Bootstripe replacement on '87 CP19??

[mikeg]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum -we just bought an '87 Compac 19 a couple weeks ago. Sailed her July 4 and she sailed like a dream. I have a couple questions though- so here goes:

The bootstripe on our 19 is the original dark brown (over tan hull) that apparently was used on some boats of this era. Has anyone re-done their bootstripes to a different color? ---and if so, what's the process? My local West Marine said that the below-the-rubrail stripe and the above-the-waterline boot??stripe should be sanded, masked and then re-painted in the new enamel/color.
I thought this sounded weird though since the waterline stripe (if
not the rubrail one) appears to be a stick-on (some sort of plastic
decal material). Anyone have experience with this?

Also, and this is very weird; the 2000 Mercury 6hp four-stroke that
came with the boat wouldn't start and was giving me a repeated
red "check engine" light while starting, so I stopped trying.
I removed the engine cover, after noticing that the primer bulb kept
loosing pressure. To my surprise, each time I primed the bulb, gas
was seen spewing out of two, opposed little nipple-looking devices on
or near what looks to be the carbeurator. Enough gas was coming out
and down the lower unit to make a slick on the water- oops. So I
quit. I assume this purging is not normal?? Can anyone hypothesize
as to what's going on here? 

Any thoughts/ideas on either of these are greatly appreciated.
Happy sails,
Mike G.  s/v Freebird

[Paul]

Hi Mike.  Welcome to the Forum.

The painted stripe close to the rub rail is called the Cove Stripe.  The decal/tape at the water line is called the boot stripe.  You may notice on larger boats that the boot stripe is fairly thick, while the cove stripe is fairly thin.  Opposite on the Com-pac.  I don't know why, but it doesn't matter, I suppose.  Anyway, the cove stripe is painted on, and can be repainted any color you'd like.  Don Casey details the instructions in his book " Sailboat Refinishing"  from International Marine Sailboat Library (Publisher).  All of Don Casey's books are great resources.  You can find him on the web, too, with a Google Search.  Anyhow, the basics are mask, sand, paint (two coats of enamel).   They come in small cans for this very purpose.  Consider using a quaily brush; China or Badger hair if you want to go all out.

Hope this helps.  Let us know how it turns out. 

[B.Hart]

 My 16 came with blue bottom paint and a 1" blue boot stripe [this is a decal] then I added a 1" red stripe [available at a marine supply] 1" above the blue. this gave my boat the red/white/blue theme I was looking for.

[mikeg]

Thanks guys!

I'll repaint the cove stripe and I assume though that I'll be using heat gun and then acetone on the bootstripe (to remove it) and then applying a new sticker stripe, or painting on the stripped surface to match the cove paint color?

Thanks,
Mike G.

[mgoller]

Hi Mike,
Check out the article in Boat Modification titled "Shiny Gelcoat again"  In there I give all my tips on keeping your boat looking good including where to easily get the correct color to match the cove and boot stripe.  I didn't know what these were called, now I do.
I just touch up the lower stripe where it gets beat up.  Look through the thread and the paint code is in there.
Welcome to the forum.  Someday i will go through and organize all the basic answers to common and pertinent questions like yours into one definitive thread.

[mgoller]

Mike,
Didn't read your whole question.  On your engine it sounds like your float needle is not seating and it allows the fuel bowl to completely fill and come out the vents.  Could be a bad float (sinker), or stuck needle valve.  If its easy to get the carb off, thats what you do.  Find specs on the right drop for your float with the bowl off, measured from the lip of the casting to the bottom of the float when it is allowed to hang free. 

You should be able to squeeze that bulb and feel it get tight meaning the fuel bowl is full and the valve is seated.

A short cut that has a slim chance of working is to get some "Sea Foam" fuel treatment and  pump it in to the fuel bowl until it flows out the vents.  Come back the next day and see if the gum has dissolved and it seats.

If you are opening the carb up to check the float you don't necessarily have to get a rebuild kit.  Make sure things are spotless when you put it back together.  A sesame seed sized piece of debris will plug a high or low speed jet.

[mikeg]

Thanks Marcus,

I tinkered around on the 19 yesterday all afternoon --driveway sailing. I bought a heat gun and used it to remove the old NC registration letters/numbers from the front of the hull and used some acetone to get rid of the sticky left-behinds. Put on her FL numbers and registration sticker and license plate, installed single line mainsail reefing, a windex mounting plate on the masthead, adjusted the trailer winch stancion, among other things.

Regarding the boot and cove stripes. I'm going to replace both (they're in the original 1987 Compac dark brown) with burdgundy. I'm assuming the heat gun will work to remove the lower stripe, which is a 2" stick-on. I think the upper stripe is paint.

Regarding the motor, the boat's former owner emailed me back this weekend and said that this motor has always had carb. issues when it hasn't been run for a while-  I think it had been 10 months since he'd last sailed her/used the motor-- although he did run it briefly just before I took delivery- and it ran OK. So I'm going to unscrew/open up the carb. housing and check the float situation. Many folks on other forums have all said the float is probably the culprit.
Sounds, at any rate, like it won't be too tough of a fix. But the bummer is that this is a somewhat chronic problem with this individual engine- so regular exercise will need to be the key.

Oh, one more thing; the former owner said the Merc tech at his marina told him the float-sticking problem can be partially caused by NOT running all the gas out of the motor after each use. But I've never had to do this for any motor I've ever run (2 or 4 stroke) --this one's a 4stroke. Does this run-the-gas-out-of-the-carb-each-time advice make sense?, or should I go my own way (NOT run the gas out everytime)? I read a post the other week about this same thing and someone commented that running the fuel out is counterintuitive to what any of us has ever had to do---- so why start now?

Thanks,
Mike G.  s/v Freebird -CP19

[mgoller]

Mike,
Sounds like you got into it.  That's how I do it.  If I'm going to make a mess I get it all out and do it at once.
Took me about 4-5 coats of paint to do the Cove stripe.  The first coats need to be light coats and the final coat needs to be medium so it glosses nice.  Mask off at least two feet below to prevent runs from getting on the gelcoat and the overspray really floated and stuck hard to the gelcoat.
Your motor.  Gas when it evaporates can leave a gummy deposit.
NEVER run the fuel out on a two stroke.  The fuel/oil-mix lubes a two stroke.  You wont suck it all out anyway. 
If its a 4 stroke it wont hurt but it may promote gumming by actually creating a situation where the residual fuel will definitely evaporate.
Run a little "Stabil" in your fuel all the time if you will leave the motor idle for weeks between.
I just had troubles with my johnson 6hp.  Turned out to be burnt points leading to poor spark, leading to sooted up cumbustion areas of pistons head and plugs, which led me to taking the carb apart, rebuilding - leaving a tiny piece of gasket material to plug the high speed orifice which led to poor high speed performance which led me to tinker with the timing, and replacing the fuel line, then discovering the block carb orifice, readjusting the timing and now a motor that runs great.
Somewhere in there I replaced the impeller and put in a thermostat too.  the missing thermostat had caused cool running and didn't allow the plugs to run as clean, which may have contributed to burnt points.

[Paul]

Hey Marcus.  I think you are right about the stabil.  I use it successfully.  However, I think the point of running the engine out of gas is simply to get the fuel out of the float area.  Once removed, gumming should be minimized.  The down side to that (at least with a car, so I figure any combustion engine) is you could eventually burn a piston.  The piston gets extra hot when the engine runs lean (more air than gas) which can cause problems down the road.  There should be a valve on the carb to drain it of remaining fuel.  This would be the safest way to care for the carb.  My Honda 2HP has this.  So, if I know I won't be using it for a while, I drain the carb.  That is, if Stabil is not in the mix.

Hope this helps.   $0.02

[mikeg]

This Stabil stuff sounds great, guys...as using the carb drain valve or the means of running the engine out doesn't sound as hands-off as this sailor would like. ;o)  Man, the Yamaha 2.5 four-stroke I had with my daysailer never needed draining, even with long hiatuses (hiati?) between usages...never got tempermental like that. I guess every motor is its own beast...
Of course, the Yamakazi had an internal tank-- but I don't know if that matters...

Will definitely be getting into it again this weekend, Marcus.  Some more serious driveway sailing. Some paint/decal stripping and painting, hopefully. Your last post indicates that you SPRAYED your new bootstripe on --is this correct? If so, do you recall what brand/type paint you used? I think I saw Murrays mentioned in your "Gelcoat shiny" writeup...

By the way, I ordered Bob Burgess' trailersailing book last week and it came in the mail today! It talks extensively about Compacs...and the 19 some of the time! Should be fun reading!

Best,
Mike

[mgoller]

 Here's the paint code for the Com-Pac Sheer stripe I used.  This may not be a perfect match for old faded sheer stripe, so test and make sure you like it.
It would be best to do the whole area and it will require 4 - 5oz. cans.  prep with a wash, 400 wet dry paper to give some grip, then a wax and grease remover wipe down.  mask and spray.

Dupli-Color
Auto Spray
DSFM 153 Dark Brown M

It is a dark root beerish brown with micro metallic finish.

You will need to spray on several light coats to cover.  Too light a mist and you will end up with poor gloss, too heavy and you get runs.

I bought mine at Murray's Auto supply, but this brand is carried at most stores as OEM touch up paints.

[mikeg]

Thanks Marcus.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm going to get rid of the original
"Compac Brown" stripes and replace them with a nice burgundy color-- since the deck is a creme color- I think dark red will work well against it.
I need to see if this brand you mention makes a burgundy (or maroon) that I like.

Can all of these supplies you mention (400 wet dry paper, wax/grease remover) be had at a automotive store, or a paint store?  I'm really starting from square one- little to no clue. Once again, your advice is appreciated!

Mike G.

[mgoller]

Mike,
Yeah, one stop shop in the paint and refinish isle of a run of the mill chain automotive supply house.  They'll even have the gold pin stripe if you want to freshen that up.  They'll have the color you are looking for.  I have to say though, the original color looks good with the teak trim, the creamy gelcoat and the tan decks.  I do lean toward keeping things stock, but when its your boat, you may as well make it all yours.  I have seen renovated Com-Pacs in totally new color combinations that are stunning.   Dark green hulls with gold pin stripe.  I don't think making the classic boat look modern works too well.  I mean, trying to make a Com-pac look like a Catalina or Hunter is a sideways thing to do.

[mikeg]

Marcus, thanks once again.  I have a somewhat of "a clue" now, as they say!  (I'm always a little daunted by trying totally new things). My last boat was a Hunter 170- as you allude--- totally modern and nothing COULD have been modified to change its ultra-modern lines. Well, I think it'd have looked doofy if I tried anything.

The Compac is awesome in that it's along the classic lines, as you say, and so some spicing up can look really good- not overkill as it would on a Hunter or Catalina.

I'm pretty stoked about visiting the auto mart this weekend. Will see how much I can get done. My first order will be getting the old stick-on bottom stripe off and the old top-stripe paint off. I think I've spent at least 10 hours in the boat/on the boat, working on her in the driveway since I got her 2 1/2 weeks ago! Fun stuff. I never had anything major to do to customize/make my own on the Hunter-- so this is just total fun for me- being able to make her mine.

Thanks,
Mike

[mikeg]

Hi guys,

Markus, I stopped at autozone on the way home from the office and got 22 oz. (2 large spray cans) of DupliColor "Cherry Red"....not as 'red' as it sounds-- it's more of a bright burgundy. I think it's going to look awesome as cove and bootstripe on the CP19. Bought all the supplies you listed too- they were all right in the paint section on the Autozone. I'll report back after this weekend's stripping/sanding/cleaning and painting and let you all know how it looks. Will send pics eventually too!

Best,
Mike