Paging all boat painters
 

I am waiting for a quote on getting our 92 26' Liberator painted. The painter is recommending painting the boat from the hull up not including the interior of the cockpit. He also recommends using Awlgrip 2000. Some of the paint at the transom will be underwater but the boat never sits in the water more than a week. The boat will be all white with graphics added later most likely from http://www.racelinedigital.com/

I will remove all the hardware. There are a few small gel coat cracks to fill, no other damage. The gel below the maroon on the sides is in good shape. The paint could be stopped at the bottom of the maroon as there is a ridge in the hull there. Matching the white paint close enough in color and finish to the gel is a concern. I have no idea how much a job like this should run. If anyone can give me a price range or any suggestions I would appreciate it. Anyone interested in giving me a quote ?

I am painting the boat because the maroon above the rubrail has faded and I think the boat will look sharp with some up to date graphics. This will be a winter or spring project.

I have a similar size boat, and am looking to do the same thing. I was given a ballpark of $3500 to spray the whole boat white. That seems very high considering I was doing all the prep work.

Mike

Keep in mind
 

I also painted my boat with AwlGrip 2000, keep in mind that it is a pain in the butt to work with. I would recomend Imron 5000, hard durable paint that is easier to work with.

Intolerant,

My suggestion would be to leave the white alone and just put some graphics where the maroon is. There are some really cool things you can do with just that space. Fades come to mind with some crazy stripes.

I know there are alot of good painters out there and Awlgrip is probably the most durable, but if you're anything like me, you'll be disappointed because the color and shine of the white Awlgrip will not match the white gel. Additionally, any nicks and scrapes will stick out like a sore thumb if they go through to the primer.

Check out lipship.com and look at some of the Cigarettes for ideas. There's one with a stripe down the side of the boat with some great texture and fades...

just my .02 for what it's worth.

Ok if you have not seem my boat painting project with pictures go check it out in the tech area. This is all that I have found out as I have done this project. Imron is old school. Used to be the best now it is WAY surpassed by Awlgrip. Awlgrip is Much stronger and will hold its shine longer and is also more scratch resistent. If you use Awlgip you HAVE to use all thier primers and fillers. This is very important for proper adjesion. The down side is both of these paints ARE NOT good for being under water. Imron says not at all, Awlgrip says not for more then two days. I am going back to Gell on my boat. Yes it will suck to have to wet sand and buff out but I figure I can do all that prep work before I paint or I can do all that prep work after I paint. What is the difference. I heard quotes to paint my boat anywere from 150-250 a foot so that is what you could be looking at. It was not hard to prep but it is nasty and time consuming. Another option could be to just paint the stripe a different color similiar to TooOlds project (well how it originally started out) :D:D Good luck with the boat :D:D

Jon

Is the guy going to use:
Awlgrip?
Awlgrip2?
Awlcraft2000?

A good portion of my boat was painted with AWLGRIP in 1993. I did not own it at the time; I bought it from a friend in February 1995. The entire deck and the bottom (below the stripes) is covered in snow white AWLGRIP.

Bottom: During the first year the boat was left in fresh water (in FL) for over 1 month. Lots of sea urchins grew all over it. When the bottom was cleaned one small area (less than 1 sq ft) bubbled and peeled to the primer. Since then, the boat has never been in the water for longer than 4 days at a time. The bubbled area has not changed and the rest looks great and is as hard as nails! The bottom looks great.

Top: When I bought the boat it had been sitting in Orlando for 1 year with only a cockpit cover on it. When I got it home and cleaned off the moss and other crap, the deck had an unbelievable shine. Unfortunately, somewhere in that first summer I did something wrong. By the fall anywhere on the deck that was not covered with the cockpit cover (not much) was totally oxidized. Unfortunately with Awlgrip, once it's screwed up that's it. You can't buff the shine back. I'm sure it is my fault, I cleaned with something too harsh or something, and I should have waxed it. The scoops in the sun pad; which are always covered when the cover is on, but have never been waxed are still as shiny as they were in 1993.

I need to repaint my deck and I will definitely do it in AWLGRIP. I don't have a big enough place to do it myself, so I will have to pay.
DS

I believe he wants to use Awlcraft2000. He said it is actually a combination of Awgrip and Imron. As far as just doing somthing with the maroon, I dont think I will be happy just covering it with something. I would rather do it right for a few more dollars. I am concered about the back of the boat will it will sit under water. Maybe I should just clear over the white gel from the maroon to the edge of the bottom. That way the finish will look closer and if it peels a bit at the water line, its easy to fix. Has anyone used graphics from the site I posted above?

do not clear over just the gel, it can still fade under the clear. if that hapens than you are really screwed.i would go with the paint from the bottom of the maroon up. gel is the only thing you want below the water line. my personal preferance is Imron or PPG's concept.

I have heard very good things about raceline digital :D:D

Jon