Ever painted a fiberglass boat hull?

[mrbigstuff]

Nothing out of the ordinary, just a small ish boat hull that's in decent but worn shape. Thanks for any suggestions or tips.

[MrNoBody]

Clean, "scuff sand", acetone wipe, & apply new gel coating.
Regular paint won't adhere properly and won't last.

[macphanatic]

Does it need to be painted? Have you tried cleaning and polishing?

A relative buys older fiberglass center console boats that have fallen on hard times. Gets them running, cleans them up, uses them for a few years and often sells at a profit. For the fiberglass, he uses a compound formulated for fiberglass and a random orbit polisher. With a little work, it's amazing how nicely the old fiberglass cleans up.

[btfc]

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/W...r-Articles

Scroll down to ‘ Maintenance ‘

[NewtonMP2100]

.....what the.....hull.....???

[ztirffritz]

You'll need to use gelcoat. Paint won't do it.

[vision63]

mrbigstuff wrote:
Nothing out of the ordinary, just a small ish boat hull that's in decent but worn shape. Thanks for any suggestions or tips.

You and me <3

[Thrift Store Scott]

macphanatic wrote:
Does it need to be painted? Have you tried cleaning and polishing?

A relative buys older fiberglass center console boats that have fallen on hard times. Gets them running, cleans them up, uses them for a few years and often sells at a profit. For the fiberglass, he uses a compound formulated for fiberglass and a random orbit polisher. With a little work, it's amazing how nicely the old fiberglass cleans up.

As I recall gelcoat is both thick and durable, hence it's use on boats, so I'd give the above recommendation a serious try before even considering applying new gelcoat. I'm trying to remember if gelcoat is one those coatings that's nasty and noxious and needs to be done by a professional with a respirator in a ventilated booth... I think it is (or was), but I might be wrong about that.

[mrbigstuff]

Thrift Store Scott wrote:
[quote=macphanatic]
Does it need to be painted? Have you tried cleaning and polishing?

A relative buys older fiberglass center console boats that have fallen on hard times. Gets them running, cleans them up, uses them for a few years and often sells at a profit. For the fiberglass, he uses a compound formulated for fiberglass and a random orbit polisher. With a little work, it's amazing how nicely the old fiberglass cleans up.

As I recall gelcoat is both thick and durable, hence it's use on boats, so I'd give the above recommendation a serious try before even considering applying new gelcoat. I'm trying to remember if gelcoat is one those coatings that's nasty and noxious and needs to be done by a professional with a respirator in a ventilated booth... I think it is (or was), but I might be wrong about that.
Correct, since this is an older boat with a decent hull, I was hoping to be able to paint it and not need a gelcoat application. But I guess sanding and polishing could work if it's done very lightly. It's not a boat worth a full on resto.

[NewtonMP2100]

....you're gonna' need.....a bigger boat......