Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport
the grind of stripping the bottom paint / epoxy has begun.
The epoxy that I spent weeks chipping, chiseling and scraping from the inside (w/out chemical stripper) from the inside is covering the entire exterior bottom as well.
So far I haven't seen any pitting...just minor corrosion where water was trapped (i.e. on/around rivets, strakes, keel, etc.)
The strip process was really made possible by good-old cling-wrap.
The sequence goes like this (Word of safety: wear a respirator, eye protection and those big, green chem gloves):
- Precut cling wrap and position 1 end with painters tape
- Apply Zip Strip
- Immediately cover with cling wrap (and be prepared, the wind always seems to gust when you're trying to place thin plastic over a caustic gel substance...Zip Strip burns like hell! )
- let sit for 30min to an hour...paint will bubble like crazy...and even some epoxy might come-up if it's thin enough
- pull cling-wrap back but don't remove the painters tape
- scrape as much paint off as possible exposing the epoxy surface
- Apply more Zip and cover again with the cling wrap
- let this sit for a good hour...i let it sit overnight
- scrape up as much epoxy as possible...the areas of ultra-thick epoxy may still remain
- repeat 7-9 until all of the epoxy is gone
This process sequence will blow through standard paint...it's the epoxy that makes it a horror show.
I'm quite pleased with the results!
port side will be complete once I knock the crud off of the strake
(thunder-bangers chased me off of the driveway):
Once SB is complete, I'll flip-back-over to begin the process of repairing the hull.
Thanks for stopping by!
