73 19-6 little by little

[slvrlng]

I'm going to try a product that I sell for rock chips on your car. It is a clear urethane film that you can remove when needed and reapply quite cheaply. I also agree with lilrich about your gouges.That coral is tough!

[flkeysaqua]

cool man let me know how that works out and if you do start a list of 19-6's ill join up

[RickK]

Thank you all for the help and compliments on the holders I really appreciate all the support.  With glass what would you recomend? Some tri with matte ? And do any of you have a keel guard or no any pros and cons to them? Thinking of putting one on for those trips to the islands.

You won't need any matte.  Remember that when you start grinding, you want to grind up both sides about 3" or so and in about 3/16 to allow for a couple layers of glass.  You might want to re-inforce the whole prow while your at it.  A good grinder and wheel and your done prepping in an hour.

[LilRichard]

Take this for what it's worth, but I had the same problem, and fixed it by using some tickened resin fisrt - followed by a layer or two of 1808 (where most damage occurred) then a little mat to hide print through.  See here:

http://classicaquasport.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=957&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=1971&start=285

[Skoot]

I still have not decided on bottom paint or gelcoat price wise what is the most economical way to go and how long do I have to wait for gelcoat to set before a get her wet?

This might be a dumb question, but why do you need bottom paint on a trailered boat?

Obviously re-gelcoating would be the way to go, but im sure its pricey.  Why not use a high quality paint like Imron or alwgrip?  I've seen a few boat with this done and they look really good, although Im not sure how paint would hold up in the long run.

[RickK]

I have bottom paint on both of mine, and they live on trailers, but only because they always had it. To remove bottom paint totally is a PITA and almost impossible to get the stain off so you end up having to re-gel.  Re-gel is pricey unless you do it yourself - we have a resident expert here in the family that will pipe in here soon I'm sure.

[flkeysaqua]

That's the thing the bottom paint was so bad that on the bow (what you will see unless you're laying under the trailer) I took all the way down to the original gelcoat. The section you see took about an hour wasn't hard to get the stain out of it but it is very time consuming and labor intensive.  And with gelcoat even if it lives on the trailer you will start to see a waterline over time that I'm not sure can be removed, so for that much work and money just to see a waterline is my reason for leaning towards bottom paint. Correct me if I'm wrong but I want a bottom paint that does not wear away while I run? As far as the repair today I was able to grind the section down and lay two layers of tri-axle with a matte back before I went to work. The first piece was just to bring the worst spot back to level with the rest. the next layer that I'll put down will be about two inches overlapping the last piece.







My last Question how many layers are enough I ground all the bad glass out and with one small patch over the worst area and one layer over the entire area and now the glass is flush with the gelcoat so did I screw up and  not grind it far enough down to put one final layer over the entire area or I am good with what I've done?

[RickK]

You're probably ok with what you have as long as you're satisfied with the repair you made at the damaged site.
As for the paint - if the boat will not sit in water for extended periods of time you might consider oil based house paint.  That is what I have on my 170 and now you have a huge choice in colors (mine matches my truck).  It does wear away eventually and places like the front keel (prow) will have to be recoated periodically.  My 170 hasn't spent a night  in the water since I bought her in '88. My 230 will be in water for 3-4 days or more at a time so I went with Petite brand ablative paint - I went with the white and you hardly see it.

[flkeysaqua]

Thanks man appreciate it yeah as far as the glass im happy with it the filler will take care of the rest of the small non structural spots. With white bottom paint I plan on painting the top my boat a shade of white as well can you color match bottom paint or should I go with something that contrast whatever I pick for the top of the boat? Thanks in advance

[RickK]

You have to decide what kind of bottom paint you're going to use first before you can answer the other.  If you're going to use real bottom paint you're kind of stuck with their colors - Petite has a bunch of colors but not the whole rainbow.  I've not heard of custom coloring this.

[flkeysaqua]

Cool so whats the price difference with bottom paint and petite? Im kinda on a budget so whatever least expensive as long as it will last about as long. Now The Home Depot sells tint for water and oil base paint do you think that will effect the bottom paint's performance?

Oh I've also put the first layer of filler on just to go over the minor scratches and the low spots on the prow
Thanks for that word Rickk now i can sound like I kinda know what I'm talking about

[flkeysaqua]

Ok so I think I've found the bottom paint I'm going to use Petite Hydrocoat Blue 1240 has anyone use Hydrocoat is it a good product cool thing about it you mix it with water  instead of brushing thinner any feedback would be greatly appreciate (im buying the paint after work tomorrow hopefully west marine has it down here.

Oh BTW thanks richard your boat looks great wanna finish mine lol I'll pay with beer and nachos

[LilRichard]

Thanks KeysAS.  Happy to provide any support I can, and would like to see your boat when I am in the keys for the fourth.

One thought on bottom paint, I used Interlux VC Epoxy... it is for trailered boats only, but is beautiful white, and very hard.  Not trying to persuade you because there is really no benefit other than looks... and it will be more work.  However it is definitely better for resale (don't know if that will ever happen) and a white bottom just looks better!  This is comletely a subjective call though.

[flkeysaqua]

Definitely Richard do you plan on watching the fireworks here in Marathon? Well Badonquasport is right I feel like im on steroids after sanding half of the boat, talk about a pain my respirator kept fogging up and I already can't see for shat.

One question I know i can read the gallon but do you have to sand between recoats? The gallon says at 70 degrees wait 3 hours to recoat. And IF THE BOAT IS PULL OUT OF THE WATER IN THE FIRST SEASON THE PAINT WILL LOOSE ITS EFFECTIVENESS??? Does it just loose its antifouling properties or will the paint go to shat?

[flkeysaqua]

Well I've got the first coat on the boat I actually got a great deal on a gallon of Pettit 37 bucks at Boater's World. So for the price I couldn't pass it up.









I did not know Pettit made an epoxy paint it laid great