Thinking about paint (out on the snapper banks)

I began to sand the old paint off Ms Bettencourt's dashboard this week as a first step toward filling a network of unsightly dirt-catching cracks in the fiberglass surface. This was to be the start of a total refinishing for the whole pilot house area.

After grinding paint off a little less than a square foot of the 40-year-old dashboard, the project was paused for re-thinking.

This paint is highly resistant to mechanical removal. It is harder than Chinese arithmetic. It might yield to a heat gun and a scraper but that will be a last resort, since I fear fumes from blistering coatings would be dangerous in an enclosed space.

The idea of a chemical paint remover is only slightly more acceptable, but that's the direction I plan to take next. There is a gel product that is said to be safe for use on fiberglass. I have ordered a quart for pick up in Savannah Monday.

And since I have to go to Savannah to get the stuff, I might as well go deep sea fishing.

That's why this post is such a short one.

There may be a dashboard stripping progress report next week.