Turd Polishing

[MrGiggles]

Was browsing CL last week and saw a boat of the same model as mine all painted up and shiny. Just couldn't help myself, had to paint mine too.

The factory paint was still stuck pretty good, just chalky and faded, so I opted to paint over it

I started by peeling the old decals with a razor and heat gun. Then went over again with some 3M adhesive remover to take off the gunk.

Afterward I started getting after it with the DA and 220 grit, scuffed up all the paint and sanded all scratches down to the aluminum.

I also used a scotch brite pad to remove any leftover dirt and to scuff areas that sandpaper wouldn't get, like between rivets. After that, I washed it, and gave it a rub down with mineral spirits.

I used two coats of epoxy primer, 3 coats of black metallic acrylic enamel, and 3 coats of acrylic urethane gloss clear. All through a harbor freight HVLP gun.

I have only sprayed paint once before (Rustoleum on the trailer), so it was a good learning experience. There is some orange peel, and the clear was especially challenging. That stuff is like water, and I ended up getting a couple sags.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it, at the end of the day it is a fishing boat, not a show car. 

More pics to come as I apply decals, polish, and get it back in the water.

 

 

[MrGiggles]

The back corner is not dull like the photo depicts. Just a shadow.

[MrGiggles]

Just the base, no clear. The clear really brought out the black. It was almost a gunmetal color prior.

[MrGiggles]

After clear. Again, the front half is not dull as the photo shows, it's just the reflection.

[fishinwrench]

Ya did a fine job !  

[MrGiggles]

3 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Ya did a fine job !  

Thanks. 

I thought someone may find it useful if they were thinking about it as well. For a couple hundred bucks you can slap an automotive paint job on a boat.

[Johnsfolly]

Looks good! Hopefully you get a many years out of that paint job.

[fishinwrench]

If you go totally anal on prep you can get surprising results with rattle cans too.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Prep is 95% of any paint job.  You did great.   

[MrGiggles]

Got the decals on, runs and sags fixed, and a coat of wax.

Used a nib file for the runs, then wet sanded and buffed. Like they never happened.

Got some wheels for the trailer too, facelift is pretty much done. Now the inside looks old and crappy.