cbellamore

I have an 87 Baja Force 235 that I recently bought,
the previous owner had about 8-9 layers of bottom paint on it that I just finished scraping and I had to sand with 320 to get the rest of it all off,

I do not have the money to get the boat re gel coated on the bottom, (cheapest quote I got around here was $2200)
considering I only paid $3,000 for the whole boat in running condition this is not an option for me

as for the boat Im not keeping it in the water at all
I will trailer the boat with a bunk trailer
the longest it would stay in the water is overnight if I decide to spend a night with the wife with it anchored up on the beach a few times a year

Ive read a ton on here about Awlgrip and Imron for the bottom
Im leaning towards Awlgrip mainly because I can roll and brush it on the bottom, which will make it easier for me to accomplish

Im just looking for some opinions from guys who have used it themselves,

how well did it hold up ?
how easy does it scratch ?
has it held water or blistered up at all ?
any special prep I should know about before I go ahead and purchase the materials ?

whats the cheapest place you have bought the product from ?

thanks for any help you can lend

AIR TIME

now that the bottom paint is off can you bring the gel back by wet sanding with 220 then the next up 600 then 1500 buff from there gel is thick on a boat so if you had all the layers of bottom paint on top of it. I would think that once you got it off so the hull is dull try doing the 220/600/1500 /buff in a 2x2 area. if not awlgrip or imron paint I heard lasts or hope it does I am looking at a boat now with it on the bottom.

jtanner

Awlgrip will look great, but gel coat will hold up to scratching better, and is easy to buff out than Awlgrip.

This is the cheapest I found to buy Awlgrip.

cbellamore

thanks for the replys
i dont think the gel is going to be able to be saved, I have a few areas that need to fixed from little nicks etc.
and I tried bringing up the gel with wet sanding and it didnt come out too good

I ended up buying some awlgrip I found a place that was pretty good on pricing like $125 a gallon, I think it was gcmdistributors.com or something like that

so hopefully I can find some time this week and at least get the bottom 2 coats of primer on

I'll let you know how it turns out

Gelcoat was just not in my budget cheapest price I found was $2500 to have it re finished

joefitness123

Just re-did the bottom of my boat and used AWLGRIP....Looks great and it has a tremendous shine to it...Soon to be in the water....AWLGRIP looks great on mine...Go for it....



Joe

Shore Thing

Good luck and post some pictures of before, during and after if you can. I'm getting ready to do the same thing myself this winter. I'm also thinking I'll use Awlgrip.

cbellamore

wow that does look nice
what color did you use ?
did you roll it on or spray it on ?

joefitness123

Spray on, then wet sand and buff...The whole boat..

STARK WHITE...Really good shine and hard as nails...

Joe

cbellamore

okay thanks for the reply
it looks great
I went with snow white for just the bottom
but Im going to tip and roll the bottom paint,
for the sides and deck Im using PPG Concept and I will spray that on,

I dont have the right equipment to get the boat high enough to get under it and spray it, so I will have to settle for rolling it on,
I'll post pics after I get if all finished
thanks again for the replys

dezertduner

Do You Have Any More Pics. I Am Going To Do My Whole Boat With Awlgrip And There Color Chart Online Sucks And Cannot Find Any Local Dealers. Trying To Figure Out What White To Do Want It Bright But Not To Bright White Or A Blue White. Do You Have Any Close Up Pics? Thanks.