Sylvan 16' Project

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Macattack

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I'm beginning my project of a 1983 16' V-hull aluminum boat restoration project. I have the hull striped down and ready to paint the outside. It has the original paint is on it and the entire hull is painted. I prefer to remove the paint, leave the bottom bare, and paint the top half.

Any suggestions of how to remove the paint and get it to a nice shine? My other option is to paint the entire hull again.

I would be grateful for any feedback to all you veterans out there who have gone before me.

Jon
 
Macattack said:
I'm beginning my project of a 1983 16' V-hull aluminum boat restoration project. I have the hull striped down and ready to paint the outside. It has the original paint is on it and the entire hull is painted. I prefer to remove the paint, leave the bottom bare, and paint the top half.

Any suggestions of how to remove the paint and get it to a nice shine? My other option is to paint the entire hull again.

I would be grateful for any feedback to all you veterans out there who have gone before me.

Jon

welcome macattack and good luck with your project.
Paint stripper will remove the paint without gouging the aluminum, slow going but it works. After that you can scotchbrite the hull, then spray it with alumibrite cleaner from NAPA, then I normally scrub the entire hull with SOS pads, it is hard work but worth it in the end. :) my results below

pix%252520022.jpg


cleaning%252520saratoga%252520007.jpg
 
That New alumimun look is what I was hoping to do with my boat. Is there any post treatment to the above combo to keep it looking that sharp. do you use a electric sander or Dual action or what. Not trying to hyjack the thread. painting is fine but shiny aluminum looks great too.
 
I got the tip from another member. Try https://www.gordsaluminumpolish.com. If the demos on the web site are any indication, then this stuff is fantastic!!!!
 
Jay D said:
That New alumimun look is what I was hoping to do with my boat. Is there any post treatment to the above combo to keep it looking that sharp. do you use a electric sander or Dual action or what. Not trying to hyjack the thread. painting is fine but shiny aluminum looks great too.
https://www.sharkhide.com/sharkhide_metal_protectant.htm
 
Been working on my project. I got the outside painted today. This was after a lot of scrapping, brushing, etc. to get it down to the bare aluminum. It took weeks. Here are some before/after pics. I went with a dark charcoal color. It was a little darker than I wanted. I've got my carpet, vinyl flooring, and vinyl for most of the interior. I'm going to put my Honda 50 hp 4-stroke on it. It should really scoot across the water. Will post pictures as soon as I learn how to compress them.
 
Here are some pics. Love to hear any comments
 

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sharkhide on the outside to protect the bare aluminum. It was painted with a one step auto enamel that went on very smooth. My next step is replacing the flooring. I using vinyl flooring vs. carpet. Carpet to hard to keep clean. I purchased the grey vinyl flooring from Cabelas. I used it on my other boat and it is nice flooring. I painted the center consoles the charcoal as well. I'll be using some charcoal carpet and charcoal vinyl to reupholster the panels and seats. It should tie together well. Going out of town next week on a business trip and it have to sit for a couple of weeks. It will drive me nuts to not work on it since the labor intensive part is done. It was a lot of work to strip all that paint off.

Here are some additional "before" pics. It was in bad shape.
 

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Got the trailer wired today. I'm on vacation next week so I will start on the inside. Pictures to come.
 
Here are a couple of different pictures from the day of painting.
 

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Worked on the trailer today. I'm lowering the boat on the trailer to make it easier to launch. I couldn't get the 3/8" bolts loose to take off the fenders. Called my dad and he said to heat the nuts up and they should come loose. My dad is a wise guy...came loose right away. I'm going to take a couple of the leafs out of the springs to drop it another inch or so. It will also allow it to ride a little smoother.

Hope to begin floors on Monday.
 

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Hi MacAttack, Thanks for checking out my project. The paint job on your boat is amazing! Love the jet black / polished aluminum combo. That's a lot of sweat you put into peeling that paint off. My Sylvan is a Grey / Aluminum two tone scheme. The aluminum portion needs a good polishing to get it to shine like yours but the paint job is solid, so what I'm focusing on is re-doing the floor layout and installing a console. I bought a sheet of premium ply-wood today. Should have the rest of the inside complete by Saturday. Will post pics once I get to that stage.

I'm excited to see how your boat comes together on the inside. Will be checking your board for updates.
 
Got to work on my boat for about four hours today. I got the bracing on the front of the boat replaces pretty easily. I then began cutting out the floor pieces. I got a new Porter Cable jigsaw for Christmas early and it was awesome. It blows away the sawdust so you can follow your line and the LED light makes it easy to see. I never knew that a new saw would make it so much easier to cut.

I laid the pieces in the boat to ensure they fit. It all fit perfectly. I'm not going to seal, prime, and paint before laying them in. This will ensure they last for a long time. I have already ordered and received the vinyl flooring from Cabelas. I used this flooring on my previous project and really liked it. Its easy to scrub or wipe down, plus you don't have to worry about blood and scales like you do with carpet.

After weeks of hard labor of stripping the paint off and painting, putting a floor in can seem like such a monumental step which motivates you to keep going. I hope to get back to it in a couple of days. For the first time I can begin picturing myself on the lake.
 

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