1978 222 Cuddy Rehab

[Double D]

Got some more Progress pics. There was a lot of fairing work to do.


Here's a good picture of how the deck turned out after I sanded it and we filled and faired it with Gelcoat. I highly recommend this method. It came out awesome. The NHL could play a full 3 period game on this surface, it was so smooth.

I then spent two full days sanding the entire boat with 220 preping  it for 545 primer. It wasn't that bad,  just time consuming. I then had a local guy from North Palm Beach named Ron Turnella come shoot the boat with 545. He went through almost 3 gallons for this tiny boat.  Here it is after he was done. BTW, if anyone in the North Palm Beach/Jupiter area ever needs a painter or a fiberglass guy Ron is your man is does awesome work. Let me know if anyone wants his number.

[Double D]

Finally I got to the paint.  After the 545 set up for a couple of days. I had someone guide coat and sand the whole boat with 320. Took a couple of days to do. Very tedious....Money well spent letting someone who knows what they are doing actually do it.
I've painted several boats before and I must say Imron is the only way to go.  I was talked into the new MS-600 Imron by the local supplier.  The big downfall of the old Imron 5.0 was that it was super thin and took a lot of coats to get good coverage. The upside was it lasted FOREVER.  The salesman convinced me  the MS-600 will only take two coats, no more, and it will last as long as the old 5.0.
So I went with the MS-600. Hull is Seafom Green and the rest is Snow White. once again I had Ron Turnella Shoot the boat. See what you think.



I'm a huge fan of matching the hull color and the main deck. Even if the hull is white I think the deck should be another color even if it is subtle.  I didn't want this boat to look like very other clorox bottle white nonskid deck. So on the main deck we sprayed seafoam green non-skidded with coarse awlgrip particles.  I used classic Awlgrip for the deck because it is super strong and durable. I can't stand shiny nonskid painted decks so we used flattening agent to dull it out.  The pictures don't show it but it came out awesome.  I did leave the top cuddy deck snow white non-skid, flattened it out there as well. See what you think.  Word of advise to anyone using Imron...DO NOT use it for a non-skidded area. It is not as impact resistant as classic awlgrip.


I must say I was very nervous about using this new Imron. If I didn;t like it, it's not a cheap do over, but they were right 2 coats is all you need, and it is super shiny.  It came out awesome.

[RickK]

Looking GREAT!!  Love the color.  
How much is the new Imron?  How much did you use?  Still a 2 part, right?  Is this new stuff still as dangerous as the original?  Did you do 2 coats wet on wet?

I used the old type on my 170 and it was very thin (used a qt plus catalyst I think) - I had it perfect, was like a mirror.  Went into the shop and set the gun down, came back out to admire the job and parts of the sides were sagging down the boat  :(   Had to sand that down and buy another qt and try it again - was gun shy the second time and it didn't come out anywhere near as shiny the second time.  I think a qt ran me $40 back when I did it.

[Double D]

Looking GREAT!! Love the color.
How much is the new Imron? How much did you use? Still a 2 part, right? Is this new stuff still as dangerous as the original? Did you do 2 coats wet on wet?

I used the old type on my 170 and it was very thin (used a qt plus catalyst I think) - I had it perfect, was like a mirror. Went into the shop and set the gun down, came back out to admire the job and parts of the sides were sagging down the boat :( Had to sand that down and buy another qt and try it again - was gun shy the second time and it didn't come out anywhere near as shiny the second time. I think a qt ran me $40 back when I did it.

Sagging was the biggest problem with the 5.0 cause it was so thin.  The new stuff is 2 coats wet. Dupont wants you to put one coat on and right away go over it with the second. No need to worry about sagging here. It goes on like a dream and color density is AWESOME! When it was all done we did not even have to wet sand it out, only buff it with 3M #2. What a dream this paint is.
The MS-600 Imron is 3 parts and the ratio is 3 to 1 to 1. Three parts paint one part reducer and one part activator. I bought a gallon of green and a gallon of white. Used all the white and still have a bout a 1/4 of green left. I buy this stuff wholesale here from Merritt's in Pompano Beach. Both colors with the other 2 parts were about $475.00. The Imron Activator is the most expensive part it was $193.00 for the gallon. Then I had about another $280 in Awlgrip stuff for the decks.Keep in mind those are wholesale prices. But Merritt's will ship all over the country, for retail sales. The retail price is about 40% higher.  
I can tell you this is the finest paint I have ever used. It blows the awlcraft 2000 away.

[RickK]

Are the fumes still super toxic?

[Double D]

Are the fumes still super toxic?

No Worse than any other paint brands.

The paint was applied the second week in March. I've had almost 3 months on there now and it is looking as good as it did 3 months ago.  I will only use this Imron from now on, on any boat I do in the future.