1980 Hunter 25 - Safe Paint Removal

[JLeCompte]

After years of dreaming of sailing, I finally decided to stop merely dreaming and purchased my first sailboat, a 1980 Hunter 25. I purchased Don Casey's This Old Boat, but wanted to be a part of a community that not only is full of people that have been around sailboat for years, but specifically Hunters.

This is my first post, and I am looking for suggestions for removing what looks to be acrylic paint used by the prior owner to paint the name of the boat on both the starboard and port sides. I've tried various thinners/removers but wanted to look to everyone's experience for help before venturing into sanding, which I'd prefer not to do. I have attached a photo of the proposed area. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

[kloudie1]

The good news is that the gel coat is pretty much impervious to 'most any commercial remover. The "gel" kind seems to work best on vertical surfaces like that because it will stay in place.. The bad news is that if that name has been on for several years, the gel coat under the paint will be raised a little and unless you sand, the old name will be clearly visible after the paint is gone. 400 wet grit to get the paint off and level the gel coat then go to 600 and then 1200 to polish
Welcome !

 

[JLeCompte]

Thank you for the tip, kloudie1! Is there a particular brand of "gel" remover that you've used/have had success with that you would recommend?

 

[BlowMeAway]

Welcome JLC, I too have some artwork to remove, specifically on the transom, with the boat named after it's previous owner. I've tried a few solvents on my current lettering. What seemed to work best, and I was working in small areas using a cotton ball, was Methyl Ethyl Ketone. Unfortunately it appears that some of the under-paint, assumed to be gel coat, was also affected. I'm planning to follow the direction of sanding the letters off, as kloudie1 has proposed, starting with a coarser grit paper (400-500) through the lettering and working my way down to 1200 across the entire transom, with a final buff using 4000 grit. If repainting the gel coat is needed, so be it. I'll be using one of those small vibrating sanders, like the black and decker mouse to limit the coarse sanding to just the lettering. Ultimately hiring a talented artist to place my graphic on the transom. Good Luck. It's gonna require some elbow grease.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Once you sand the name off, suggest trying a compound called Finese It which is abrasive using an orbital buffer but keeping the rpm no more than 1000 rpm moving the buffer back and forth which in essence helps to reduce the gel coat vs. by hand plus it will shine the gel coat.