albietz

I have a vintage wooden boat my father built for me back in the '70s. It was a nitro boat, last run in 1992 or so. I am refinishing it and just completed sanding off the original paint. I am planning on using a more modern approach to finishing the hull, specifically laminating with fiberglass/epoxy prior to epoxy painting. Once done, the hull will be converted to electric. On the side where the original engine exhaust was located, parts of the hull look to be soaked with remnants of the fuel. I am assuming it is primarily castor oil, but could be wrong. I noticed after stripping off the paint that the oil was beginning to wick through to the freshly sanded side of the hull. Are there any recommendations on how to deal with this, is it a big issue or are the epoxy laminating steps good enough where I wouldn't have an adhesion issue?

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

K2R carpet cleaner will spray on and foam up and pull oil out of wood.

Might take a few coats

RCFlyerDan

My Feedback: (54)

Use a heat gun to continue the wicking of the fuel oil. When the wood is heated, the oil and fuel will come to the surface. Use a putty knife on it to scrape it off and of course rags to wipe it up. This will get a lot of oil out, then continue with the chemical removal of the oil. Corn starch also works well, although a gummy mess.

albietz

Thank you both. I will give it a try.

RCFlyerDan

My Feedback: (54)

albietz

I tried both techniques. The heat gun definitely drove out some of the oil/fuel, but I had to be careful. I inadvertently applied too much heat at first and it started to smoke.
I was able to remove enough of the old fuel to seal the wood with epoxy and reinforced it with fiberglass fabric. Everything looks good so far. Again, thank you for the suggestions.

RCFlyerDan

My Feedback: (54)