228G Bottom Paint Removal

[leeccoll]

Decided last fall to splurge and have my bottom paint removed on my 1987 228 hull. It's been in the shop for about a month, and stopped in for a peek today. Amazing transformation so far. My Venture cheapo trailer had chewed up the strakes down to the fiberglass in areas, and the keel also was really beat up in sections down to the glass as well. T&T Marine Painting Co. in Reno made everything look perfect. There was at least 4 coats of bottom paint that had come off here and there from rollers on the trailer. It looked like hell. Luckily for me the original gel coat was in good shape underneath. Anyways, the remaining bottom coat was scrapped off then sanded, sprayed matching gelcoat as needed.

Woo hoo, hard to believe that's an '87 Grady!

Will be buffed out tomorrow so I can pick her up and pay the tab. Will update with some new pictures then.

 

[Ky Grady]

Very nice!!! For trailer boat, I like a clean bottom.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Very nice. I'm jealous. This is the first boat that has bottom paint that I'm keeping (not flipping). No bueno, looks like crap. I'm sure you'll pick up some speed with that smooth bottom.

Cheers, post a pick when you're done.

 

[leeccoll]

Very nice!!! For trailer boat, I like a clean bottom.

For sure! I had a picture when I first took possession of her, the bottom paint looked decent, maybe I owe my trailer an apology for beating up the paint so badly LOL.

 

[leeccoll]

Very nice. I'm jealous. This is the first boat that has bottom paint that I'm keeping (not flipping). No bueno, looks like crap. I'm sure you'll pick up some speed with that smooth bottom.

Cheers, post a pick when you're done.

I'll be curious to see both wot rpm and fuel consumption. I'll post pics then update fuel burn after I get enough data. Thx Drifter!

 

[Doc Stressor]

After I brought my old '75 Overnighter to Florida from Connecticut, I had the bottom paint removed by soda blasting and replaced it with hard 2-part epoxy since the boat was kept at a high and dry. I picked up 2 mph top speed.

It's really cool to see those older Gradys like yours being restored.

 

[UCPA111]

Nice job! My boat was slipped and had bottom paint when I purchased. I sanded and repainted...but I do like the clean look without. Looking forward to final pictures and performance.

 

[seasick]

What method did they use to remove the paint. I t is pretty easy to remove gel coat when you don't really want to.
In any case, looks good. Is the hull going to be repained with anti-fouling paint?

 

[leeccoll]

Nice job! My boat was slipped and had bottom paint when I purchased. I sanded and repainted...but I do like the clean look without. Looking forward to final pictures and performance.

Thank you Shaun!!

 

[leeccoll]

After I brought my old '75 Overnighter to Florida from Connecticut, I had the bottom paint removed by soda blasting and replaced it with hard 2-part epoxy since the boat was kept at a high and dry. I picked up 2 mph top speed.

It's really cool to see those older Gradys like yours being restored.

Appreciate it! Nice to have a boat that was built so solidly in the first place.

 

[leeccoll]

What method did they use to remove the paint. I t is pretty easy to remove gel coat when you don't really want to.
In any case, looks good. Is the hull going to be repained with anti-fouling paint?

Thanks seasick!
No anti-fouling paint. It sits on a trailer, used in freshwater.

They removed the bottom coat in sequence as follows...
Use a paint scraper carefully until the white gel coat starts to appear
80 Grit Sandpaper
320 Grit Sandpaper
600 Grit Sandpaper
Sprayed on gelcoat where fiberglass repairs were made
Onlay a guide coat~for those who are curious what this is:

Buff
Polish

These guys seem very good. They were recommended highly by my buddies at the local West Marine. There are some VERY expensive boats that people keep at Lake Tahoe.
They get a lot of that trade, so I was comfortable with them.

They still need to buff it out n polish, so hoping it gets done tomorrow

 

[Fishtales]

looks awesome... I need to have that done.

 

[seasick]

Interesting. Thanks for the details. Sounds like a lot of labor$$$$$!

 

[leeccoll]

Whadya think? Cost me $2,400 bucks, but it looks impressive compared to how it looked a month ago. Happy with the quality of work done to her
I will buff out the top portion of the hull next week....
Of course the pin stripes and decals now have to be addressed sometime this spring

 

[Ky Grady]

Very nice!!!! To me, money well spent. The old gal is coming back to life.

 

[seasalt]

Looks great!

 

[leeccoll]

Naked and Afraid
Removed decals today using 3M Eraser Wheel prior to buff and polish of upper hull starting tomorrow...Not too fun doing this work in freezing temps and high winds. Snow fell last night. Thinking of changing the decals and pinstripe color to a lighter tone of blue instead of the dark navy which looks almost black to me.

 

[Ky Grady]

It's still the navy, but perfect time to switch to the updated color. If I hadn't already redone mine in the navy and gold, this would be the colors I went with. I'm not a fan of the newest stripe color, the green and silver. Nothing on the boat is green. At least the navy goes with the bimini and curtains.

 

[leeccoll]

Those colors are nice, thx Ky

Just peeked online, yep those green/gold combos are butt ugly to me too.

 

[leeccoll]

It's still the navy, but perfect time to switch to the updated color. If I hadn't already redone mine in the navy and gold, this would be the colors I went with. I'm not a fan of the newest stripe color, the green and silver. Nothing on the boat is green. At least the navy goes with the bimini and curtains.


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Ready to grab a set of the updated logos. Price increased, but I messaged Taylor Marine on EBay to see if they would honor the lower price. Fingers crossed.

Then I will see how it looks and figure out the pinstripe after sitting with it for a bit.