17ft plywood runabout

[mbyrd]

I just purchased my first wood boat. It is 1958 plywood taylorcraft and has been sitting in a garage for the last 25 years. The hull is in fantastic shape as far as I can see. I want to repaint the boat. Does this mean that I need to strip it down to the bare wood? Any additional tips would be greatly appreciated as I get ready to start this project.

[Hunter25]

Since this is your first wooden boat I suggest you call a boat carpenter, restorer or maybe a surveyor to get you the real low down on this boat. 50 year old boats, even ones living in barns half of the time will have problems, most not easily seen by the novice or first time wooden boat owner.

Painting over the old paint doesn't mean sanding down to raw wood, unles the old stuff is in such bad shape that it must be stripped. If the paint has lots of age showing, it will probably have lead in it, so protect yourself as you sand it smooth. Prime the areas that do get down to raw wood. The paint will probably be oil based and you will have good results if you stick with that type of paint. Before you paint, have the fasteners checked and the structural areas of the boat looked at. It would be wasted work if you have to sand off new paint to get at old loose fasteners.

[mbyrd]

Thanks for the info. I started looking over the boat more closely and noticed on the transom corners cloth and some type of patch.

[VKRUE]

Hi Mbyrd:

I also am restoring a 1960 model plywood boat.

Hunter25 made a good point, you must be very careful to look the boat over for damage & rot. Possibly have a professional (One who's not starving and searching for his next meal ticket ) look it over for you. Your boat is very old and time has it's way of causing decay... somewhere.

If you expose any wood during your work, I would suggest sealing it with CPES (Clear Penitrating Epoxy Sealer). This stuff ain't cheap but it will prevent any damage to the wood from water. Paint won't do it alone.

I am in the process of taking mine down to bare wood, completely!
It's a job... but well worth it.
Here's a couple of pics of my project.
Repairs to the keel & hull.

P.S. My boat had some "minor damage" (as quoted by the seller) to the hull, careful inspection revealed rotten plywood and under that a rotton keel.
I replaced a 36" section of the keel and the pic's tell the rest.
VKRUE