Can you paint your gelcoat?

416rigby · Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:26 pm Post subject: Can you paint your gelcoat?

This may be a dumb question, but I've never been known as a rocket scientist. Now that our old boat is sold Cry

, we're looking to buy a used 22 and we want to end up with a green boat. I was thinking it would be pretty easy to paint the accent color if we swing a deal on a boat that is some other color. Anything I should know before hand? Any specific type of paint work best? Anyone ever do this? Probably not. Shocked

Rick

Sea Wolf · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:16 am Post subject:

Rick-

Interesting question!

Gets a qualified maybe yes, maybe no answer......

Yes you can paint the trim, but it's not too easy to do right for reasons I'll discuss in a minute.

The other problem is that the deck non-skid, the interior cushions, and the Zolatone interior paint may not match the new color you want. They have been choosen to compliment the exterior trim, of course, and changing the color of all of them is really impractical.

Painting the exterior trim gets difficult for several reasons.

One is that the existing gel coat must be sanded to get the new paint to stick, but it's difficult to sand right up to the line where the gel coat changes color, sanding throughly on one side of the line and leaving the gel coat intact on the other.

Next, there is trim tape besides the accent color that must be removed and then reapplied after painting in the new color scheme.

Lastly, the whole operation needs to be done by someone who understands these materials and has the proper equipment to sand the existing gel coat and spray the new paint, either epoxy (good) or linear polyurethane (better).

Overall, it's best to find a boat in the color you prefer in the first place!

Hope this helps!

Joe.

drjohn71a · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:21 am Post subject:

Rick, I agree with Joe with the added note that, perhaps one could just put a different color of accent tape OVER the gel-coat accent stripes. That way, you would not have to damage the original gel-coat. The tapes have a tendency to get 'dog-eared' over the long term, though.

In general, even if it costs more, I think you should bite the bullet and get the boat you want at the start. Even starting out with the boat you want, you will later wish you had other features, etc., so not a good idea to start out with a compromise.

John

Jeff and Julie · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:49 am Post subject:

Looks like the boat you want may be for sale in San Diego!!

416rigby · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:18 am Post subject:

Is it fate? Kharma? Hmmmm...lol. Thanks, I contacted the seller.

Chris Bulovsky · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:43 am Post subject:

Yes you can paint it. But its not easy. Lots of prep work then who knows how long the finish will hold up. I'd follow the advice of Sea Wolf and get what you want from the start. (I didn't find painting a C-Dory enjoyable)

Don't rule out a new one. Check out financing with a dealer. Sometimes Motor companys have killer deals on low % rates. Could make payments way affordable. Its worth a few phone calls.

Good Luck

Chris Bulovsky

Sea Wolf · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:46 am Post subject:

Rick-

Go get 'em and Good Luck!

Joe.

C-Otter · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

If you find a nice C-Dory at a good price what differance does color make?
Does a certain color make it run better? C-Otter

dogon dory · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:41 pm Post subject:

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

SEA3PO · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:29 pm Post subject:

I totally agree with Sea Wolf...ole Joe is right on.... it would be a terrible job...cost lots of money to do it right...and after a few years look terrible and hurt the resale of the boat..... buy the boat with the color you want...or you will forever kick yerself.

I also like the idea of looking at a New boat.... the boats have such a high resale that if you look at the overall cost of the boat over your ownership you will see it is not as expensive as you might think...plus you get all new stuff...

At least that's how I sold the idea to my wife....who now loves the boat.

Joel
SEA3PO

Captains Cat · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:37 pm Post subject:

Sea Wolf · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

I'll have to ride the fence a little bit here.

I do know that quite a few people have repainted older boats with LPU which has wonderful flow characteristics, but when I think back to all the trouble I had when I first learned to work in paints, this particular job is not for a beginner unless supervised by someone who knows what they're doing. Dan's advice is excellent, especially for someone familiar with the processes.

However, for a relative novice, there are too many easy pitfalls, and it's too easy to mess with the resale value of a boat, especialy if the boat isn't a Bygone Bayliner Bargain to begin with.

Repainting the bottom trim just below the rubrail would be easier than the top, since it has it's top against the metal of the rubrail and it's bottom is open and can be re-defined with trim tape. It's also is the one that suffers the damage from the dock, so renewing it's appearance after quite a few years with a through painting (as opposed to a touch up/spot approach), is a viable alternative. It's also less obvious to the casual view than the cabin top, so if there's a problem it won't show as much.

Thanks for all the thoughts!

Joe.

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:24 pm Post subject:

dogon dory · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:47 pm Post subject:

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

416rigby · Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:52 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry to have not given better background in my original post. I have many years experience working with aircraft composite materials (carbon fiber, kevlar, and fiberglass) and with painting aircraft, so I feel quite competent in doing it myself. I should have said that right up front. I've just never messed with gelcoat before, we don't use it on aircraft fiberglass parts.

Thanks to all who have shared their thoughts, but I won't be needing to paint any gelcoat after all...more to follow.
Very Happy