Re-finishing painting fiberglass boat ?

[Gerald]

I am asking for a friend who was wondering...

he has a fiberglass boat, and would like to re-paint/finish the outside of the hull.

Can anyone in this group recommend methods, and products for doing this ?

Thanks
Gerald

[Max Camirand]

If the original finish is gelcoat, and it's looking faded, I would
suggest a wet sanding and polish.

Paint can be a pain, this is rather simple.

If you want more detailed advice, I suggest posting more information
about the situation. What's the original finish? What's the problem
with it now? How much is your friend willing to invest (waste)?

If he or she doesn't plan to keep the boat forever, he/she should keep
in mind that the value of the paint will not be added to the resale
value of the boat.

Regards,
-m

-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_

The world was so much simpler when I believed the news.

secure email: maxc at ziplip dot com

[Gerald]

maxcamira...@hotmail.com (Max Camirand) wrote in message news:<3ce4adc9...@news1.qc.sympatico.ca>...

I guess a better question might be...

How can he tell or find out what exectly the original finish is ?

Thanks

[Bill]

An easy way would be to find a spot where you can see a crosssection of the
finsihed surface. For example, remove a plastic inspection plate and look
at the cross section, gelcoat is thicker than paint. You could even take a
knife an scratch the surface (scratch the area that will be covered by the
inspection plate flange) to see how thick it is. I would assume that there
is some gelcoat there, it is just a question of whether it has been painted
over. Hatteras used to paint over its gelcoat to get a nicer finish. Be
aware that if it is all gelcoat and it is very chalky, you may not be able
to sand and polish it to a nice new finish. I tried with my 1986 Phoenix
and it was just too porous from exposure to FL sun and salt. I wet-sanded
the stink out of it and then compounded and waxed. It looked OK for a
while, but it soon returned to its old chalky look. After all of that work,
I would have been better off to paint (which is my next move). Maybe some
other gelcoats can be renewed...just my experience with mine. If you paint,
I highly recommend sanding with 220, prime, sand again w/ 220 and a couple
of coats of finish, sanding w/ 320 between coats. Wipe down the sanded area
with good solution like denatured alcohol after each sanding. You can do
much more than this to get a "Palm Beach" finish, but this works pretty darn
well. Bill

"Gerald" <jazzm...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:96143706.02051...@posting.google.com...