Latex paint removal off gelcoat?

[John B]

Any ideas, I bought a glass dinghy for a tender. It would seem to be one of those boats which has had a good life until about 2 years ago when bought by a pillock who has abused it .Amongst other things , he painted it with housepaint. I was ready to walk away until the price point became too good to pass up.
I know I can sand it off and repaint , I'm just wondering if there's a solvent or perhaps a stripper that will take the rubbish off and not damage the gelcoat.

[Brian Palmer]

I would try one of the new low-toxicity, non-flammable paint strippers. Methylene chloride based paint strippers will definitely start to dissolve the gel coat if it is left to sit long enough.

I remember helping to stripping paint off a FRP boat that was repainted when I worked at a yard in about 1983, but I can't remember what the chemical was.

Brian

[Lew Barrett]

I learned about this stuff here and have come to love it. Works well, can be literally done bare handed (though I don't). I don't know if it's sold in NZ or not, but it is a great alternative to ugly strippers.

soy strip (http://www.soysolvents.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=SS)

[John B]

Thanks Brian and Lew.
I've tried a patch with some polystrippa stuff and it does pull it off ok. The gelcoat won't be good enough to leave as it is ,but I think I'll carry on because it gives me a good substrate to paint. Can't use a 2 pot marine paint over that house paint anyway.
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Don't you just love a bargain.