. It will sure make one wavy though. No matter who does it, the metal will be wavy when finished. I'd strip it with chemicals first, second, and third. Then, you might consider having just the seams, crooks, and crannies, lightly blasted just to clean those areas up (if there are any).

[Bond-o]

My thought on painting an Aluminum boat,......If the Paint is There,+ Still Well Struck,.......Try applying alittle bit of the New Paint on Top of the existing Paint.......If there's No Reactions,.... Bubbling,... Orange Peel,.... Lifting,.....Leave it There.............Sand it Smooth,+ Prime,& Paint it.............. It saves the Unnecessary Step of treating the Bare base metal,.........Muchless,..... Stripping the Old Paint................................

[Texasmark]

My '65 Starcraft 18' Holiday I/O complete restoration included hull stripping/painting.I had an empty hull (deck and stringers only thing in it) and took it to a sandblast place in Dallas. They hooked into the bow eye and stern eyes and rolled it into their sandblast area where they had a commercial unit; probably the 2200# you are talking about.The guy did say that he had to be careful as the blaster would overheat the alum and as mentioned deform it.They did a beautiful job for peanuts, then, while it was still hanging they rolled it outside and sprayed a 2 part epoxy white paint on it. It was a beautiful job and the boat was used for 15 years after that that I know of and zero finish problems.Buttttttt these guys knew what they were doing.Mark

[noelm]

Texasmark I had the same experience but still stripper is a safe (but harder) way to go if no specialty alloy blasters are in the area.

[Moody Blue]

Fully agree NOT to try sandblasting it yourself. You won't like the result and you may possibly destroy the hull. I've had stainless sheet beadblasted (glass bead, not sand) and it twisted and deformed beyond belief. By blasting the opposite face it straightened out mostly but was still not straight. I can only imagine that alum would be more susceptible.

[mansueto]

Guys, I really appreciate all of these careful words of advice. My brother is not such a novice as I; this is my first boat, and a big restore job at that. But your words of experience are much appreciated very much!!