Painting Engine Beds and Surrounding Hull - Part 1

Somewhere in Pilgrim’s past a previous owner did a poor job of applying oil based paint to the engine beds and a portion of the surrounding hull.  Removing the paint with a heat gun and paint scraper would be the best case scenario.  Since we are discussing good old boat project the best case scenario failed.  

Masking the engine compartment in prep for grinding after failing to remove the paint with heat ans a scraper.

The two somewhat bare areas between the beds in the image above mark my attempts to heat and scrape. The effort resulted in gouges; strands of woven-roven mat tearing away from the hull; and paint left in the low spots. 

What next? 

Mask every opening, see images above and below.

draping plastic sheeting across the engine compartment access in an effort to contain the dust.

Suit up.
 

Plug in the grinder and shop vac.

Crawl under the plastic and into the engine compartment with the power tools.   

Generate vast amounts of dust while sweating out gallons of fluid.

On round one I succumb to the heat after sanding the aft half of the area.

The aft portion of the engine compartment hull completed in round one.

For round two, the next day, I rigged a box fan to pull air and dust out via the locker under the helm seat.  By the end of round two all the grinder accessible areas were completed. Everything the grinder was unable to reach… outboard of the beds and the narrow area along the centerline… required hand sanding.

Round three, four, five... multiple 60 to 90 minute sessions of hand sanding with 40 grit paper stretched out over a couple days.  The initial session taught me to wear leather gloves when driving 40 grit sandpaper.   

Majority of sanding completed.

The grinding and sanding revealed a couple areas requiring some minor fiberglass repair.

De-laminated area along forward, starboard bed removed.

Crack in fiberglass mat along forward, port engine bed.

I was able to repair these issues in a single session of epoxy work

Few layers of 1708 cloth covered with a single layer of finish cloth.

While working the area, I noticed the irregular texture and pitch of the center line caused water to pool in a few areas.  No time like the present to address this issue.

Fairing the center line to allow for proper water drainage.

Using tropical hardener to allow for a thick lay up in the summer heat, I mixed up a batch of epoxy thickened to a honey consistency.   This mixture was poured into the center seam near the stern.  With only some minor coaxing from a spreader, I allowed the thick fluid to find its own level.  Once the epoxy began to kick, I laid a single layer of finish cloth across the top.

Once all the repair work was completed the area receive a thorough cleaning with Tri-Sodium Phosphate (TSP).

Engine beds and surrounding hull ready for the first coat of primer.

The area is now masked and ready for primer.

See our Repowering Photo Album for images and notes current progress.