Re: Flipping boat hull suggestions?
One word "Aliphatic". I am guessing you guys haven't seen the boat company that puts this on their Jet powered River Boats and jump logs and rocky river beds like its nothing. The actual reason is that once I soda blast some of the galvanic damaged seams I was going to rough sand, put a special aluminum to line chemical for the bond and then add the aliphatic liner. I am getting it in white. Its stronger, harder, UV resistant, lasting gloss finish and basically smoother than truck bed liner (in fact its hard for the liner guys to make the "wanted" texture) but it is in the same type of family as the truck liner. I am not making a race boat and speed is not my concern. I just want a longer lasting hull that can go in salt and fresh with out so much worry. I already got the sprayer and now I am comparing the bottom coats. There is actually a bullet proof one designed for the military but I don't think I can afford that.
My problem is that it is hard to buck rivets alone. Its hard to flip a boat alone so I am asking for suggestions. I don't want to strip up the floors, peel out the foam and deal with the gluv-it then chromate and then final paint. Its just too much cost and labor for me alone. Granted the liner gun I bought sprays foam and liner (including non slip sand enhanced liner for the interior). So for me I hope to seal this baby on the outside with aliphatic, coat the inside with the polyurea and hope for the best.
Who knows ... maybe I will go all the way and strip out the floors and redo it like everyone else but for the time being the liner is winning.
I forgot to mention, I have a bit of aluminum gone from the transom area due to the galvanic reaction and where the motor was mounted so I picked up a sheet of aluminum at a scrap yard for $16.00 and I will cut it to fit, lightly rivet it, rough, chromate and liner it at the same time to end the possibilities of leaking. I may even redo the transom wood and if so I plan on spraying it all around as well. Kind of like hermetically sealing it and only the bolt holes will be the weak point. Of course I get no points for accuracy of restoration in the "boat show" world but this is about creating a hopeful long lasting, safe, functional and family ready boat before winter gets here.
By the way, since starting this reply I spoke with the guy who makes the coatings and he asked if I wanted a rough surface on the aliphatic polyurethane coating and I replied no. He said good as its hard to get a rough texture since it dries slower (it has time to settle compared to the others which dry in 15 seconds). He also recommended that I could spray the regular stuff first (cheaper price) for thickness and add a thinner coat of the aliphatic two times and it would be beautiful. We'll see.
