To Paint, Or Not To Paint

[rfdfirecaptain]

Hey gang,

I found this thread while looking for coments about Imron paint. Interestingly there is NO MENTION of Imron in this thread. Should I consider that to be a sign? Can I get some feedback?

My gel coat was extensively oxidized and faded. I made the mistake of buffing with well over 3k rpms... and you know the rest of the story. I've decided the only way I'll ever get the cloudy streaks out of the finish is to paint the hull and start fresh with new decals and striping. Area to be painted is 99% above the waterline.

Here are some photos taken after the bad buff job I did. The blemeshes don't show up well in these photos. Trust me they are there!

http://s990.photobucket.com/albums/af27/andreawilder2009/1993 Crownline CR 250/

Edit: Please note that this post was moved from a different thread. The first post of this new thread is actually #10. The first 9 posts are background.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

Hello cap...

I see one sweet crownline.. why oh why would you want to paint

Keep buffing m8.. you wont get a better job outa Imron without some sand and buff...

Use some foam pad polishing glaze on a yellow pad ( White pads are for compound..yellow is for polish.. ).

YD.

PS. I mentioned AC2000 .. basically the same as Imron .. though Imron has Loads of pigments for color matching paint as were 2000 does not..

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

Yacht Doc,

Well, the photos are much better than it looks in person. I've tried the buffing... hours and hours of it... and it seems to get no better. It gets more shiny, but the buffing streaks are still underneath the gloss. Making matters worse, I spent hours removing alot of the striping and it left a thick hard adhesive residue.

I was just thinking that if I painted I could sand the whole thing down, which would remove all that dried adhesive. Then, with a new paint job and decals I would at least feel like I had acomplished two objectives, (remove adhesive and paint over buffing streaks) in one sweep. Not to mention the boat would have a much newer appearance.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

Im tellin ya Cap... Do not Paint your boat..

You trust me or not... Im tellin ya ( if that was my boat..I would NEVER put an Oz of paint on it ).

Do what you want.. I know..

YD.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

Im tellin ya Cap... Do not Paint your boat..

You trust me or not... Im tellin ya ( if that was my boat..I would NEVER put an Oz of paint on it ).

Do what you want.. I know..

YD.

He's right.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

LOL. I couldn't understand why Yacht Dr. was having a meltdown.....until I looked at your link. I didn't look at it before. I think he may be on to something. She looks awesome and still has quite a shine to it. Maybe you should reconsider. Good call there, Doc.

 

[Isaacm1986]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

Yep i agree with the doc...

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

I think I should add some photos that show how bad the burnished marks are. I'll try that tomorrow and I'll start it in a new thread.... "To Paint Or Not To Paint".

Thanks!

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: The Paint Thread

Re: The Paint Thread

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

To Paint, Or Not To Paint

So far everyone has told me not to paint this boat. Here is a link to photos that were taken when lighting conditions ect. were perfect.
http://s990.photobucket.com/albums/af27/andreawilder2009/1993 Crownline CR 250/
Scroll through and you'll see that the gelcoat looks pretty good in this set of photos.

Below I have pasted some close up photos that show how bad it really is. Two photos show the swirl burnished marks that I made by using Shurhold's Buff magic on a wool pad buffer at about 6k rpms. Right now I have $200 worth of new decals and striping. Before I put them on I need to decide whether or not to paint the boat. The walls are solid, but cosmetically, I think it looks like crap. Everytime I walk buy it I want to kick myself in the azz for being so stupid.

The third photo shows the caked on adhesive left behind when I removed the old striping. I've tried scraping it. I've tried melting it with acetone, MEK and scraping it. Nothing seems to get this stuff. I'm afraid to sand it off unless I know for certain that I am going to paint the boat.

Here?s what I think my two outcome choices are. 1. I can paint it to cover all the cosmetic damage. 2. I can live with it and although sound, my boat will look like crap? except for the new striping.

OK.... your thoughts

 

[QC]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

OK, I took all (most) of the related posts out of "The Paint Thread" and moved them here. This will help those who posted opinions over there find their way here.

Please note that Post #10 is the first post of the "new" thread . . . Might help with context.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

Hello Keith...

First off..you dont need to prep/prime/paint your boat thats good news..

The reason your gettin that crappy buff out is multifold..

1. Looks like your using some kind of orbital car wax machine to try to rub this out.. not going to happen..

2. There is some kind of crap coating on your boat ( like Nufinish or .. Mopnglow lol ) .. seriously..there is something on there that you must remove

2.b. Ill bet 10 bucks right now that your pad is hardly the color of your boat.. your just melting and smearing whatever is on there. You have to Remove this coating with the Right compound ( cant tell you what that is because every compound works differently for clear coat/wax crap) . 8000 rpm is kinda .. erm.. much 1500 + is gonna help more.

3. You need to use a Rotary 8" buffer to buff and polish gel. You havent even removed the water stain on below your through hull fitting..

You will Have to get to the gel before any of your compounds will start to cut/polish.. After you get to the gel you can keep polishing till you get something that would be an envy of boat shows..

Its not EZ work m8.. Buffing/rubbing is not an easy thing to do when you have to strip off 8 years of wax/crap. You will Know when you hit the gel.

3m pads..3m Imperial..3m foam pad polishing glaze. NO Majic cure smear on stuff.. .. NO PAINT NEEDED . Just hard work

Start stbd corner with buffing.. once you see the result it will give you drive to keep going.. 2' at a time .

Trust me.. Ive had to strip/rub/polish Many boats

YD.

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

Doc,

Interesting comment. When I purchased this boat it was gleaming shiny. As I recall the previous owner showed me a bottle of Turtle Wax "ICE" liquid polish that he said he used to keep it looking good. I didn't know any better, but I didn't continue to use it. I just kept it washed each time I used it.

You think that ICE could be the culprit? Do you think that the cloudy swirl marks are not "thinning" of the gelcoat? If that is true that would be good news.

Maybe I just need to find someone who does this for hire and has the expertise.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

There is one way to make a quick determination..In a area say a 2ft sqaure that seems to badly worn or not the desired lustre do this. Bath it with Xylene and scrub lighty with a medium steel wool lightly..No wax will survive that..Use 3m superduty compound and buff...Take a garden hose and put a slight mist of water film on the same area and again buff...If that does not buff out to a deep luster The gel is gone or worn thourgh

.Ps becareful with the water it is extremely agressive in its cutting and polishing abilitys do it lightly.

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

TG,

Water is aggressive? What do you mean?

By the way, I'm am taking all this in, but it will be Saturday, October 2nd when I get started. I have to be out of town all week next week, so I'm spending time with the kids this weekend rather than getting started. Keep the comments coming though. I promiose to update when I get this project underway.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

Water being used a cutting compound is extremely agressive(cuts hard and fast). Using xylene and wool will cut off any wax or sealer...It does not (xylene) flash off as qucikly as acetone...Even a heavy substance will melt and the steel wool will finish that of...SuperDuty is a very heavy cutting compound and again will chew off old dead gel...Using water at the finish will again cut off and polish your final finish....There should be no doubt as to whats left of the gel and if it will come back to your needs..(luster)

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

TG,

OK I'm actually writing out a game plan to follow when I get started next Saturday.

Gotcha on the water. That's news to me.

Now you mentioned "SuperDuty"? I googled that and if I am right it's a degreaser. Right? I've never seen it around here, but what about Purple Stuff. Will that work just as good?

Also, how coarse should the steel wool be?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

I think you've received good info to this point, so try what's been suggested and I think you'll be happy with the results.

 

[rfdfirecaptain]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

I think you've received good info to this point, so try what's been suggested and I think you'll be happy with the results.

Mmmmm.... not real sure how to take that ondarvar. I hope you don't think I am asking too many detailed questions. I'm very particular and I just need to know I have a plan and the exact materials needed before I get started.

Seriously though, I am tempted to see if I can hire this out. I don't mind doing the work, but with small kids at home I can see this taking time away from them.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: To Paint, Or Not To Paint

Nothing meant other than I what I said.

Hiring it out would most likely cost several hundred $$$.