Audiofn

All paint manufacturers cringe at the thought that you are going to paint under the water line. Ya some get lucky and it lasts. Every paint job that I have seen on a boat that gets left in the water has blistered, and I think that blisters look worse then faded paint, not to mention that the water is getting into the grass(a very bad thing). If you are LUCKY enough that the water that gets through your paint does not cause blisteres then you are still taking water on through your paint and it is soaking into your glass. Durratech creates a MUCH better barrier to water then any paint. Gell is also thicker so when you bump a dock or put your boat up on the sand then you are not fine. With paint the smallest abrasion will go right though it. I am not sure when the last time you all used Gell, but if you have not tried it with Durratech then you have not tried the new gell coats. It is tougher, buffs up nicer, holds gloss longer and looks better then ever before. Don't get me wrong paint is fine for trailer boats, but there is NO WAY I would put it under the water line. Ass far as drives are concerned most of us paint them every couple of years, do you want to have to do that to your boat?

Jon

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

Do you need to strip the gel-coat to apply new?
Isn't gel-coat colored and sprayed on like a paint?

It has been years since I did fiberglass layups. But that was in reverse order. 1. mold, 2.mold release, 3. colored gel-coat, 4.polyesther-fiberglass, 5. remove from mold.

To repair gel-coat I think 1. clean, 2. repair cracks, 3. sand smooth, 4. spray colored gel-coat?, 5. buff to a beautiful finish? Am I missing something?

I understand using a urethane base paint on the bottom w/out a barrier in between will be trouble. Urethane absorbs moisture, so does polyester. H2O breaks down the resin/glass bonds in fiberglass and weakens the structure. Also might add a couple extra pounds.

Does any know roughly how much it might cost to have a 30' bottom gel-coated I called a place in G.R. R&K Finishing and he told me $500-$5000, and not to paint the bottom. That was a little to broad price range for me.

I'm going to call Mitcher T tomorrow and get some more input.

Raypanic beautiful boat.

And once again thanks for the input!

H2Xmark

Gel would be like factory, if that is more than you want to spend look into "wetting " any spots that are into the glass with a epoxy resin something like Interlux Epiglass , it is less pourous then polyester resin, that will seal the glass then gel over it and sand or use something like VC performance epoxy bottom finish or Interprotect 2000E, a friend of mine got a quote on a 31 foot boat to take off all the gel seal the glass then apply new gel and shape and sand, it was 10000.00 dollars, a lot of money and a lot of labor{100 hours} but shop around maybe this guy was high on his quote, but most of the time you get what you pay for

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

$10,000 is a little much for me. I don't think we'll be stripping off the gel to soon.
The hull is not in bad shape, just some scratches, and tiny stress cracks. It does shine up good with wax. Maybe I'll just epoxy them up, and seal them. I have used some stuff from intelux on my old boat with decent results, I think I got it from west marine.

Maybe after that I'll concentrate on the topside. Painting the topside shouldn't be an issue? I have some friends that paint semi trailers with Imron. I have read reports on Imron an Awlgrip if they don't know what they are doing it might cause serious respiratory issues!

Audiofn

Rookie if you are going to gell then there is NO need to sand it all off, just sand with 80 grit and spray. If you use Durratech there is no need for a wax coat on top. Then you will have to sand and buff out the new paint. You said there are just some scratches and cracks that you want to take care of, but the rest is fine. May I suggest that you find the best gell coat guy in your area and let him blend the repairs. I know that some people say that you can not do it but a guy that knows what he is doing can take into account the blend and you will never know it was done. Just a thought.

The quote that I got to do the job was about 150 per foot of boat. For a 30 foot boat that would be 4500 bucks.

Jon

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

4500 sounds very reasonable.
Just one more option to consider. I have about two months to get this all done.
Thanks once again Audiofn,
Jason

H2Xmark

Hey Jon was that quote to spray over your gel? my friends boat was a problem boat, it was to strip all gel, seal the fiberglass then gel coat,
Rookie if your hull is in ok shape anything that shoes glass seal with an epoxy resin then get a gel coat kit that you mix up. it comes with a clear plastic sheet that you cut to size then cover the new gel coat to get the oxygen out, the finish is great and you do not have to sand much, if you have some big areas do like Jon said, just my 2 cents
Mark

Audiofn

I doubt that was to strip it to glass. From what I have been told that is not required. I did not do that on my boat. As far as the problem gell coat what do you mean? if it is "lumpy" then yes you have to sand those areas but you should get them smooth WAY before you go through the gell. Good luck

Jon

Luvoffshore

Hey Rookie or Audiofn, if you have that link to your (Audiofn's Formula) rebuild, please post it here or email me the link because in all the re-design of this site I have lost it and would like to look at it again! I tried looking in the T&A search but no luck! Thanks!

Rookie

iTrader: (4)

Here is the link to Audiofn's project, I have it bookmarked!

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...hlight=audiofn

The worse repair would be a gouge that is ~ 15" long, .250" wide, and .125" deep max. there might be 8 of them not as bad. I do not see any glass showing through, supposedly it has been there for the duration of the previous owner 2-3 years. I can run the boat the way it is right now and not worry.

I just bought the boat for what I believe to be an excellent price, and I 'm going to use the money I saved, looking a comparable boats, to distinguishing it as mine. If I can fill in the gouges, scuff up the gel-coat and blast it with bright white I'll be happy. Now what to blast it with is the problem.
Once again a big thanks, Jason

By the way, I'm going to ask a prop question on the T&A in a minute. I'll research the topic first, as to not beat another old topic to death. LOL Feel free to answer that one to!