painting boat

[chaddemler1980]

your help with the motor was great guys... finally doing the dreaded resto of the boat before the season hits. got 2 questions for ya. the old owner painted on the rear of the boat with regular "house paint" how do i remove this without damaging the gel or fiber glass under neath? It was applied directly over the gel coat. alot of it came off while i was washing the boat, about 30 percent of it remains. ok the big question, this is what i have done so far... power washed the boat with cleaner, then again using muriatic acid and a wash right after with lots of rinsing, then washed again with marykate on and off cleaner, and again rinse well, and then a final methodical power wash with boat and hull cleaner "this time scrubbing the entire boat" and a very good rinse. so boat is completely clean and dry. gel coat is not damaged "scrapes, or nicks or anything" but it is severely oxidized. my question is.... it is currently an off whit "cream" color with about a 1 1/2 foot ugly brown "stripe" i want to paint over the brown with dark red "almost maroon" what are my steps involved, i dont need a pro job just something that will look good. do i nedd to remove the gel coat or just rough it up good with sand paper and then sand it smooth and apply? looking for a paint that can be applied by brush, or roller "no spray gun available" so something self leveling would be nice. please recommend a paint for me if possible. so after it is taped off and painted and it has dried and looks good what do i use to protect it and make the "edges" blend smooth with the rest of the finish? i heard applying a pin stripe was the best to do this and will make it look nice and clean. also i need to rejuvenate the old gel coat, i heard of using two products... one was marine Penatrol and the other was a product called presto gel coat rejuvenator, i have seen a boat redone with presto at my marina and it does look real goodand the boat was worse than mine. question is can i use either of these products "over" the new paint and will either of them help to blend the new paint into the gel coat to make it look "matching or smooth in appearance?" also do i apply the presto or penatrol to the top of the boat as well "may be dumb question but better to double check" the top is the same color as rest of boat is. please help guys it is almost time to launch and i cant wait. thanks

 

[rockyrude]

Re: painting boat

Both interlux and petit make excellent paints for applying with the roll and tip method where you first apply with a roller and then use just the tips of a brush to smooth. They self level to an unbelievable gloss. I'm not real positive on how to bury the edge though.

 

[chaddemler1980]

Re: painting boat

thank you for the paint recommendation, just looked and i think i will go with the petit brand. just wish someone could comment on the "bury edge" issue i will surely have and protecting the paint without making it stand out in shine against the original color and gloss of the existing gel coat. wonder if i could Carefully sand the edge down "feather" and use that presto stuff "it says it acts like hardener" and maybe it will blend nice but i will prob end up losing color and shine in the paint where i sand. hmmm?