Hull Sprayed with Bed Liner

[LDR]

My recently purchased c.1969 13-footer hull was sprayed with a top coating similar to a truck bed liner. A prior owner has already tried to remove the bed liner coating in some places.

Q1: Should I try to remove the bedliner?

Q2: Should I leave the bed liner in place?

Q3: Should I re-apply a bed liner type material to cover the area where it was already removed?

[jimh]

I cannot offer any advice about removing the bed liner-type top coating from the hull because I have no information about how well this top coat is adhered to the hull.

If the adhesion to the original gel coat layer of the hull is strong, removal of the bed-liner-type top coat will be very difficult.

If someone applied a bed-liner type top coat to the hull, I would suspect that the condition of the gel coat was probably very bad. Only a mad man would apply a bed-liner type top coat to a gel coat hull whose finish was in excellent condition.

On that basis, if you remove all the bed-liner top coat, you will probably find an inferior condition gel coat layer below it. What would you then do next? You should anticipate that outcome and ask yourself that question.

You need to assess how much time, labor, and money you want to invest in getting rid of the bed-liner top coat from this 50-year-old boat.

Since you just bought the boat, it clearly does not have any sentimental value to you. If the boat had been in your family for 50-years, perhaps you would have significant motivation to restore it.

Apparently you were fine with the truck bed liner top coat, because you bought the boat. If you wanted a boat with a nice gel coat hull, you probably would have never bought this one. Thus, I think you should just leave it as it is, and go boating.

[LDR]

I like the non-skid nature of the bed-liner finish. I will have to re-spray the bed-liner material in a few places where the bed-liner has been peeled-up.

My investment in this boat is only $500, and that included a trailer with new tires.

This is my first boat project.

[jimh]

If you like "the non-skid", then I have to ask: are you just talking about something sprayed onto the cockpit deck?

[Don SSDD]

Try using a heat gun and a plastic scraper to remove the bed-liner material. Try a small spot to see how much work it is, and to discover what the surface underneath is like. That should get rid of the heavy stuff. A paint thinner would likely remove what’s left after the heat gun.

Don

[jimh]

My investment in this boat is only $500, and that included a trailer with new tires.

Looking at that deal, the boat was free and you bought two new tires and a $300 trailer. You have gotten into Boston Whaler trailer boating for a very modest cost.

[Jefecinco]

It is unlikely the prior owner had the truck bed liner material applied for no reason. In my experience the original Boston Whaler non-skid surfaces provide better non-skid qualities than bed liner material. I would leave the bed liner in place and replace it where it has been removed. I would be afraid of what I might find after removing the bed liner.

[LDR]

The floor and sides are sprayed up the centerline [to] where it rolls over to the outside.

I bring the boat 10 miles to my house and the fun will begin. I’m not going to do a full restoration.

[jimh]

The floor and sides are sprayed up the centerline [to] where it rolls over to the outside....

I am guessing you mean the cockpit deck and inboard side of the hull have been top coated up to the gunwales.

Giving the cockpit deck a top coat of paint or other material is common when the gel coat finish has become cracked and fractured. The gel coat of the deck often exhibits bad crazing, spider cracking, and even significant cracks on older boats, particularly ones not well maintained and left exposed to sun and water on a habitual basis.

Spraying a non-skid on the inboard side of the hull liner makes no sense. No one walks there.

Spraying non-skid on the gunwales would be appropriate, but generally the gel coat on the gunwales is not as badly cracked and crazed as the cockpit deck gel coat.

[dtmackey]

Some types of bedliner are like armor and almost impossible to remove. I'd be curious to see a picture and learn more about how well it's bonded and how hard to sand.

D-

[LDR]

I started removal of the bed liner using a heat source and putty knife, making sure to keep the heat source moving so as [NOT] to set the liner on fire and or damage the surface below it. The [bed liner material is] coming free in large pieces, and the putty knife is lifting off [the bedliner material] without having to scraping the [gel coat] surface below.

[jimh]

What is the condition of the original deck gel coat that is being revealed with removal of the bedliner material?