Lighting sailboat

i have recently started restoring a lighting sailboat the boat when i started was pretty rough, the front was fiber glassed and the back bare to the wood so i striped all the fiberglass, removed the resign with a heat gun and scraper, and have sanded the the bottom marine plywood pretty smooth, ive now started the centerboard housing sanding and i need some ideas on how to remove the resign and sand it has become extremely difficult because of the tight space.

 

Remove the centerboard housing and take it apart.

 

Try working with the boat turned on her side before doing anything more drastic. It makes a surprising difference.

 

This is when I reach for my bad-*** Sheffield steel socket firmer chisels. Just don't drop one on your foot. Or you can put about 15" of galvanized pipe over the handle of your biggest bench chisel. Or you can make your own firmers out of leaf springs. Trying to sand something hard off of a softer substrate is utterly doomed to failure. You have to get rid of all the resin with an assortment of edge tools.

 

First of all i wanna say thanks for replying, second the boat is really big and it would take more time to turn it up on its side then i can afford to waste. i would use chisels but the centerboard housing openings are less then two inches and it would be impossible, i have made a make shift strip of metal to scrap the resign off after i heat it up but that has only worked for the top and bottom i can reach i cant take the centerboard off on this boat its built in and any help would be appreciated.

 

lighting centerboard housing help

i also need so help on sanding how smooth does the centerboard housing have to be does it have to be super smooth any help would be helpful.

 

I didn't realize you were trying to work the centerboard slot, I thought you were working on the outside. I don't understand why you can't remove the board. This should be a 20 minute job, but my dad's old lightning was built in the early fifties. Knock the pin out and pull the board out from either the top or bottom. If pulling out the top, swap the pennant out for something you can grab and growl. Weighs about 120#.

 

what are you going to do if you get the centerboard out and the inside of the case sanded?

How will you recoat the inside?
Really, I know you don't want to hear it, but the only way that will really work is to remove the case, cut it open, fix the surface, then reassemble.

Not an overnight job.

 

That at least is straight forward enough. In this country we call them radiator brushes or radiator rollers, available at any DIY shop and designed for getting paint down narrow slots.

 

You have a picture? I can only imagine what they are.

 

I've pushed home made flap wheels into the slot, with some sucess. An exstenstion of some type is usually necessary.