painting aluminum boat.

[kmaysob]

hello all, a while back my dads neighbor mentioned that he painted his old aluminum boat to help seal the rivets. my boat it in some need of paint anyways and has a very (i stress very) small leak. im replacing the decking( i think thats what its called, where the seats mount in the bottom of the boat) i plan to paint them with oil based rust oleum and had though, why not have the color matched and spray the whole thing while im at it? so will rust oleum work or do i actually need a marine grade paint? does the sealing the rivets sound like it will work?

i planned to clean it real good and just spray over the old paint. i dont see a need to remove the old paint. i have it in the quart can and will be spraying out of my spray gun.

 

[bryanwess2000]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

I seriously doubt paint is going to help seal a rivet unless he used epoxy paint
. Most people use gluvit and there's another brand of epoxy sealer but the
name escapes me, I saw a can at academy one time. As far as painting your
going to atleast scuff the old paint with some sandpaper before topcoating
it. As well as spot priming any bare aluminum areas with a zinc chromate
or self etching primer for aluminum. Several people have used rustoleum
and had good results. Good luck!

 

[kmaysob]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

yes i figured i give it a quick scratch and spray. but first im gonna pressure wash it. it doesnt have any bare spots so im good there.

 

[bryanwess2000]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

You'll probably also want to use some kind of degreaser like denatured
alcohol before sanding to promte adhesion of the new paint. Check out
Rickairmedic's restore thread, he got that finish using rustoleum marine
and rolling the paint on. I used benjamin moore p22 but I had to spray
mine to get a good finish.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

Actually I used regular old Rustoleum and a roller but I am still using Gluvit on the inside before I put the deck back in her $50 is cheap insurance .



Rick

 

[bryanwess2000]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

I don't know why I keep thinking you used rustoluem marine Rick.
I guess I've read so many resto threads that they're all blending
together.

 

[kmaysob]

Re: painting aluminum boat.

ok, well then ill use the rust oleum. ill be out on the lake this weekend and then its time to paint. got the seat made up, so ill have a place to sit. gonna spray it inside and out. thanks for chiming in.