1950 Riveted Aluminum, need liner removed

[thomasedillon]

I have an all aluminum 1950 boat that I just picked up for a winter project. Trying to take on this new hobby. Day 1 presents my first problem. There is some kind of old liner inside the hull of the boat. It is all on the bottom, a quarter way up the side, all under the seats and everything. The problem is half of it is cracked, chipped are missing. I want to remove the rest of it so I can check for leaks, seal leaks, and apply a new liner of the same size, or astro turf. Any suggestions on how to get this old brittle in some places, not in others crap out? I am thinking about sand blasting or pressure washing. Don't want to ruin anything so suggestions are welcome.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard.

post pics (there is a picture uploading tutorial in the general guidlines forum)

 

[thomasedillon]

Step 1 to being able to upload photos is to have made 3 posts. So here is post number 2.

 

[thomasedillon]

And of course, post number 3. Of course, I have to wait 30 seconds for post number 3.

 

[gm280]

:welcome: aboard thomasedillon...

So post that third post with pictures. We love pictures on these forums. :thumb:

 

[GA_Boater]

Step 1 to being able to upload photos is to have made 3 posts. So here is post number 2.

Welcome to iBOATS./

Option 3 for posting pics negates steps 1 and 2.

A PO may have watched one too many Flex Seal commercials.

 

[thomasedillon]

Edited several times due to figuring out how to best get these pics here.

 

[thomasedillon]

I had a 1985 19 ft Baretta that I was using, but with the kids being scared to death of water they can't see through, it was not practical to have such a boat when all I did was use it for fishing by myself. Sold it off and bought this much more practical boat for that purpose. Will be used on a very slow moving, calm river that joins with the Red River. Plan on hitting the mouths of the West Fork hitting the Red and the Red hitting the Cumberland. All told, total travel distance from ramp to farthest fishing spot is about a mile. No need fast moving boat for that. This will make it much more fun. Got the whole winter to fix it up.

 

[gm280]

I looked over the five pictures but I can't think of what that stuff could be. But once you remove that, you can setup your boat however you like. So make option to go with. You are you wanting to do with the boat after you clean that stuff out?

 

[thomasedillon]

It is going to be used exclusively for fishing, mainly on fresh water in Cumberland and Red rivers. Eventually it will be used on my own pond or mud hole.

 

[thomasedillon]

So back to the first question.... Can I pressure wash, or sand blast it, or do I run serious risk of causing more damage than fixing.

 

[jbcurt00]

This is just a geuss, but its based on seeing quite a few vintage AlumaCraft tinnies:

The green 'stuff' is the original anti-skid coating the was put on by AlumaCraft, and should be the 1st layer against the hull. It appears to be missing in some places.

A previous owner (PO) probably didnt like the look of the coating coming off in spots and/or the fact that its a fairly dark green and covered it w something else. What that might be, I cant tell from the pix. I doubt better pix would help.

Unless you have extreme confidence in the sand blaster to absolutely know what he's doing, sand is too aggressive for most tin boats. Heats the aluminum, risks deforming it and leaves a fairly rough texture when finished.

Soda or dry ice blasting, maybe, if available. Perhaps plastic or shell media too, depends on what media and 'grit'.

I've used a 3500psi hot water PressureWasher w a rotary tip and managed to get some bedliner off an old tin boat, but it didnt get it all. Others have had a lower psi washer damage their hulls because they used too fine a jet, that concentrated too much psi on too small an area. So be careful w that too.

Might try an aircraft stripper (Rustoleum sells 1 as does Clean-Strip. They are both NASTY strippers, and you need to be diligent w the PPE and follow the directions.

Good luck

Welcome to iboats and Tin-landia

 

[GA_Boater]

It looks like house paint and was poorly applied. Old tin and sand blasters are not a good mix. Try a pressure washer to get the loose stuff off and paint stripper on the rest, followed by the PW again.

 

[thomasedillon]

What ever it is, it is a pain in the butt. Spent an hour with scraper, razor blades, rubber mallet and chisel working it to death and barely got any of it done. The cracking and bubbling parts come off cake walk easy, but the parts that are not cracked and bubbled, but are still obviously older than dirt, might as well be welded into the aluminum. Going to try chemicals next go around cause the chisel and hammer is not working out.

 

[gm280]

Have you tried any Lacquer Thinner or Acetone to see it it would dissolve it? Or even try some paint strippers to see if they can help remove it. Just be careful with whatever you try that it isn't going to be an issue with aluminum. Even try some "Aircraft Remover" and see how that works. I few companies make aircraft remover. It works great but again you need to make sure it is compatable with aluminum. It should be okay though. JMHO