Best way to remove interior paint

[Kneedeep]

Hello all,

I'm looking for advice on how to best remove the interior paint from my recently purchased '83 CP16. The boat sat open to the weather for (I assume) a long by time. The interior paint is at various stages on coming off.   The pieces on the ceiling come off in solid chunks revealing the red fiberglass underneath. I've managed to get some of this off using a plastic putty knife but am worried about damaging things using anything stronger.

Paint is also peeling up front by the battery storage revealing what I assume is epoxy covered plywood underneath. Is there an epoxy safe paint stripper I should use?

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Gary

[wes]

Can't say for certain but your paint looks similar to the gray paint I removed from the bilge areas of my 1988 CP27. It was water based, and wiped off easily with acetone. Safer and less messy than paint stripper, and it won't damage the epoxy, but wear a respirator with organic filters (about $30 in the paint section at Home Depot), nitrile gloves, and run a box fan to pull the fumes out of the cabin. Try a small area first to confirm.

Wes

[crazycarl]

On our 19 i used a flexible putty knife and then a brass wire wheel and cone in a pneumatic grinder.  I then used a palm sander to smooth the edges of any paint still remaining.

[Kneedeep]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give this a try as soon as it warms up a it.

Gary

[MGS]

I have a grinder if you need it