1970 Valco Restoration

[1970RiverRunner]

Hey, i just purchased my first boat, a 1970 12' Valco w/ old trailer and 1996 15 hp Mercury outboard for $750. There are lots of things i want to do to it, but first things first, i had to get it on the water and fish! Was very pleased that the boat barely leaked at all...six hours on the river and the grooves in the floor were wet but no standing water.

I started messing arund with my boat last week and tried a few different products that i have read about to clean the oxidation off, but nothing worked. I finally gave up and started lightly sanding it. I am hopefully going to finish cleaning all the oxidation off this weekend.

I like the look of clean bare aluminum so i don't want to paint it, but i want it protected. I am thinking about putting a rustoleum matte clear coat on it, but i hear so many people say the clear coat will not stick to aluminum.

If the boat is sanded thoroughly will the rustoleum clear coat stick?? if not, would polishing it up every once in a while keep it protected??


Here is a picture of the boat...the top portion you can see i sanded and polished. thats the look i want to keep.

 

[david_r]

Re: 1970 Valco Restoration

welcome to iboats!!!

i dont have an answer for you..... sorry.

i like your boat. it looks like a steal for $750.

i also have an old aluminum boat. mine is also oxidized and i have also tried many things to get it clean with no luck..... so i will be watching to find out if anyone has any suggestions. mine is bare aluminum along the top with black painted on the bottom. it looks like it used to be red at some point as the paint is peeling off of it in a bad way.

i have another old metal boat but im not so sure its aluminum but it holds flat paint real well.......... its camoed.

i dont know if clear coat will stick to bare metal without consequences or not. hopefully someone on here who does auto body work can enlighten us.

the great thing about these boats is the transom and seating is easily changed. i redid both of mine as soon as i got them home. i also use thompsons water seal to help keep the wood a little longer.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1970 Valco Restoration

Good for you for somehow managing to get a $1000 motor, a cool tinny, and a trailer for $750. Dang!!! Good luck with it.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: 1970 Valco Restoration

You have a choice to make, do you want to go through the work of getting an aluminum hull to look good and then try to keep it that way, or do you want to use it.

I say this because without a protective coat of typically expensive products that need to be stripped and reapplied on a regular basis, aluminum will oxidize and turn a dull grey on its own. This oxidized surface is what protects aluminum from the elements.

Normal clear paints aren't going to cut it, you need to get a product designed for this purpose, Sharkhide is one of these products and seems to work OK, but there are others.

If you decide to go this route it means you need to keep up with it or you?ll be back to dull grey and now it will be splotchy until all of the coating wears off and the hull color becomes uniform again.

http://www.sharkhide.com/

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1970 Valco Restoration

Take some time and search for "my retirement project" by jpmurphy

He did some amazing work on re-finishing a tarnished aluminum boat. He sanded and polished. ........ an did a dam fine job.

 

[1970RiverRunner]

Re: 1970 Valco Restoration

thanks for all your responses. i know the oxidation protects the aluminum, but i really don't like having white spots on some parts of the hull. anyways, i think i have decided to just finish cleaning the boat, polish it up and let it do what its gonna do.

Anyways, i will post some pictures of the boat once i finish sanding and polishing...hopefully by sunday night!