On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 13:58:05 +0000, HiTech Redneck wrote:

Can anyone suggest the best way to clean an aluminum boat before painting?


What kind of paint are you using? Does the manufacturer have a recommended
procedure? If so, you might as well just do as they say.

Personally, I've never painted an aluminum hull, but I painted part of a
mast once, and I think I just sanded it, rubbed it with acetone, then put
on the corrosion inhibitor (zinc chromate, I think?) and then
white polyurethane paint. It seemed to work.

I believe I used zspar products.

I don't know if that helps you any. ;-)

--Mac

Don't use steel wool on aluminum. It will cause a corrosion problem. Use
Scotch Brite pads.

Bill

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"HiTech Redneck" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest the best way to clean an aluminum boat before
painting?

My intuition says to use the finest steel wool you can get - the kind
you'd
use on polyurethane between coats if you wanted it REALLY glossy. But,
push
harder on aluminum. If it's so dirty that you feel some sort of chemical
is
needed, I'd start with something made for cleaning aluminum alloy wheels,
follow with soap & water (to remove anything that might mess with the
paint's ability to stick), and then finish with steel wool.

It depends on type of boat and construction. But if you want paint to
adhere to AL then you MUST either Sandblast, Acid Wash (like Aluma-Prep
33 and
Alodine1201) or otherwise sand to provide a oxidation free surface for
paint. I also paint with either zinc chromate or zinc primer to avoid
galvanic corrosion. I do work on AL boat and I know a mistake means AL
turns to swiss cheese. Also your choice of bottom paint are different
since you must absolutely NOT use anything with Copper in it. There are
barrier methods with epoxy coats but none really work more than a year.
If your boat is more than 12 feet long - you need to do some serious
research into subject.