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Need a few tips for painting

B

baw

New member
I have a 78 Trimate, previous owner put some orange graphics on ithimself, looks horrible with the factory brown and gold. I have painted plenty of cars before, is a boat really that much different? Or is it worth the money just to find a good shop to do it? What kind of paints would you suggest? Gel coat? I would appreciate any input you would have, thanks for reading.
 
Yah pretty much the same. Sand with 400on top and little stouter on the sides, wipe down and paint. after you paint it, get a mild scuff pad and rub down the whole boat,wipe off again and clear,several times to get that 2foot deep look.next sand with 1000-1200 grit(wet),and buff with diamond cut , and then wax... you will be amazed...My $.02
 
if you can squirt a car, ya can squirt a boat... i have yet to see metal flake in gel coat.. its usualy base black, metal flake, and clear on top of that stuff..matching it is tough. but it can be done..
 
You shouldn't have no problem with painting the boat as long as it is preped correctly the finish you apply will be just as good as the gel coat and much eaiser to maintain as long as you use a good product and get plenty of mils on it.Make sure you use a 2 stage paint(base coat/clear coat)I use PPG and have yet to have any comebacks for peeling that wasn't from something that wasn't PREPED correctly so basicaly it was human error not product break down.We have down some work that has been out there over ten years or more that I know of and still looks good.Some of the jobs of some freinds of mine that I know dont maintence there refinish correctly and the finish is still holding up strong...
 
I agree with Dwayne... DUPONT makes some great paint. Convincor283 may like epoxy paints but urethane paints will flex and resist cracking and peeling better on F/glass. You can shoot flake if you have a large tip on your gun and an agitator in the cup. If you want glitter size flake you can use the "blow on method" over wet clear. With blown on glitter you do have to use mega mils of clear for a glass finish

Good luck...
 
Also with the new paint technology today sanding between base and clear is a waste of time,and material = waste of money and play time.As long as you use the proper reducer for the temp (not air temp surface temp) it will lay down and look great. Just beaware of the surface temp of the boat because your air temp can be high but your surface temp can be much colder depending on the time heat has to heat up surface and fiberglas doesnt hold surface temp very well not at all like metal...
 
take a look at the paint on this truck we just painted and you can see the high gloss. take note of the refelections of stuff in it..this is a 76 chevy.Notice the gravel that is on the ground on the side of truck!!!
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Dwayne is right on the money!
Dont waste your time sannding your base coat before you clear, get the surface warm,and use the right temp reducer. Two stage paints are easy to use and fairly cheap.

Imron is a great product also, a little pricey by the time you buy the activators, but it is a poly-eurethene and holds up very well against pretty much anything, it does flex well, and resists staining from chemicals( gas, oil )
just my .02 cents worth.
Preparation is everything !!

Good Luck!
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Well I will have to say for a boat I would never use Imron.Imron is a single stage paint no matter how you look at it very high maintence on a boat that is exposed to the harsh conditions that most boats are reguarding finish it has no protection on its accutall color and you definately want to have some protection on a boat just the sun alone will fade the Imron and you will have to buff it and polish it a hole bunch more and not only is that alot of work(personally I hate buffin)but you are removeing the finish and it would never last as long as a Base coat clear coat will.With base coat clear coat you have a lot less maintence plus can be repaired much eaiser such a scratch removal chips etc.If you stay on top of it use the right products never have to do any thing but wax It.Never seen any Imron that was that user freindly.Really Imron is becomeing a Thing of the past even all your big truck lines like Freightliner mack and etc Even your Big R V's all use base clear now.
 
Dwayne, That truck looks real slick with no buffing. You're right on the money with sanding the base, most paints call for a wet on wet application or a short flash time between coats. On metalics,if you sand the base you will reduce the depth appearance,you want that textured finish to pick up light reflections from different directions. If you want a real slick job you can wet sand out the orange peel and any nibs then reshoot it with clear. If you slightly over reduce the clear with a slow reducer it turns out like glass with no buffing. The down side is you need a real clean enviroment and thin clear tends to sag on verticle surfaces.
 
You're correct again!
As far as the imron goes, it was 20 yrs ago when I worked at a truck shop, and the ticket at that time was Imron, I havent used it on anything in at least 15 yrs, and with the user freindliness of the two stage BC/CC I dont use anything else now either.
 
IMRON & ALL-GRIP: It worked well then and is still working well today in the marine environment! It is an EPOXY finish...two part chemical reaction mixture...(remember, high-dollar boats are built from EPOXY RESIN!). Very durable but kind of expensive and solid color only (as far as I know)?

URATHANE: Works equally as well and bit easiler (and cheaper) to work with... a little softer finish than epoxy and may scratch a little easier, but you can base-coat then clear coat for that deep luster (it does tend to yellow over time in direct sunlight & weather exposure)...but it flex's better and just about sticks to anything! Plus, you can do it easily in the garage (with proper breathing gear)!

Anyway you choose... Nothing is a durable as gel-coat or an out-of-the-mold finish!!!
 
I will agree with Jrumon on that nothing is better than the true gel coat finish excpet that is a little harder to maintain.I'm sure there is some clears out there that will yellow with time and 12 yrs ago the clears came out of the can yellow and was very hard on us techs sometimes to match because of the yellow clear but they have came a long way with the clear and I would never use a clear that is yellow to start with now it should be as clear as water and the clear is much more durable harder and still flexes my paint provider offers LIFETIME warranty on its product for fading,peeling,discoloration(yellowing),and oxidation as long as it is maintained correctly.So as far as the yellowing dont see that happening as long as the right product is used...Hope that all this info helps
 
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