Is it worth it?
 

Bringing a Chris craft stinger back to life. I have it running to my satisfaction now, so I'm trying to make nicer on the eyes. Of course the gel coat is oxidized and what I call dead on top. I've restored a few cars and messed with auto body stuff so the wet sanding and buffing isn't much of a concern. What's on my mind is I was told once its dead its dead. Meaning u can make it shine for a bit, but u have to keep chasing kind like old single stage paint. If that's the case ill just plan painting this winter. But if with the sand and buffing progressions I can get seasons at a time I'm willing to put the work into it.

Paint it

Wet sand and then clear coat it.

+1 on the paint it. I had an old 260 CC Stinger and loved the boat. Fun well laid out boat that did everything i wanted it to do right. Not a great performer but just tons of fun for what it was. The gel on mine was, as mentioned above . . . . dead. I swear it would fade right behind the buffer lol. It was easier to just sand 'er down and freshen up the color. My first season with the boat i shot the sides in two days and it bought me time till the winter when i could paint it, eventually tossed on some white and some cheesy stripes to wake it up a bit. Not bad for a five day paint job :D

My thoughts on just wetsand and clear are you run the risk of fading under the clear (especially on crappy CC gel) I have seen some getaway with it with some whites but if you've gone through the effort of prepping why wouldnt you drop a fresh coat or two of color prior to clear. Base coats go on super easy and fast if you are doing one color and are UV stabilized which may not be the case for your old gel. Takes maybe an extra half hour or so to give yourself peace of mind. A buddy of mine had a red 38 Fountain and just cleared it, lasted all of a year before you could see the cloudyness come back and theres nothin you can do at that point.

Thanks for the replies. I was pretty sure that was going to b the awnser. Glassdave thanks for the detailed reply. The light grey cc used back then isnt very attractive. I really like how yours turned out all white.

Said it a million times on here that little 260 was the funnest boat i ever had. I dont know, maybe it was that time in my life or maybe it was just that the boat did everything right and didnt cost a fortune to keep up, who knows but i loved that 'ol Scorp. Used to get on it friday morning and just bum around this side of the lake from marina to marine hangin with friends and not make it back to my dock till sunday night. :D . . . . ahhhh good times good times lol


What size Stinger is yours?

Mine is the bastard 84 230 model. After the research, I think it's basicly a rebadged scorpion. One more q, with all the nonskid on the top, when I go to paint, can I use say duraglas on top of that to smooth it all out. I think I would like to have the smooth glass look. Also could u base clear above the waterline? Or is base-clear a no no?

Yes you can base clear, Just use good base and better clear. Why not sand all the nonskid down that you do not want? That will smooth it out, way less work then body putty everywhere.

The non skid actually sits lower than the smooth glass level. (The top of the grit is even with the smooth glass) hope that makes sense. I believe if u don't level/smooth it out it will be a wave/dip after u sand for sure. After thinking more about it, why wouldn't a high build primer work. Should bring it up high enough I would think. Not up on how well gelcoat and the autobody products work together. If I'm in left field let me know.

High build primer tends to shrink over time, so caking that on is not a great idea. Your best bet is probably to roll gel coat over the nonskid area to fill it in then sand it smooth. Follow with an epoxy primer then paint it. Are you going to be walking on it? If so base clear is not the best idea. Bare foot you will be fine but dragging shoes across it not good. Gel coat plays well will most any kind of paint, just be sure to epoxy prime as this is your base for everything to adhere. in my shop we have been using spi epoxy primer with killer results.