UV damaged MR Explorer?

[Robin]

I saw a Mad River Explorer on CL yesterday advertised as needing gunnels and the ad mentioned the canoe hadn't been used in 12 years. The attached picture showed it sitting up-side down on horses with obvious faded paint.
When I get there the elderly owners (he called me Sonny, and I'm old) had the canoe on the ground, and told me that they "might" have dropped it and there was now a crack in the hull near the thwart where the gunnel/inwale had rotted away.
I ended up buying the canoe for next to nothing as I assumed it was toast but when I got it home and removed the wood, the hull had alot of flex left at the screw holes not at all brittle. (I used a small screw driver thru the screw holes to see if the hull flexed)
The hull was gently used in it's past life, so I'm hoping it will hold up after I fix the crack and replace the wood.
BTW, the interior stains are from being sloopy with Watco and not cleaning it up. They come off with brillo and alot of effort.
If anyone knows of a chemical that would loosen that stuff I'm all ears.

 

[Alan Gage]

Acetone has always worked for me when it comes to removing old finishes like that. It evaporates very quickly though. I believe it was Pblanc that once recommended Xylene as it has much the same stripping power but doesn't evaporate nearly as quickly. They both stink to high heaven and likely remove brain cells at an alarming rate so use with a respirator and good ventilation.

I think Pblanc may have also recommended something like citristrip as many times getting the job done without the health/fire hazards of harsher chemicals. I've never tried it though so can't comment.

Alan

 

[snapper]

Robin - Thanks for reclaiming another canoe and getting it back into use. You are the true "Canoe Whisperer" as far as I'm concerned.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Robin]

I tried alot of stuff to remove that old Watco Oil from the hull's interior but nothing worked till I tried very hot water with a brillo pad. It scuffed the hull some but I prefer that to the stains.
I ordered a Poli Glow kit with a can of Poli Ox to clean up the hull after I get the crack fixed and the rails on. I heard it does wonders for old hulls like this and won't wash off quickly like other products.

 

[yellowcanoe]

What was the "lot of stuff"? Just to save multiple trips to the hardware store

I like the Poli Glow idea.. 303 usually is just a disaster. Poli Ox must be the oxidation remover.

 

[Alan Gage]

I tried alot of stuff to remove that old Watco Oil from the hull's interior but nothing worked till I tried very hot water with a brillo pad. It scuffed the hull some but I prefer that to the stains.
I ordered a Poli Glow kit with a can of Poli Ox to clean up the hull after I get the crack fixed and the rails on. I heard it does wonders for old hulls like this and won't wash off quickly like other products.

Hull looks great. Are you sure the marks were from Watco? I'm no expert but it seems strange that hot water would remove an oil based product when oil based cleaners wouldn't.

Alan

 

[Robin]

What was the "lot of stuff"?

I tried acetone, mineral spirits, simple green, even some Watco oil, a razor, scotch brite with all of the above, nothing worked for me until I tried the brillo. I had bought a box of brillo so I switched out pretty quicly and ended up using 5 pads for the boat.

I'm not positive the stains where Watco, but that's what the seller said it was. You can see where the stains followed the seats so it looks to me like it was Watco.The brillo pad worked by itself but when I added that nearly boiling water to the mix, the stains came off much faster.

I think the water really softened up the stain and the brillo really was able to remove it eaiser then.