Slower Than Snot

I've spent way too much time on the original cabintop (the only section that wasn't completely recored) this week.  I thought it would be the easiest part of the whole boat, but the old paint ended up being harder than granite and I stubbornly thought I could sand through it with 40 and 60 grit paper.  I even tried a flapper wheel with 36 grit paper to no avail.

Since I'm planning on using a 2 part LPU paint, it can't be applied over a 1 part paint and since I'm not sure what the old paint is, I figured the safest bet would be to get rid of all of it, but short of busting out the angle grinder (I just don't want to go there), it just wasn't coming off.

After speaking with an Interlux rep. for the second time this week, he told me that I can do an MEK test to determine the suitability of the underlying substrate.  Basically you soak a rag with 2333N (Interlux brushing reducer), place it on the substrate (deck), and tape a bag over it so the solvent can't evaporate.  Leave it for 24 hours and see if the underlying paint blisters or cracks.  If it does then it has to be removed, if not then it's fine to use as a substrate for a 2 part primer.  So I ordered a gallon of Interlux Primekote primer and a quart of 2333N Brushing Reducer to perform the test.  Hopefully the test will come out positive (I don't have to grind it off) and then I can move forward with at least thinking about priming.

On the fairing front, I continued longboarding the recored section of the cabintop (yep gonna need more work to make it fair) and did a final fill on the holes that I did my test bores on at the beginning of this project.  It feels like I'm barely moving along and just making more dust, but I guess it's going in the right direction.