Paint or Gelcoat

[76SeaRay]

I have completely disassembled my hardtop on my 76 Sea Ray. There is a section that sits in between the upper and lower windshields and over hangs the lower windshield in front. The top is fiberglass with gelcoat. There was plywood on the bottom side of this overhang that I am replacing. The original appeared to have paint or a laminated white covering on the plywood. It had peeled like it was paint. In replacing the plywood, which is better to use on the plywood to get a white finish look, paint or gelcoat? If I resin coat it and paint is recommended, will paint stick to polyester resin?

Thanks.

 

[chevymaher]

Yes paint sticks to polyester resin think Corvette. If it is not in water Paint is easier gel coat is much more durable.

 

[tpenfield]

Got any pictures to share? The benefit to gelcoat is that you will get a thicker coating. The downside is that gelcoat is more difficult to apply. you can always do multiple coats of paint to get a more durable finish.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you go gel, use the duratec gloss additive. it makes it spray like paint.

your boat was built in the 70's, they rolled gel coat over the plywood as well. the problem, without a layer of fiberglass to stiffen the wood, the gel would eventually fail from the flexing of the wood.

 

[76SeaRay]

Here are a few pics. I turned the center section upside down and pulled all the wood out of the fiberglass shell. The curved section is the front that overhangs the lower windshield by about 4 inches. It is 1/2 inch plywood on the underside and was essentially "boxed in" so only bonded to the fiberglass top in a few places. You can see where I turned the plywood over where it had been leaking in from both port and starboard sides and you can see how it was boxed leaving it hollow. None of it was sealed with resin. I threw in a pic of the boat before I pulled the hardtop off.

 

[76SeaRay]

Here is a close up of the peeling...

 

[Scott Danforth]

remember, your boat was originally designed to last about 20 years...... its now 44 years old

that looks like gel simply rolled over plywood which was common in the industry 40-50 years ago.

 

[76SeaRay]

Yup, was thinking that it was a thin layer of gelcoat that is peeling. I was just checking for 1/2 inch marine plywood but it seems most places don't carry it anymore. Home Depot has something called marine pressure treated plywood. Don't think I want that, concerned that polyester and epoxy either one won't stick to it very well or absorb in enough to seal water out... I am thinking i might seal the wood with polyester and then paint over that so looking for a good paint to use..

 

[AShipShow]

I used Interlux brightside paint on my interior for my restoration and I like it a lot... If I were to do it again, I would go with a 2 part polyurethane even though its more expensive, but it would have made my job easier with the nonskid because you don't need to sand between coats as long as its within a certain amount of time...

Most 1 part polyurethane paints and alkyd enamel paints require sanding between coats... Not a big deal for a flat surface though...

Since yours is above you're head and will get basically zero abuse, I would just use a 1 part polyurethane or even the rustoleum topside paint (alkyd enamel)... They are cheap and should work fine for that application.