1972 Keel Up Restoration

I had mine sprayed with zynatec which was very expensive paint and has apparently been discontinued. The guy that painted it also painted unlimited hydroplanes. The finish is very tough, better than gel coat.

I have read about the system you are considering and I am not convinced. It would be a cheap experiment though. A family ski boat will sustain damage to the finish. Your proposed process probably would be easier for you to touch up.

jim

 

IMO the polyurethane enamels like Imron are very good if you are not going to leave the boat in the water. They will blister if you do, but they are amazingly tough otherwise. Thats what is used on semi trucks and jet planes. The overspray from the yellow Hydrostream Viper I painted in my driveway in 2007 is still there...and so is the red from my Powercat in 2009...and the white from the Carlson Contender 2011...and the white and blue from the Hydrodyne of course. I have sprayed them all but the 'roll and tip' method has worked well for some, not so well for others.

 

IMO the polyurethane enamels like Imron do very well on boats. Thats what is used on semi trucks and jet planes. No good below the waterline if the boat stays in the water for longer than a couple of days at a time, they will blister, but otherwise it is amazingly tough. I still can see the overspray from the yellow Hydrostream Viper I painted in my driveway in 2007....and the red from the Powercat in 2009....and the white from the Carlson Contender in 2011...and of course the blue and white from the Hydrodyne. I sprayed mine but some folks have had great results with the 'roll and tip' method, others not so much.

 

I thought Imron was epoxy based. I did a boat in the 80's with Imron and I had to mix 2 parts paint with 1 part "stuff" and then spray it quickly. I applied it with a spraygun in a paint booth using a mask. I do not have a paint booth available this time around. I wonder what my local boat builder would charge for applying gel-coat to a fully sanded hull?

Oldskier - yes I have tried to use premium materials in this rebuild because of what I saw when I tore it down and saw all the rot. As Jim said my approach is to eliminate wood. I think it is a good strategy but I still am using wood because composites do not take screws and my ski pole and battery mounts will have to do that. So what I am doing is using wood in places where I can completely encapsulate the wood components in glass to seal the wood. Also to make the wood easy to remove years down the road if this boat ever gets a 3rd life. I have also made the fin mounting area (which started this whole project) separate. The composits surround the area in the hull where the plywood is and completely seal it in. And just to make sure there is an access hole for later maintenace or fix.

I only have so much money and at this time am trying to weigh the pros and cons of roller paint vs gel-coat.

 

Does anyone know about how much it would cost to have my hull gel-coated if I do a the prep work? As I recall I put about $700 into the Imron Job I did but that was in the early 80's and I did all the work - and I used 4 colors for a custom job plus clearcoat. This boat will never be in the water for more than a week at a time. I am looking for something that will last because it is durable but yet relatively inexpensive. If springing for gel-coat for a couple K will significantly outlast a roller job for $600 I would do that.

 

I priced a complete gel-coat job from Capt. Nabors (a local shop in Morris Il.) two years ago
for my 18 foot twin rig project..I've actually seen some of his work and it's outstanding.
The quote of $2,500.00 was for me to do all the prep work (to his standards) and to have the boat totally stripped of all hardware..steering..gas tank..etc. He said that most of the work comes in the final sanding down of the gel-coat as it is sprayed on and it turns to sort of an orange peel appearance . That all has to be knocked down smooth before final buffing can happen. I imagine that the two year old price has inflated and it could be up to $3,000.00 by now.

I recently purchased at wholesale prices (4) qts. of Concept Dcc enamel..1pt. of hardener,
and 1 gal of Dt-870 reducer and it ran a little over 600.00 plus shipping. This stuff isn't cheap.

Bob

 

If it will be in the water over 48 hours it needs gel coat. As mentioned, the hard part is leveling the surface after it is sprayed. Sanding it is hard on abrasives....

 

What do you think about having the hull gel-coated and painting the deck with roller paint such as Interlux or similar? That should cut the cost by about half plus the topside paint.

 

That sounds like the best of both worlds to me. I'm not sure why you wouldn't spray the topside though. A flat deck is the easiest part to spray. The inside of the gunnels and the dashboard would be the only place likely to run.

 

I don't have access to a paint booth and on another site saw some nice results of roller applied Interlux.