wanting to change the color of my parents old 79 19’ boat from the nasty yellow color it is, to white.
how do you do this? I was at west marine today at lunch looking at the paints. for a boat that isnt going to sit in the water for extended periods of time, cant you just paint it with topside paint? I mean, I see soo many boats that are white, blue/white, light yellow/white, etc…they obviously dont have bottom paint on them since all I see for bottom paints are dark blue or black.
what paint/prep do you use to respray a boat? sand with 200, then 400, then 600, then acetone/dry, then thin the topcoat and spray, dry?
basically like that??
how do you get around getting a smooth surface even though the boat is blocked up since obviously the portion that has the block sitting on it wont get paint coverage??
I have experience with painting cars, but this is my very first venture into boats and painting them so I’m looking at it as a complete newbie so I dont get overly confused or over analyze.
I refurbished an old tri-hull boat a couple of years ago. Complete with paint and all. My advice is be careful with the Acetone. Sand the gel-coat with a fine sand paper, fill all the dings with fiberglass jelly and sand smooth. Before attempting to apply paint, clean the hull with a product called First-Kleen. It is a solvent but it isn’t as agressive on the gel-coat as Acetone. On my project I cleaned the hull the first time with Acetone and tried to spray the paint. I wound up with spots that looked like orange peel. I cleaned the paint off and used the First-Kleen and the paint went on like it was supposed to. A body shop guy told me that Acetone will not fully remove the wax deposits from the hull. First-Kleen does just that, it lifts the wax so it can be wiped away.
I just finished painting my flats boat. I used Interlux Perfection for everything above the water line. It is a two part poly paint and can be used above or below the water line. I chose the Perfection because it is extremeley durable to uv as well as scratches and is relativley easy to use. AwlGrip is most likely the best however mixing it is a little more difficult and it is more expensive once you buy all the components. I washed everything real good with a degreaser, then with ammonia and water. Areas that needed attention I filled/patched and sanded with 100 grit then 220 grit. Then primed using their two part primer. Light sand over primer then bushed all surfaces except the floor that I rolled with non-skid mixed in. If you are good with a sprayer then I would spray as much as you can. The Perfection is very thin and wants to drip and sag on an vertical surface so it can be difficult to brush; however since it is so thin brush stokes are not left in it after it dries. You will need some blocks and jacks if you plan to paint the bottom. You should be able to move the jacks around some during coats to feather the paint in where the jacks are. Interlux has a free book at most of the West Stores that details the different paints and applications as well as colors, and prepping. Good luck. I hope to post some pictures soon of my boat.