1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

[jdooner]

Could someone give me an idea of how I should prepare this for paint. I'm innocent..the previous owner painted the boat white, the paint bubbles and he sanded a lot of it off. Gotta be the World's Ugliest Boat.. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Jerry Dooner

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Could someone give me an idea of how I should prepare this for paint. I'm innocent..the previous owner painted the boat white, the paint bubbles and he sanded a lot of it off. Gotta be the World's Ugliest Boat.. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Jerry Dooner

I'm trying to post a picture but not having any luck.

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Last try for pic...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Welcome!!

Read this section and do a search for Paint. You will see hundreds of results.

look at this link to post photos : http://forums.iboats.com/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=37;gtid=1179789

What type of boat is it? Fiberglass? Wood? Aluminum?

The paint prep is the MOST important part of having it look good and last.

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

jdooner.39623@uploads.photobucket.com

 

[jdooner]

No Subject

No Subject

jdooner.39623@uploads.photobucket.com

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

jdooner.39623@uploads.photobucket.com

 

[Minuteman]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Let me try this.

 

[Minuteman]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

I think you need to remove the highlighted "http://www" and then add the whole link. I think that might be what is wrong.

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Mr. Minuteman...thank you so much!! That's my nasty boat! That hose clamp was holding the cover on the starter. The engine is a 351 Ford Windsor with an OMC out drive. I got it running and it sounds good. The oil is as clean as can be. The wood in some of the seats is bad, the upholstery fairly new, and it needs some work on the wiring.
I plan on painting it with Imron, which has lasted 25 years on another boat, what I don't know is what to apply to this mess. Marine Bondo??
Thank you,
Jerry Dooner

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

You either have the worlds shiniest boat floor or there is standing water in the boat, never a good thing.

Anyway, prep is key. How into it you get is dependent on how perfect you want the end result. You can get a good looking boat by sanding, sanding, and doing a bit of sanding to prep the surface. You can fair out the nics and dings with filler designed for marine use. You can finish her off with a good 2 part epoxy or urethane paint that can be rolled/tipped, brushed, or sprayed. If you want perfection you are looking at endless hours of sanding, filling, fairing, priming, sanding, fairing, filling, more priming, on and on, THEN spraying the Imron. Do you love the boat that much? Me, I would go the roll/tip route, but thats just me....

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Hello Captain..the boat is dry A lot of sanding is on the agenda, but I don't know what to use for filler. Not being familiar with the stuff mentioned in the posts, and believe me I've been reading them, I am not sure which stuff to use. Or maybe I should say I have no idea which.....
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

With boats, we sort of customize are fillers for the task at hand. For sandability and bulk, epoxy mixed with "microballoons"/"miniballons"/"glass bubbles" works well. If you're doing a lot of thin fairing (and it looks like you are) then you may wish to use a pre-mixed fairing filler like this:
Click here

For strength application, different fillers are used with epoxy such as chopped fiberglass strands, colloidal silica/AKA cabosil, talc, graphite, etc. This gives you a good idea of what's used for what:
Click here

Shy away from automotive filler products. They have spotty success in the marine environment. The only exception I make is "glazing putty" which is used for filling scratches and pinholes, but nothing deeper.

I would also go with the roll & tip method of painting unless spraying was relatively easy for you. That is to say you had the compressor, equipment and a place to do it. Roll & tip with top drawer marine paints (~$40/qt) comes out very good, and with cheaper marine paints (~$15/qt) it comes out pretty darn good. 2 part paints are pretty much universally tougher but are designed to be sprayed.

But make sure you're not putting the cart before the horse. Make sure the engine & outdrive are working perfectly. As I understand it, neither your engine nor your outdrive is particularly well supported with parts & shops anymore. Check the floor, stringers (to the best of your ability) and transom for rot.

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Thanks Admiral..that's pretty much what I needed to know. I have the compressor and a Binks #7 gun, and a big backyard that has had a couple cars painted in it. Also one of my boys does some pretty fancy painting, I'll get him to shoot it and maybe do a little artwork, . maybe Homer Simpson or the like on the stern. Bottom will be white the top will be pearl green to match my truck, and I think I'll name it, "Green Side Up". Just hope this 68 year old body can stand the strain. Well..I've plenty of time. Thanks again,
World's Ugliest Boat Owner,
Jerry Dooner
btw..the engine has been rebuilt and the oil is clean, mechanically its ok, and in the receipts that came with it was the mention of a new stringer among a lot of other stuff. It just looks bad.

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Update....have done considerable sanding and it seems to be all gelcoat damage and a lot of screw holes. would it be conceiveable to repair the gelcoat with gelcoat and sand it down and paint it. I ask this because I read where treating the bad spots with styrene would make for a better bond with the existing gelcoat
So far I can't locate the 3M product mentioned above, there used to few a few marine places around here but they all closed down around 1980, the last time I messed with this stuff.

 

[aerwin]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

get it running good first, a good looking boat with a old, obsolete outdrive is the pits

 

[ondarvr]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

Styrene won't help bonding, but it will clean the surface, so it may be easier to find another type of cleaner to use. You can use gel coat, or gel coat putty to fill the screw holes, nicks and sratches, or you can buy a marine type putty. If it's epoxy, it may be tougher to sand though, it depends on the type of filler they use to thicken it.

 

[ManOfwar690]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

um you could sand till your death becomes a factor..... me id just slap on a sticker that says LOOK AT ME IM AN UGLY DUCK..... SO AINT YOUR MAMA but thats just me the best paint above the water line and will help hide the imperfections is AWL GRIP your bot id roll it and leave it AWL GRIP has a thinner for rolling and it will help u.... outher choise is you prep the inner hull deck engin com and bow with 3 gall of GAS ... whipe it aroung the whole insides.... then light a match n run

 

[jdooner]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

All replies welcome and considered. Maybe I'll name the boat "Ugly Duck", if ManOf War isn't already using it

A couple more questions..the outdrive is a 175, the engine a 351", can't find reference to this combination, and the plate on the outdrive is too beat up to read, there are 4 different outdrive models for this year. Also, there is a 'dial' on the steering column in front of the wheel. Is it possible this once had the tilt feature that presently isn't on the boat?
Thanks again,
Jerry

 

[JasonJ]

Re: 1977 Galaxy trihull.....newbie needs advice

If you going to go through all the nightmare-ish hell of sanding and prepping for gelcoat, and then sanding the gelcoat, you mght as well just use gelcoat. You would end up with a much more durable finish than paint, and you could leave the thing in the water for more than three days if you wanted to.