1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

ohh and when it comes time to flip trailer, I did mine alone with a come-along...pick a rear corner raise it straight push it over the top and lower it

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

That's my plan exactly Judge! That's why I decided to leave the bow hook and both of the transom hooks in place. I'll just paint around them.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I got off work early today and the temperature outside was nice. I inspected the job I did last night before doing anything else. Other than a single area up front and some areas of light coverage, it was actually good! So next step was to officially prep off the tongue and the hubs. I lightly knocked it all down with some 220 and loaded the gun for round two.

I really think I've got the hang of the gun already. One thing I noticed was that the primer sanded off really easily (but it didn't flake or gum up). Is this normal? I screwed up on one part at the back and either applied too much primer or I shot too close because it started to sag. I made another stupid mistake by thinking I could wipe the sag and re-shoot it (in hindsight, that was a bad idea). I've got half a can left of primer, so I'll fix these two areas and shoot a third coat. Is 3 coats good or do I need more?

The tongue

This is the area where it ran. I sanded the top down but thought maybe the sides wouldn't be as noticeable (tough spot to sand). After seeing how it looks now with another coat, I'm going to sand it down and fix it.

This is where I messed up on the back and then double-messed up by trying to wipe it off. This will get sanded and fixed with the 3rd coat.

No, the vehicle was not parked there while spraying.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

The trailer is one coat away from being ready for paint... and so is my driveway...

...and my jackstands are also ready for paint! HA!

Not too shabby, I don't suppose!

Close-up of a side after the second coat. Good enough for me!

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Your primer looks good. I don't know if I would put another coat of primer on.
Kent

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks Decker. I thought maybe it was good to go... except for my two bad spots. Can I just sand the specific areas and shoot them without coating the entire thing again? Then again, it's just a dang trailer.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

You should be able to do just that. It's just the primer. Take your time and look the whole trailer over. Any thing you see in the primer you do not like will look twice as bad with the finish paint on. You can sand out the places you don't like and spot shoot the primer and be good to go. The key is all in the prep work.
Looks good so far.
Kent

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks again Kent. I'll take care of my blemishes and call it good. I'm actually surprised at how quick and simple it has been compared to everything else with this project.

I think I've got it down enough to where I feel confident to start on the hull. I've been following WOG's paint guide from his "Flamingo" thread, but it doesn't mention what sort of primer to use on a 'glass boat. Is there a different primer to use on the hull?

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Rustoleum makes a fiberglass primer in their marine paint section at Lowes.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I think Woodonglass is the man to ask that question to. I think his boat is fiberglass. His boat has a awesome paint job.

There is a ton of work to do on these boats, but it's worth it to me. I get alot of satisfaction from it. Plus you get to learn and share so much from all the good people here on iboats.

Your work is looking great so far. You should be able to do great on the rest of it.
Kent

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Well, I was hoping to have some progress done on the hull, but I have been all over town today looking for the Rustoleum primer for the hull and still came home empty handed. Our local Lowes doesn't carry the Rustoleum primer and neither does our Home Depot. Neither store carries ANY oil based primer for fiberglass. Tractor Supply carries Valspar, but doesn't have any in stock (nor did they have any hardener in stock) and won't until the middle of next week. I'm going out of town tomorrow and I will check the TSC and Lowes there, but in the event I can't find any there either, I guess I will either order some on-line or wait until TSC gets some in.

I've got one more coat of primer to shoot on the fenders, bunk supports, and winch support, but other than that I am ready for paint on the trailer (provided I can find some hardener). I picked up some Gloss White paint and some Red, Blue, and Black artists oil paint from Michaels. If I can back in town early enough tomorrow, I'm going to experiment in mixing up the color of maroon that I need and get the garage prepped for painting the hull.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

To make your Maroon paint use red as your primary paint color not White. Add a small amount of acetone thinned Artists oil blue (you can always add more later, but too much will make purple), and then add acetone thinned Artists Oil black until you achieve the tone or value of maroon that you desire. You can also use Finish One Acrylic Enamel Hardener. It's sold @ Advanced Auto but not all of their stores sell Paint products.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Dang, why is fiberglass primer so hard to locate around here?!?! Tractor Supply, Lowes, AutoZone, and O'Reilly in the town I was at today didn't carry the stuff. I'm going to try AutoZone, O'Reilly, and PepBoys here in town at lunch tomorrow and hopefully they will have it! There's 3 or 4 marine stores that might have it, but they're dang expensive. For example, the cheapest price I could get quotes on 10 gal of poly resin was $625!!! I did find my Hardener, though, so it wasn't a total loss.

It's just too bad that my window of availability is so small! I haven't been this busy in a long while. Tomorrow is cub scouts and rain in the forecast. Tuesday is gymnastics and rain in the forecast. Thursday is family pictures out at the ranch. Saturday and Sunday is bull ridin' days. Hopefully the weather will cooperate on Wednesday and Friday!

I'm going to at least try to find my color mix in the few hours I have. I'm going to try and mix in 1oz test batches using just drops of artists oil and then multiply up for the final. How much should I thin down the artists oils (half/half or should I go by eye to where it's got the same consistency as my primer did)?

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Man 625 for 10 gallons of resin...OUCH...US composites sell 5 gallon for 120ish...I mentioned it to my local supplier and he told me his were 115, so 230 for 10 gallons....as far as thinning your pigment, I don't think you need to, just add it into the paint as is and mix thoroughly. should be fun creating a custom color, I look forward to seeing how it goes. I had a hard time finding the fiberglass primer myself, and someone told me to just go with a primer that works on previously painted surfaces...I used a clean metal primer on my boat and seems to have held up...for now...til I do something with it!

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Yeah Judge, I just kinda laughed at their quotes. My ENTIRE US Composites order, even with shipping, is less than that! They all think they're high-end marine shops, I guess. I had a power pack go out on my motor last spring and they wanted $225 for one... I ended up ordering one online for $50. Oh well!

If I absolutely cannot find a true fiberglass primer, I found a "previously painted" oil based primer at Lowes yesterday. I just about picked it up, but thought maybe I would do a little more searching first.

The artists oil paints are very thick! I'm sure it needs to be thinned so that I can measure it a bit better, but I'll try it a few different ways and see what I end up with. I know what the end results needs to be, though, so I should be ok.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

I finally located some fiberglass primer at AutoZone... but they want $25/quart for it! I'm going to stick my neck out and use the Rustoleum Clean Metal primer instead (so if both our hull paint jobs end up taking a dive Judge, we know why! ).

I played around with mixing colors up and I think I have the right mix. It's really close to the carpet sample I have. I'm going to try and replicate it on a slightly larger scale to make sure that my formula is good and then I'm ready to shoot!

I may not be shooting any color on the trailer anytime soon, though. From now until Thanksgiving, we have [slight] chances of rain in the forecast and I'm not sure I want to gamble with the 10-30% chance. I may not have a choice, though, if the wife catches wind of it. All of her Christmas decorations are in the attic and it just so happens that the hull is directly below the attic access. I promised her I would have the paint done and the hull back on the trailer by Thanksgiving so that I can get in the attic to get her stuff. Not to mention, my muscles to help flip the hull again will be in town for Thanksgiving. So many decision to make and such little time!

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

build a quick cradle with rollers...then you can take your time on trailer and still have a place to put hull when your muscle arrives. My cradle was overkill big time, and still only cost roughly 30 bucks to make, you will probably need to buy casters so add a little more to that. Having a way to roll it around garage and give yourself time to finish the trailer the way you want, would satisfy both of you!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

For Fiberglass Boats I recommend using the same Valspar Tractor and Implement Primer - Gray
Even though it says metal primer, in speaking with their rep's it will work fine on Fiberglass and Gelcoat.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Thanks for confirming that Mike!

I didn't let the rain slow me down too much today. I prepped the garage, finished prepping the hull, and started to prime it. I thought I had more primer left than I actually did (thought I had 3/4 can but only had about 9oz) so I only managed to shoot about 1/4 of the hull. I did manage to make a pretty good gas chamber, though! I forgot to put on the respirator and in the short 5 minutes I was shooting this small amount of primer, it was getting to me. Whoops!

Not that I had any doubts or didn't believe it, but the primer really shows all of the remaining dimples and scratches that I chose not to fill/fair. I'm still ok with it and I'm not going to try and redo any of it, but it's definitely visible!

I'll pick up a couple more cans of primer tomorrow and finish up the first coat and put the finishing touches on the trailer. The second coat will go on Thursday. My first coat of color will go on Friday with the next coat going on Sunday morning. The chance of rain for this week has dropped significantly so as long as it holds true by Thursday, I will be shooting color on the trailer as well.

I've currently been buying the Rusto primer by the quart, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should return the two quarts of unopened color that I currently have a get a gallon of white and a gallon of red. If for no other reason, it will mean I will only have to mix my maroon color once and be done with it instead of mixing it multiple times and hoping I get it exactly the same each time.

It's nothing special, but here's the pictures of the partial primer job on the hull.

 

[JDA1975]

Re: 1984 Skeeter Champ 16' Restore

Looking good man, keep it up and you can come to my splash party! ALWAYS wear that respirator, when spraying in or outdoors, roll/tip outdoors, you can get away with it. My aids brother sprayed his car without a respirator and within 2 months was dead. Kinda sucks to spend so much time restoring something and never get to enjoy it. Really glad to see ya getting hull done up, wont be long we will be caught up and having to motivate each other again!