Painting over gel coat

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Painting over gel coat

I dont see any argument here ?

If its in a forum at IBoats, and it comes out of a can, it might not look like an argument, but I can't think of any other word to describe "disagreement"! 8) :devil: :| :}

Now now

Scatty there are no arguments here just

and you wont have any

life's easy if you let it be.......

 

[imported_boatrookie]

Re: Painting over gel coat

what kind of boat is this? is it a fancy boat that you want to put graphics on or do you just want something shiny on a regular old boat?
i have done both ways at the hot rod shops i used to work at when i was a kid
I prepped two sea doos that they just wanted a pearl white paint job on. all i did was sand the gloss off the gel coat with 320 grit . then i masked it all off down to the ground and my boss painted it. both sea doos looked great. now whether or not the paint stuck is different thing but all the years i was there they never came back.
I also painted a 66 corvette and we sanded the new pieces with 150 grit as well as the rest of the car then loaded it up with a high build polyester primer. after that we put a guide coat, sanded that down to level it all out and fiend any low spots after it was all smoothed we sprayed a sealer primer and then sprayed the paint with a clear coat after that. always wipe the piece down with a dewaxer fallowed by a tack rag before you do any spraying whether its primer or or paint.
the guy who used to fix our frames had a old speed boat. all he did was sand it and regelcoat it white. that thing was brighter then hell afterwords. if you decide to do this, you better lay a plastic sheet down cause the gel coat will not come off your floor Even if you wet the ground down first.

 

[Scott T]

Re: Painting over gel coat

To reply to the original question - I have just resprayed over an old hull with the gelcoat probally 20 years or more old. We sanded down to 180grit then shot HB primer after ensuring that we prepsolled the hull thoughly. Sanded the primer down to 400grit then shot the color in Awlgrip 2 pack. The results were (in my opinion) sensational. The HB (high build), primer is used to fill in any minor imperfections and also because it provides the correct and stable base for the 2 pac top shot. We use HVLP spray guns to try to reduce overspray and fallout and also to get higher transfer rates onto the job saving paint.