Advice for a beginner - Refinishing 1924 Old Town

[BDelozier]

Hello all! First, thank you for all the wonderful insights that have been shared in these discussions. There is so much wonderful information for a first timer like myself. My grandparents just gave me their Old Town canoe that they bought just after getting married over fifty years ago. The boat was dilapidated canvas covered cedar w/ mahogany gunwales and yolk/thwart when my grandfather bought it all that time ago. Come to find out, thanks to these forums and Benson's help, that this boat was built in 1924. When my grandfather bought it he took off all the torn up canvas and fiberglassed the boat. As it came to me, the boat is structurally in great condition thanks to my grandfather's overly attentive nature. After some research through the forums I have decided I am going to leave the fiberglass on, but would like to refinish it inside and out. Inside the varnish has worn off in many places and the wood beneath is greyed and discolored. I don't know who painted the outside (the boat was borrowed long term by some extended family members) but the paint is blotchy and chipping. My plan is to strip the varnish on all the wood and recoat. On the outside I am going to sand off the exterior finish and repaint. The particular points I would like suggestions/feedback on are:

1) Is there value in bleaching the wood and staining in its natural colors to offer uniform color and revitalize the richness of the color? Or will that richness come forth simply by applying the spar varnish?

2) Regarding exterior paint for the fiberglass, it seems that Interlux Brightside is very popular in the forum threads. My boss (I work at a kayak shop) recommended Dupont Imron as an epoxy paint that he used in past restorations. I know this is a bit of an ongoing discussion, but I would love feedback on the Dupont idea, as well as any application techniques folks would like to share.

3) I would like to get the paint off the wood keel and actually finish it so that the wood can still be seen. Can spar varnish be used for this as well, or should I use something else for an area of the boat that will be submerged in water?


Thanks so much for being a part of this project with me!

 

[Dabluz]

Hi....like you....I'm a newbie too. I don't know very much about restoring canoes but I would say "Yes"....use the highest quality spar varnish you can find for finishing all the wood on your canoe. It will look great on the painted canoe.

I am restoring a canoe that was originally a canvas canoe. When I got it, there was no canvas on the canoe or it just had clear varnish over the canvas. Anyway, the fabric came off easier than egg shell on a hard boiled egg. It was not stuck to the wood anywhere. It was clear and ripped as easily as thin cardboard. I have decided to fiberglass the exterior with epoxy resin and then paint over the epoxy resin with the best paint I can find because the wood is not nice enough to show through clear epoxy resin and spar varnish.

The Dupont Imron sounds like a good paint. I will try to find some in my region. I also plan on putting spar varnish on all the good wood parts of my canoe.