I have a '81 Seastar 15 trihull I'm trying to refurbish. It had a few rough spots in the gelcoat but nothing major. I filled the chips with marinetex and then sanded the entire boat with 120 grit sandpaper. Went to West Marine and bought some Interlux Pre-Kote, a quart of white Brightside and 333 brushing reducer. After wiping the boat down I opened the primer and mixed it up good. Rolled it on but it just didn't look exactly right. I primed the entire top side and it took almost the whole quart. The surface was bumpy and rough. I knew it was a filler primer so I figured that's just the way it layed out.
Two days later I came back to sand the primer....it was still rubbery and didn't stick to the fiberglass. After a couple of hours of messing with it I realized it had to all come back off. I spend a couple of days scrapping with a razor blade, sanding and stripping the primer back off the boat. Once I had it all prepped again I decided to use some automotive epoxy filler primer (2K) to prime the boat. It layed down well (like it's suppose to). I scuff sanded the boat down and wiped it down (again) with the Interlux 333. I opened up the white Brightside, mixed it up well, then the begin rolling and tipping the paint on. It just wouldn't lay down smoothly or provide any coverage. It seemed the pigment and the carriers had seperated. I painted inside the front walk through bow area and the bilge area in the back and decided to call it quits. I called Interlux the next day and found out both the primer and paint were manufactured in 2002! It doesn't say the date on the bottom of the can but when I read the letters on the bottom of the can the tech rep told me when it was manufactuered. Both were way past their expiration date. West Marine was good enough to replace both the paint and the primer but couldn't do anything to repay me for my time and all the sandpaper I had to use to remove the bad paint.
Sanded the boat down again and then using the new can of Brightside, I rolled and tipped on the first coat of paint last Friday. This time it layed down a little better but was really transparent. Yesterday we sanded the bow area and bilge and today I rolled on the second coat. It looks a little better but will definitely need at least one more coat of paint. It still has some spots you can see through.
My question is does this all sound normal? I'm really frustrated with this project at this point and have on a couple of occasions almost decided to walk away from it. (My G/F has been very supportive and helpful in prepping the boat but with all these probelms even she has started getting a little burned out).
We've only been painting from the rubrail up and the entire inside of the boat so far. The sides and bottom will still need paint as well. It'll only be used in freshwater and on a trailer most the time. After all the problems I've had with the Interlux products (one of the best marine paints?) I'm thinking about just using Rustoleum. I doubt I could have any worse results!
Your thoughts?
Two days later I came back to sand the primer....it was still rubbery and didn't stick to the fiberglass. After a couple of hours of messing with it I realized it had to all come back off. I spend a couple of days scrapping with a razor blade, sanding and stripping the primer back off the boat. Once I had it all prepped again I decided to use some automotive epoxy filler primer (2K) to prime the boat. It layed down well (like it's suppose to). I scuff sanded the boat down and wiped it down (again) with the Interlux 333. I opened up the white Brightside, mixed it up well, then the begin rolling and tipping the paint on. It just wouldn't lay down smoothly or provide any coverage. It seemed the pigment and the carriers had seperated. I painted inside the front walk through bow area and the bilge area in the back and decided to call it quits. I called Interlux the next day and found out both the primer and paint were manufactured in 2002! It doesn't say the date on the bottom of the can but when I read the letters on the bottom of the can the tech rep told me when it was manufactuered. Both were way past their expiration date. West Marine was good enough to replace both the paint and the primer but couldn't do anything to repay me for my time and all the sandpaper I had to use to remove the bad paint.
Sanded the boat down again and then using the new can of Brightside, I rolled and tipped on the first coat of paint last Friday. This time it layed down a little better but was really transparent. Yesterday we sanded the bow area and bilge and today I rolled on the second coat. It looks a little better but will definitely need at least one more coat of paint. It still has some spots you can see through.
My question is does this all sound normal? I'm really frustrated with this project at this point and have on a couple of occasions almost decided to walk away from it. (My G/F has been very supportive and helpful in prepping the boat but with all these probelms even she has started getting a little burned out).
We've only been painting from the rubrail up and the entire inside of the boat so far. The sides and bottom will still need paint as well. It'll only be used in freshwater and on a trailer most the time. After all the problems I've had with the Interlux products (one of the best marine paints?) I'm thinking about just using Rustoleum. I doubt I could have any worse results!
Your thoughts?
