Shah Mat

My plans is to start the second week in January. I'm going to do all the prep work and a body shop (with a heated spray booth) is going to spray it. I was told by the person we bought it from that the original owner had let the sun and the elements get to the gel coat which in turn faded it. They had it cleared to bring back the shine. It must have been years ago, because the shine is gone and the clear is peeling away is some spots. I am going to add a few black stripes and touch up the yellow in some places before the clear goes on. I was thinking of just clearing down to the factory black stripe at the water line. I also plan on removing everthing (within reason...not the outdrive) that is bolted or screwed. In the picture the boat looks good, but it needs a little help when you see it in person. I just wanted to show the black stripe I'm talking about.
I need advice on;
*What grit sandpaper to use for the final surface?
*What is the best paint and clear to use (will automotove type work, I won't have to pay anything if the body shop uses their brand)?
*If I only go to the waterline, that will leave an edge, is that OK?
*How many coats of clear?
Any suggestions and coments?
Thanks in advance,
Joey

Shah Mat

Ok I can't post a picture, but go here and scroll down to the yellow and black Checkmate
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...0&pagenumber=2

Audiofn

Oh man are you in for a project. Since the clear is pealing off that means that the prep work on the former clear SUCKED. You will have to sand off all the clear coat tell it is ALL gone. Aplying clear over gell will only work for a temporary solution as the gel can actually dull under the clear and then you can not get it to shine back again. Your best bet is to just repaint the whole boat once you get all the clear off it. There is no more work involved and the extra cost will be minimal.

Jon

JUSTONCE

I'm with Jon, my boat like yours is faded but not cleared just orig. gel and the next best thing to regelling the entire boat (which really is the best way as far as I'm conserned ) is to paint the boat than clear. Gel is tricky and can be a headache. Depending how long the boat spends in the water there are a few types of paint you can use. epoxy,and imron seem to hold up the best.just my .02
Martin.

Shah Mat

Yea Jon, I know what you mean. You don't really know how big your boat is untill you sand the entire thing. Your probably right about painting the whole thing. I painted and cleared my 19 Checkmate and I had some problems with the paint staying on the bottom next to the chines, and the back corners. I was trying to avoid that on this one by not painting or clearing the bottom and just leaving it yellow.

572scarab

I am a sales rep for a automotive paint co. I have painted many boats including my scarab last year with 14' flames.If i didnt beleive in the product I would never spent the time i do on these boats.The bottom line is you get what you pay for if you think a gallon of clear that costs a 100.00 with hardner is going to last you are kidding your self.The higher the solids in the clear the more money it costs,the better UV protection,the longer it lasts.Not saying you need to spend a million dollarsjust stay with a major co like AUTOCOLOR,PPG,DUPONT,SPIES HECKER,BASF,SIKKENS and ask for there high solids clear.Ohh by the way you will need to sand off all the old clear where it is peeling at!

convincor

There is a paint that is made buy "EPIFANES" out of Holland.
They make a "MARINE" two part poly that has the resin type look of gelcoat but is much easier to us. Can be sprayed with regular paint equipment. From what I'm told from auto paint reps is that marine paints are a totally different animal than auto. Auto paints are not meant to be subjected to the pressure of water, thats why they peal...

GeoGraphics INC

Maybe I can help? I paint 20 to 30 boats a year new and old, we use R-M by BASF base and clear it is a polyesther based paint and I have had no problems with it. There are no top coat paints made to stay underwater only bottom paint. I am not sure what you mean by WATER PRESSURE but every Merc drive is painted with auto style paint and they take alot of pressure. As far as gelcoat fading under clearcoat.........never happens unless it has been badly applied. Why would you go to all the trouble of re-gelcoating a boat with somthing that failed in the first place , you will never in a million years get the same shine that you can from clear coat and it has ZERO UV protection which is the very thing that @#!& it up in the first place, the best thing is a high quality automotive type paint applied to properly prepared gelcoat in my experience body shops and boats do not mix the way paint needs to be applied to boats is totally different to cars.

Shah Mat

GeoGraphics INC,
How do you prepare the gel coat for spraying?

GeoGraphics INC

WE sand every thing with 320grit