leolady too

We redid our roof a couple of years ago. It had grit in the paint that made the use of abbrasives very hard work. It is, after all, like trying to sand sand with sand paper. We used Nitromorse which was about £15 per gallon and used 3 gallons or so (62ft boat). The trick with that is to put a layer on (not too thin) and let is soak. Then remove and repeat. You'll probably need 2-3 goes. After that a wash down and dry and then it can be sanded smoot with a belt sander or random orbit sander. The stuff is nasty to skin and the vapour isn't good for you but with gloves and the job done outside it was OK and it worked very well.

We've repainted the whole boat, over a period and used Purdy brushes which are excellent but as has been said, they are only part of the means of getting a good finish. I think it is well to remember that preparation is everything. You won't improve a poor surface with a good brush but you could make a good surface worse with a poor one.

I'd endorse the previous comments, especially about being under cover. We did the roof (back to metal, it was in a dreadful state). It came out well in the end and we used a bridge which was a bit short but helped. However, the wind, sun, rain, insect comments are all true and a dry or wet dock would have helped. In view of that experience we hired the dry dock to do the cabin sides. We did all the preparation beforehand and did the last rub down and all the under and top coats (this was not back to metal) under cover. It made the job vastly easier and the result pretty good, if I say so myself. Consider using Abranet 600 or 800 grit for the inbetween coat rub down. The disks are expensive but amazingly good especially if you have a vacuum cleaner (a Henry works well) attached to the sander. With a vacuum attached they last very well. We used two per side for a 60 ft boat. One last tip, if you mask anything off REMOVE THE MASKING TAPE ASAP. We didn't and it became a nightmare to remove and damaged the paint surface. It isn't irrecoverable but its a real pain to put right. Also, use expensive vinyl type tape. It is infinitely superiour and less damaging to the paint than the paper tape (no matter how good a quality paper tape you get). IMHO of course.

Put "detailing" into google and have a look at the car valet forum. There's plenty of products for removing sap, tar bugs etc from cars which would work as well on boats. Bear in mind boat paint is different from car paint, doesn't usually have a clear coat and is usually softer (unless it's a two pack). If you were really keen you could even clay it.

I got one from these folk http://www.lancingmarine.com/ (go to "pricebook" on the left and bowman heat echangers is near the bottom of the drop down list) I replaced the whole unit when the seam where the inner core of small tubes is soldered to the outer brass tube at one end split and leaked, letting engone oil into the cooling water. My system has a skin tank. There are no internal seals on the one I got because the rubber end caps do all the sealing. It was about £75 earlier this year. Bowmans don't seem to make the brass bodies units anymore but when I went to lancing marine they had several in stock. If you can't get them yourself and aren't local I could call in for you. I hope this helps

I was advised to use Castrol Agri power plus from an agricultural merchant. Its sold to farmers for tractor engines. Many of the exploded diagrams for my engine (Beta BD3 Tug) have "John Deere" written across the top so it seems appropriate. I buy it in a 25l mini barrel which is expensive (can't remember how much for the last one) but cheaper per litre. It's obvioulsy sold for tractors which are usually worked hard and many of which seem to go on forever so I think it's probably OK for a boat engine. Check the nearest agricultural merchant.

We tried most things when stripping the roof which had previously been sanded. The sand meant that any abrasive had not only the paint but also the sand to cut through and that made it very hard work. After several goes with all sorts of things we settled on Nitromors which worked brilliantly. Having put it on a yard or two of the roof we covered the treated section with cling film (catering width about 2 feet wide) so it didn't dry out. There's no noise and no dust with this method. We used three gallon cans for 60 feet of roof which cost about £75 which I don't think compares badly with abrasive disks. There's not much effort involved either.

Last year we did the roof. This year it's the cabin sides. We learnt an enormous amount doing the roof and ended up with a reasonable job. I am hoping the cabin sides, with the benefit of last years experience, will end up looking reasonable too. So, if it all looks OK, what do folk think about varnishing the paintwork? Will it prolong the life and finish of the paint and is it worth the effort? Has anyone done it and what were the results? How do you do it, does new paintwork need to be left a month or two or six and need it be flatted off (a horrible thought if I've taken hours of care to get it nive and shiney) to key the varnish. Any thoughts on which varnish?

One word of warning with Mason's paint. They no longer do any undercoat. They sell primer which is very high build but from my experience very difficult to use. You can brush it but it's designed for spraying. Also, the thinner/brush cleaner is NOT white spirit (I think it's based on xylene) as I know by the loss of an expensive new Purdy brush. I've used the primer and would definitely not do so again (I've got an unopened 4.75l tin if anyone wants it). The brushing top coat is fine and I've had excellent (for an amateur) results with it. I've changed over to craftmaster for primer, undercoat and topcoat and must say it is easy (well easyish, I don't think painting a boat and getting a good result is easy at all whatever paint you use) to use. As to price and value for money I generally go with the old adage "you get what you pay for". There is such a thing as a bargain but mostly the adage holds true. I have found repainting a very time consuming and difficult job, albeit tremenously satisfying. I was told by a pro that he was taught "you won't improve the surface by painting", in otherwords it's all in the preparation. If you see imperfections before you paint you'll definitely see them afterwards, probably they'll be more noticeable. As you spend so much time getting the surface right, I wouldn't skimp on the last process of putting the paint on. Just my view FWIW

Try these people www.trade1st.co.uk I've always found their prices good.

Following on from the main issue, I've not got a problem with flushing out the oil from the cooling system. The problem is there's oil on the surface of the coolant in the skin tank. I've run the engine for hours with automatic washing powder and flushed it out and I've also used the Halfords radflush stuff (not at the same time). I've flushed through with a hose pipe until the water runs clear but if I take the plug out of the top of the skin tank, there's still oil coming out through the plug so the tank must have some oil left either on the surface of the water or the sides of the tank or both. The flushing with a hose was thorough and long but I suppose with a large system (it holds at least 5 gallons) it is difficult to get adequate movement/agitation everywhere. So, does it matter if there's oil in the surface of the skin tank water? Will it work its way round and damage the hoses? Is there another flushing chemical that actually works on oil? Any ideas? I'm inclined to put the 50:50 antifreeze mix in and leave it for a year and then drain, flush and add washing powder and run it for a month or so and then drain flush and refill with antifreeze again. Having got over the worry about a blown head gasket, I'm only really worried now about if the oil will damage hoses and if it will keep reappearing in the expansion tank. I know it's old oil working its way out but if I were a potential buyer seeing it, I wouldn't take the risk.

Last year we repainted the roof. It was sanded and in a terrible state. We used Nitromors and went right back to metal. We learnt an enormous amount and ended up with a reasonable (Ilike to think quite good actually) job. One word of advice from our roof experience is that we couldn't get the topcoat to look good enough outside. The wind/sun/rain/bugs etc left us with a fair but not good result last year. We blacked the bottom last month and booked an extra day. That day was for a quick scotchbright and another topcoat which, because she was in the drydock and a more controlled envirinment, has come out really well. We now have to attend to the sides. The basic paintwork looks sound. There is some rust in a few places, especially around the portholes but most of the paint is OK, just very dull and a bit powdery. The portholes and other fittings will have to come off for grinding back, vactan, filling, priming etc. What do folk think about the rest. Is is safe to use a ROS and abranet, or wet and dry, to take the paint back a bit and then clean up with panel wipe, then undercoat once or twice and topcoat once or twice. She's 62 ft and I'd rather not take the whole lot back to metal.

Just in case anyone else has this problem, the following may be useful. I thought about the oil in the coolant for ages and decided that the most likely source was the engine oil cooler. A blown head gasket was not likely, though possible and the gearbox oil cooler wouldn't have leaked black oil. I bought a new bowmans and drained the oil and coolant. I replaced the oil cooler and refilled with oil and water. I'd flushed the coolant and knew I'd have to do it again to get it clean befor knowing for sure anything that appeared was new and not just old stuff working its way out. At home I thought I'd pressure test the old cooler, which was a polar, as best I could by filling it with water with some green vegetable dye, blanking off one oil port and attaching a hose pipe to the other. Sure enough, green water dripped out when the hose was turned on. Not much but more than enough to notice. It turns out that the leak was in the seam at one end, just on the side where the end had been joined to the body. The reason the leak had been so slight was that the area leaking was under the part of the rubber end cap where the jubilee clip bites to seal the cap to the body so the leak had to seep under the rubber as well as through the gap. It's a relief to know that is all it was. £76 for a new Bowman's and a couple of hours and its done. I still need to fill and flush to make sure the coolant system is clean but I think its fixed and that's a load off my mind. Incedentally, Bowmans are not doing the rass finish coolers any more. They now have an anodised finish. I got one from old stock but the "vintage" look old style will be more difficult to find in future.

I've tried that but the amounts involved are small and so I can't tell if more is being let into the cooling system or what's already in there (distributed around everywhere) is finding its way to the surface in the header tank.

I've had this problem, and for ages. Mine's a Beta Marine BD3 tug and the coolant has a small amount of grey/black oil floating on the top. It doesn't seem to be emulsified, it's as if it had been poured on to the coolant in the expansion tank. It doesn't seem to get any worse, it happened after the last oil change, it's too dark to be gear box oil, it could be sludge from mixed antifreeze and there's no sign of coolant in the oil. My next step is to drain and flush the coolant and refill and see what happens. It may have been the result of mixing incompatible antifreeze but I suspect oil because it's pretty black. That said, the total is no more than a table spoon and it's never got any worse. It is a puzzle because I don't see how, if it was a gasket, it could happen one and then stop happening, or fail to get worse. Equally, I don't see what else it could be. If anyone has any more bright ideas I'd be very interested. It isn't possible that anything in the pumping out of old oil, replacing filters, refilling with new oil could be responsible, is it? I have an additional "kleenoil" filter fitted but can't see how that could be involved.

Try these folk for Purdy www.trade1st.co.uk and for general decorating supplies. They've always been fast and helpful and usually have keen prices.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.

Does any one know of a source of the pipe used to make exhaust stacks. Out exhaust comes up through the roof. I hate breathing fumes so want to use the long pipe but we have a few low bridges. I'd like to make an extra long hinged pipe but can't seem to find a source for the tube. It needs to be 3" internal diameter of a fraction bigger.

I can vouch for the Dewalt. I've had one for several years and used it a lot (by hobbyist standards) and it's excellent and still going strong.

Nitromors. It works like a charm, but keep it off the paint!.

"Even if boredom was the cause" I think this ought to be "were the cause". Conditional/subjunctive? Compare with the song lyrics "If I were a rich man" "If you were the only girl in the world and I were the only boy"

These people do it http://www.totalconceptpaints.co.uk I took a dulux colour card for a sort of pale blue from the paint mixing counter at B&Q and they (Total Concept Paints) matched and then mixed the colour so I think you can get any colour you want. I've just finished redoing the roof. The P Type topcoat is fine (though not as good as craftmaster, I believe). You should be aware that Masons no longer do undercoat. They sell primer which they say can be brushed but I tried and it's an absolute bu**er to use. That could of course be down to my lack of expertise. It goes on like porridge, takes weeks to harden and you can't wash the brushes in white spirit. You have to use Masons (very expensive) thinners. Please take my word for that or you'll end up restoring a very expensive 3" purdy full of half set treacle, like I did. Craftmaster will match any colour I believe, and did match Masons Deep Royal Blue, at at standard prices if you can wait a few days. Although our boat was originally done in Mason's I've decided to use Craftmaster in future. I'd consider doing the same, or using one of the others (International, Rylards etc) I have no connection with Craftmaster, just a fan.

We looked at this question and agonised over whether to spend the extra for a Honda. The main reason for getting it was to use for power tools while repainting the boat. We decided on the Kipor on the grounds that we wanted it for that project so if it didn't last for years and years it didn't matter and it was much much cheaper. We've been using it for only a couple of weeks but it has been absolutely fine so far and very quiet. Famous last words I suppose. As others have said, it depends what it's for but for our purpose, so far, it's perfect.