I understand that you are more familiar and comfortable spraying paint. But your information is inacurate on the Gelcoat. It can and I have sprayed Gelcoat in my garage at my home on my Cajun. It is quite easy and not expensive. You can get an additive so that it will harden and also you can spray PVA on it to keep the air from letting it harden.

But good luck with the paint.

http://www.bottompaintstore.com/gelcoat-colors-p-10818.html



http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/010734.html

Well, maybe the actual spraying is easy, but you can't argue the cost. Nor can you argue all of the sanding you have to do to get rid of the orange peel. And what about the mixing ratio of MEKP based on current conditions or how fast I want it to kick? And what about wax or surfacing agents? Uh oh, I mixed too much and took too long spraying it and now it's hard as a rock and still in my gun. Oops, I forgot the wax in my final coat and now I ruined it trying to cover it with plastic wrap.

From start to finish, gelcoat is NOT cheap or easy for a first-timer. I don't have money to blow, I HATE sanding, and this is not the project I would want to cut my teeth on gelcoat with.

STAY ON IT!!GREAT JOB You will have great satisfaction bringing the boat back to life!!!!

Well, it's been a while since I've had time to work on the project for more than a few minutes, but I did get a few good days of work.

I had mixed up a custom color of paint using Rustoleum and it looked great indoors. However, as soon as I started to shoot it on the trailer, I quickly realized that it was less maroon and more brown. I cut my losses with Rustoleum and heading to Sherwin Williams. The guy helping me mixed up a nice custom color that was real close to what I wanted (and even saved the mix into his computer, in case I needed to come back for more later!). The paint he pulled for me is an Industrial & Marine deep alkyd base paint. We also got to talking about his own boat project that he did about 5 years ago. He used the same paint and the same enamel hardener and said that it still looks as good as the day he sprayed it on and that it is tough as nails. That at least gives me a little hope...

I've laid down two coats of white onto the hull now. I've since given it a wetsand with 320 grit paper in preparation for the 3rd coat (I'll be putting on 4-6 coats). After the 3rd coat, it will get hit again with 320. After the 4th and 5th, it will be 600. Finally, before I buff it up, it will get 1000 or 1200 grit. Here are the pictures before the wetsanding. You can also see some of the 'not-so-maroon-but-more-brown' paint on the trailer. This WILL be corrected!

With the hull now in fairly good shape paint-wise, I decided to hoist it off the trailer and lay down the new paint that Sherwin Williams brewed up for me. I wasn't sure what to expected with this paint. They told me it didn't need to be thinned, but they were wrong. It still needed about 10% acetone. I also had to increase the pressure on the gun by about 10 psi. But once I figured that out, it flowed out of the gun MUCH smoother than the Rustoleum. It laid up better and covered better. Absolutely night and between between this stuff and the Rustoleum. So far I am extremely pleased!

These pictures are after just a single light coat. I've since laid down another 2 coats and I'm extremely pleased. There's a few flaws caused by my rushing it, but nothing major. I MAY knock it down with a ScotchBrite pad and put on a final light coat, but I may also just leave it as-is and call it good.

More progress on the paint job. This is my first time ever spraying paint (not including normal rattle cans, of course) so it's a "learn as you go" type of thing for me.

With each use of the gun, I get a little more confident and seem to improve overall. With each improvement, though, I also experience new problems. I was previously having a problem with orange peel and after some research and re-adjusting the gun, I seem to have fixed that problem... only to come up with the problem of "streaks" (which I'm pretty sure have something do with my fan and that I'm not overlapping each pass correctly). After the paint dries, you can't really see this problem, though, so it's not a huge issue. I'm thinking another 2 coats will yield me a thick enough finish that I can wetsand it smooth and glossy. I still have over 1/2 a gallon of white paint and with my skill improving with each coat, maybe I'll go up to 8 coats. At some point I have to tell myself enough is enough, right?

Anyway, here are the pictures after the 4th coat. You can see that some gloss is starting to build up... and you can also see my "streaking" problem up at the bow. I still have slight orange peel, but nothing that a quick wetsand can't fix.

I figured that the paint job was "good enough". The orange peel was absolutely minimal and I doubt I could do much better with my [lack of] experience and my cheap tools. The streaking can be partially sanded out, and it's only the bottom of the hull, so it's not a big deal. It was now time to add my color stripe to the sides.


I decided to "roll-and-tip" the stripes so that I wouldn't have to prep the entire hull just to spray two stripes. I started by just putting down a line of frog tape...


And I rolled on the first coat...




WHOA! That is NOT pretty! I needed to step back and figure out what went wrong. 1) I didn't thin the paint. 2) I laid on the paint too thick. 3) I didn't have the right tools for the roll-and-tip method. So I wetsanded most of the color off and started again.

I thinned the paint with 10% acetone and used a better foam roller. This was MUCH better, but still wasn't good enough. I stepped back again and realized that the paint was still too thick to self-level properly. For the next coat I thinned it at 20% acetone and that proved to be the right move. It laid down nicely and evenly. For the final coat, I thinned it further at 25%. BINGO!

I removed my masking and wheeled it out to the driveway to check it out in natural light. It gets my seal of approval! The green frog tape has a really weak adhesive and the top masking allowed some leaking. I'll wetsand it off, plus it's on the underside of the ledge that likely won't be visible when the hull is right-side-up, so no big deal. Thankfully the lower tape line (which will be visible when right-side-up) held great and produced a crisp line. I also have a few drips of paint that came off the roller so I'll have to sand those down and touch it up with an artists brush, but no big deal.

Once the stripes finish curing, it will get a progressive 320, 600, 1000, 1500 wetsand and I will finish it up with a high quality glaze and wax. This paint (with the added hardener) is TOUGH! I can run a nail across it and not even produce a scratch. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it has turned out!

I wish you well on your rebuild. Hope your paint don't wash off after all the hard work. Looking great.Keep u

My bad.Keep us posted.

Thanks Freeman Clark. No worry about the paint washing off. It's an industrial oil based paint with an enamel hardener mixed in. It's tried and true in the marine realm. The maroon paint is even specifically for marine use. It won't be as durable as gelcoat, but it's close.

I'll keep updating my progress, but it's still going to be quite a bit of work (and time!). I ordered my bunk carpet today so within the next two weeks, the trailer will be reassembled and the hull flipped back over. Next on the list is to work on the cap. I've got some minor fiberglass work to do on it and I'm going to be upgrading the front deck storage. Then it's on to prep and paint. That will probably take another month or two to complete. After that, I have the following still on the list (and probably some other things I have forgot):
- new transom
- new stringers
- new deck
- finish the wiring
- new carpet
- new seats
- reinstall everything else

lookin good, what color is the trailer gonna be?

Great job, keep us posted!

Thanks guys. The trailer is already done (that's why it is wrapped in plastic underneath the hull). It is currently doing double-duty as a "cradle" for the upside-down hull to sit on. It is the same color as the stripes on the hull (maroon). The bunk carpet is burgundy. We tried to match the paint color as close as possible to the carpet color, since it's easier to get custom paint than it is to get custom carpet.

I dont think enamal has much uv protection and the gloss is not too good. With all the work it takes to do a project likes this a good polyurathane basecpat clearcoat would have looked and held up much better. Plus you would have too cut and buff iy so much. Just my 2 cents....

That is a bunch of work but the glassing will go a lot smoother because it will not be visable so as long as it bonds well it's good to go.

Looking good so far keep up the good work.

shew! that is for sure a restoration! I'm very impressed with your work and determination!
I fixed my norris craft up this last year with some extended composite decking and compartments, new seats (and seat mounts), vinyl bottom floor. As far as the exterior, I just spent several days working my way up from rubbing compound to polish. It still has some cracks in the gel coat which were there when I got it 4 years ago. They had not gotten any worse since then and I was told that the physical structure of the boat was sound... So some hardcore polishing was the more economic option.

What I will say, is that took me 3 hard months for a mild restoration. I learned a few tricks along the way. But the most important thing I learned was never again will I work with fiberglass! You can do cool stuff with it, but man that is some toxic horrible stuff... and man does it make a mess. Let alone the fact that you don't stop itching for months after its all done. It also gets embarrassing when you cant stand to not go fishing any longer and are riding around on a bucket seat in a gutted sparkle boat come tourney day!

Good luck... appreciate the pics!

Ok, update time again.

I pulled the boat out and finished wetsanding it with 1200 grit and gave her a good bath. I'm going to have to rework the maroon stripes (I think I applied it too thick as it still hasn't cured entirely, thus why it appears "hazy". I'm still evaluating it, but I'll tackle that later). It's nice and smooth and ready to be buffed up.




The bunk carpet was ordered and en route. Trailer reassembly will soon commence!

In the meantime, I started work on the seat design. I'll be doing the seats entirely myself (well, with my mothers help; whom is a whiz at upholstery!).

All 3 bases will be identical. The driver and passenger backs will also be identical. The middle back will be a lower to allow easy step-over access to the back. In terms of dimensions, the bases are pretty much 16" by 16". I'm going to use 4" foam for all bases and backs (and the wife has started the lookout for donor couches to use for foam). All of the backs will be 16" wide. The driver/passenger backs will be 16" tall from the base... well, actually closer to 20" with the lower point that will merge with the base. The middle back will be 8" tall, or closer to 12" with the lower point. The wife picked the color scheme, but I really don't know if I like the idea. It may be too much maroon (the top cap will be maroon and the carpet also maroon).

The hull has been buffed up and waxed. It has a good shine to it and feels great! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

fastoldskeeter - I'm sure a 2-part poly and clearcoat would have been a better choice, but if I was going to invest that kind of money and time, I probably would have went with gelcoat. This paintjob is much less than $100 and, as I have already stated, and very much tried and true in the boat restoration community. If it lasts 2-3 years before I have to cut it, then I have easily got my money's worth (and if in 2-3 years it has gone to complete carp, then I may go ahead and reinvest in a better coating... but for now, we'll see how this does).

The bunk carpet came in and I started reworking the boards. Old is on the left and new is on the right.

Yesterday I pulled the trailer out of the garage and got to work. I quickly realized just how un-ready I was to put it back together, but I had to manage for now. For example, the trailer rollers and bow stop need to be replaced. The front roller and rear roller were so corroded that when I pulled the pin, a steady stream of rust flowed out like sand. They were also beat up and discolored pretty bad. For now, I put them back on, but I will replace them all with new ones in the near future. Also, I need a new winch up front for the same reasons, but again I will replace it later.

Anyway, I started by lightly attaching the bunk supports on the trailer and just sitting the boards on them. Looks good to me! I put the hull back on it and finished the positioning. Once done, I screwed the boards down and tightened up the supports. Some of these pictures are BEFORE the boards were secured and some are from AFTER the boards are secured.

And today I started to re-wire the trailer and get the remaining hardware put on.

First, the winch tower (and also having to reposition the trailer jack)


Then, the fenders and the step boards (I had to run in to town for some new bolts, screws, etc so that ended up taking a lot of daylight). By the time I got the fenders and step boards on, it was dark.


Shortly after the above picture, it began to rain so I had to quickly roll back in to the garage. I started working on the side boards, but I ended up calling it quits for the night so I'll stop my progress here for now. I still have to wire the left side of the trailer (I need to solder and crimp a wire that I had to cut during tear-down). I'll finish up the side boards and wrap it up by reinstalling the license plate and rear lights. It's close!!!!

Yeah, the 'glassing should be a breeze. I will be grinding down to "fresh" fiberglass to ensure the bond will be the best it can be. The manufacturer used poly resin so that's what I will be using as well (plus, it's cheaper than epoxy resin!). The transom and stringers will be bedded with PL adhesive and filleted with "peanut butter" (resin and cabosil mix). For cloth, I'll be using a mixture of CSM and 1708 biax cloth. No worries about the bonding or strength.

Did you use that small air compressor with the paint gun? I've thought about using one with mine but always thought the tank was too small.

Yes, but no. I actually have 2 small compressors that are plumbed together. I've had that pancake compressor shown in the picture for a while, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough. I ended up going out and buying a small 3HP to help it out (I wanted to buy a single LARGE rig, but the wife didn't agree. HA!). You can just see the edge of it in the picture and the yellow coil is the line that is plumbing them together.

The setup still wasn't ideal, but it worked (obviously). The CFM supplied was perfect but I wished I had more stored air. I never had a problem running out of air, but the compressors were definitely working harder than they should have (and thus my water traps were as well!). If you're thinking about it, check how much air your compressor can supply (the CFM rating, not the HP or gallons) and see if you can match a gun to it. I bought the HVLP gun with the lowest CFM requirement and it still wasn't low enough for just the pancake to be able to supply it properly.


*EDIT* - I just noticed that the last picture shows both of the compressors.

Awesome read so far. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to the next update!