Painting gelcoat

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bob richards

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I have a 97' 330 sundancer that I am seriously thinking of painting. I have seen gelcoat boats that have been polished one too many times down to the glass mat.

So I am thinking I can prep most of it right at my dock inclusive of taking all hardware off and lite sanding.

What else do I need to do in preperation of receiving a really good coat of epoxy based paint?

I suppose it depends on the type of paint as to the primer??

Input please.
 
It is time again for another polishing and waxing. Every time I wash it down with water and a deck brush the water is white and cloudy. and I would like to make it a less maintenance process to keep it looking nice as I do not have the time to wax it at the frequency it would require.

My Neighbor has a 27 year old Hatteras that has original paint and it always looks shinny.
 
Sounds like you have a significant amount of oxidation of the gelcoat. Likely a result of being 365 in the FL sun. You might be able to repair the damage cheaper than painting by doing/having done a professional quality compouding and waxing job. But gelcoat does not maintain a shine like paint does without significant ongoing maintenance.

Awlgrip and Imron appear to be the two preferred hull paints and having seen hulls done with them, the custome color choice and shine are very impressive. The downside is durability. Nicks and scuffs in gelcoat buff right out. Not so easy with paint.

Having said all that, to your question, most profession paint jobs include the hull prep, primer, and paint. If I were going to the expense of having my hull painted, I think I would want the job done soup to nuts by a pro.
 
We went to the Ft. Lauderdale boat show and found out that we really like our model over the new ones and are looking for a long term approach to a quality finish with lowest maintenance. am I going in the right direction?
 
Paint covers a whole lot of sins... ask any woman!

Whether the nicks and scuffs "buff right out" depends on the nicks and scuffs. MINE won't buff, they have to be filled and painted. :(
 
Id suggest a light wet sand, compound, wax, and some sort of a sealer. A good detailer will be able to handle all that in a days time. If you paint the hull, the topside isnt going to match. You are going to have a nice shine to the hull, having it look all fresh and clean, and then you have a topside that isnt as bright...

The guy with the Hatteras must put a lot of money into his boat. When you have a hatteras, you dont let it go.

just my .02
 
quote:
Originally posted by Prospective

If I were going to the expense of having my hull painted, I think I would want the job done soup to nuts by a pro.

Click to expand...

Same here. Unless you know what you are doing, you're wasting time. The outcome of the job is in the prep work.
 
"The outcome of the job is in the prep work" Aint that the truth..Very good point
 
Bob, I would remove as much hardware as possible. If you can pull the rub rail, do it. Other than that, they will do a sanding anyway because they are guaranteeing their work so they'll do the prep. Make sure they wash the boat so all wax/oils are completely gone.

SeaRay is notorious for using the cheapest gelcoat a customer will put up with. In an ideal scenario, I would remove all the gelcoat and put a really good primer over the top layer of glass/resin.

I have seen an Awlgrip paint job done right and it is a wonderful thing. It is highly recommended you seal the awlgrip with their sealer at their recommended intervals.
 
prep, prep,prep, primer, primer, primer, the rest is easy
 
I have an 86 silverton and the topside just didnt quite get shiny anymore no matter how much compunding and waxing were done. Late this past spring for sh*ts and giggles I decided to wet sand one small section.20 odd years of oxidation there. I then hand applied and buffed out Flitz polish. I followed that up with a waxing. The results were incredible.I wish i took some pictures. I wound up doing the whole topside. 6 months later it still looks great. We'll see how it looks in the spring.

My buddy swears by the flitz so thats why i tried it. That and the fact that he gave me a whole bunch for free! As Boatcrazy said, I would try the west sand first. You may be surprised.
 
Sorry for the reference of 'hull'... I meant the whole boat.

Paul, Yes I was planning on removing everything I can including the rub rail. The problem I have with complete removal of the gel coat is that the glass mat underneath is not even close to smooth and is obviously a lot tougher than gel coat.

I can make the boat look brand new as I have done it before but it takes a lot of TLC as we all know. It is the TLC part that I do not have the time for and am looking for a way to reduce the need for it while still protecting the surface and making it look nice. I plan on keeping the boat a long time and don't mind investing the money if it will allow me to just wash it for the next 10 years instead of twice year waxing and the occasional polish/compounding.

I use to spray paint my way through college so I have some back ground and understand that it is all in the preparation; Imron is very very thin and will show any flaws for sure. I have been out of it for about 20 years (painting that is) and not sure if the chemicals have changed so much and I have never painted over gel coat.
 
As in your past color hold out requires good primer.
I dont think they have solved the isocyanides problem yet so forced respiration is a good idea.
 
Lots of good advice here Bob...I would NOT remove all the Gel down to the Fiberglass though...I would suggest that you do as I did...Contact AwlGrip or there sister company Interlux, and explain what you want to do and they will tell you how to, and what you need to do the Job...they have been more than helpfull in telling me what I need to do the job and how to do it..something the Admiral does all the time, only these guys are helpfull.(g)...
 
agreed, dont remove gelcoat. among other things it reduces the print through of fiberglass weave
 
makes sense... I saw a boat that someone had compounded down to the matt and it looked and felt like berber carpet.

Thanks everyone
 
I saw a boat that an owner rolled the hull with AwlGrip. He changed the color from white to blue. Used 4 coats. A coworker saw the boat after the first coat and he said "it looked like he painted it with a mop!". I don't know how much prep he did (not much since the entire paint job took 5 days). The owner simply taped the hardware instead of removing it. The owner sanded between each coat. I saw the boat after the fourth coat. The finish job was uneven. There were sections that were glassy smooth and others that were not so great. The owner planned on "buffing out" the rough areas in 30 days after the paint cured completely. I am curious what the boat will look like in a few years.

I have a 22 year old boat. I've compounded and waxed it several times, and it quickly reverts back to it's 22 year old condition. South Florida sun takes its toll. I have heard of other local boats that "patch" their Awlgrip in and around the cockpit every few years because of nix and scratches. There is a wide range of quality of finish and cost of the job. I am seriously considering AwlGriping my liferaft case to get a feel for the process and how it will look compared to my aging gelcoat. Ideally, I would like to pick a section of the boat, and prep and paint it. Then take a break. I don't have the stamina or the resources to put the boat in the yard and paint the entire boat.
 
I would not be rollling and tipping a boat that is that new. The only way I would consider painting my boat would be to have it professionaly prepped and pro sprayed. If the paintjob doesn't look better than when you buff the original gelcoat back whats the point?
 
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