Painting alum boat

[S Flattem]

Hello...I have a 1979 Starcraft aluminum bass boat...this winter I am
refinishing/restoring it...I just finished the wood seats and dashboard
and am now ready to tackle the hull. The original paint is white, aged
and scratched to the base metal in several places. The boat is a
trailer boat, never in the water for more than a few hours. Does anyone
have experience with this situation, good or bad. I need ideas as to
prep and paint to use (rolling Rust-o-leum would be the ideal-cost and
ease- for me). Thanks for your help

[George Norkus]

Ahoy,

Don't buy the least expensive paint for an aluminum hull! It may seem good
but in the long run, galvanic action can reek havoc. Get a quality brand
made for alum. hulls.

Several sailboat magazines have good articles on boat paints. Check it out.

You can look into paint manufactures on my web site;
http://detroit.freenet.org/sigs/boating , then drift down to "Database",
then click on "Anti-Fouling, Coatings, Polishes".

Sea you,
Web Captain

[Steve Danaher]

You can't beat a heavy duty epoxy paint for steel or aluminum. To
apply it correctly, the aluminum must be freshly sanded, the epoxy
should be brushed on, and then top coated ASAP with polyurethane. I
spray the epoxy on hot, by microwaving the material up to about 150
degrees F. If you use a significant amount of thinner in the paint,
instead of heat, you can have problems if the boat is left in the
water for a long period of time. The problem is with solvent
blisters.

If you use solvent to spray the paint, you have to wait for the
solvent to evaporate before applying the LP. Sometimes two or three
days. Just use a slow curing paint like Devoe, which is a super
paint, better than anything I have seen in the marine stores.

--Steve D.

Steve Danaher
sdanahe...@2xtreme.net