TOPIC: PAINTING MY BOAT AND NEED SOME ADVISE

I plan to paint my boat instead of gel coat. i also plan to use a sealer instead of a primer but i have major cracking in the original gel coat and i was thinking about a body filler or bondo to fill all the cracks before i start sealing it. is body filler or bondo the right thing to ude or is there a better product that has more flexability. let me know what you think and thanks.

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I'm doing my Winner right now where the top half is in horrible condition. It was cracked badly and someone painted it. I'm sanding the gel coat off now after someone else failed at the filling repairs. I don't know what all they used. The cracks were large and deep going into the fiberglass mat. Paint went through the cracks and into the fiberglass mat. I'll see about some pic today. I'm going to use some regular body putty and glazing putty and regular enamel. My boat does not sit in the water and is in just for fishing. I feel you will not get a good solid repair with the cracks. Getting your product to the bottom of the cracks is very hard. I tried a small section with resin. Didn't penetrate into all the cracks. I'm counting 4 layers of different color paint but one layer is red oxide primer. Then I'm sanding the gelcoat and at 54 years old it is HARD. I already done the bottom half.

What I did on my Thunderhawk was to:
Take fine sand paper and smooth the surface.
I thinned white primer an painted it on the surface.
I took a plastic Bondo tool and used it like a squeegee to force the thinned primer down into the bottom of all the cracks.
let dry.
Again with the very fine sand paper.
Do the same thing again with primer that is not thinned.
Sand.
Look and feel to find any remaining unfilled cracks. If so, one more time.
Then paint. It will look like glass!

(it is harder to do around the fins and bow lights)

I would reccomend a different filler other than automotive bondo. It's a pain but you can grind out the cracks with a dremel drill with a Carbide bit then fill - sand -fill till smooth.

try it out on the water. take a couple big wake hits. if it doesn't re-crack you were succesful. ron

Gents,lots of good tips.I sell automotive
refinishes to the Pittsburgh Pa. area and I've
seen it all.Sealer is the biggest misused product.
There is no subsitute for good body work.If the surface
is cracked and checked (spider crackes) you must sand them out.
Then apply a liquid filler product,in my case I used
Evercoat Slick Sand.Sprayed 3 heavy coats on,then blocked
and reprimed with a good 2 part urthane primer and sanded with
400 then top coat.Forget the sealer on the tough jobs.It will
come back to haunt you.

Rick

I agree with indovina, Evercoat is excellent. I have had great results with any Evercoat product. I dont like Bondo at all. The only thing I like from Bobdo is bondoglass.
Remember "Buy cheap = Buy twice"

Alot of the cracks can be sanded out, the ones that can't we used a dremol along the cracks and then filled with Cabosil before priming, 4 years later still looks good....

this a good product,its a fiberglass resin jelly,for filling spots,it is just like using bondo,only better for fiberglass,john

I sanded all the cracks out in my Power Cat, and then depending on how deep, used mat and resin, tiger hair, or lightweight body fill. On the deeper cracks it was a succession of all three, and for the most part, lightweight body fill was final before primer.

Here's a web site with just pics of what I did: www.powercatboat.com/Group/FA_14t/FA_14t01.html

Someone else who used to be on this forum used a two part epoxy to cover his cracks and at last report did not have any re-appear. For the life of me, I can't remember who that was, maybe Bill somebody?

Good luck!

Frank

The top of my boat is almost all down to the fiberglass. No more cracks for me for sure. I'm exhausted. Here are a few pics of the paint that soaked the whole way into the fiberglass matt. A hole. Gelcoat while sanding. This is the edge so you can see how deeply cracked it was.

You are one very motivated dude. I'm sure it will pay off!

another question...............as you can see my boat will be two tone paint so is it better to use a single stage paint or go all out and do base coat and clear coat?

3 years ago I used a roller & epoxy and I coated a badly cracked glass boat (just as the pics shown here are ) with 2 coats of epoxy, sanded that to level out the cracks then I filled a few of the larger scrapes and cracks before primer & paint, this boat has taken a beating and the cracks have not re appeared

I have Rustoleum on the bottom. The top was originality white. Then it was painted yellow, then a lot of red oxide primer, then light blue, then dark blue. It appears the cracks may have gotten worst each time. That is a lot of paint over damaged gel coat. That is the biggest reason for stripping it to fiberglass. It has had way to many failed attempts at repair. What a mess it was.

So, not to de-rail this thread, but is it ok, to paint a boat with, say automotive paint? For instance, metal flake? I guess what I'm asking is if the fiberglass is in good shape, can you use the same process on a boat that you would use on a car to metal flake?

Yes you can> I do and have very good luck. But my boat does not sit in the water. I take it out when I'm done and take it home. Mine is used for fishing in a lot of shallow water and takes a beating so I know I will probably have to do it again on the bottom at least. I would not recommend it for a boat that spends allot of time in the water. I can buy Ditzler PPG straight enamel for $10.00 a gallon and I'm disabled living on little money. So my budget for boats is small. I fish my boat hard. My present 58 MFG has been done by me twice so far and if I keep it it will be done again. I've had it at least 12 years. I hope to have my Winner done before spring. I have no garage. I did have a fully equipped automotive shop in my garage where I used to have property on the other side of the river. I have done automotive repair ,painting and collision as a side for years. Keep in mind automotive paint was not designed to actually spend it's life under the water. I would not think twice about above the water line use. It is rugged as it would be on a car. But there is better ways if you have the means and money. If I had the money I would use different products. Remember there is more than one way to skin a cat. You can get a dozen different answers to this question and they all will be as right as the next. I rolled my bottom paint but I'm spraying the top with Ditzler I think. Bahama Blue probably so I will have a two tone blue. Then again maybe not. I can change my mind. As a side note my wooden splash rails may be red and top white. That is the boat pic right above your last post. They are in primer and I got to see what I have for it.

Thank you for the response! I am actually just looking at doing the top, not the bottom. Bottom is in ok shape. I also take my boats in and out of the water as I live about 25 mins from the lake. But your info makes me happy as I also am in the automotive business. So PPG is cheap!

They discontinued the enamel years ago and the colors are limited. I was in the API warehouse a few months ago and the entire stock of it would fit into the back of my truck. This is the color I painted my truck and I have an extra gallon. This is right after I shot it a few years ago inside my present garage.