1979 Wellcraft revival

I'm wondering a few things about this latest turd I acquired. I believe its birthday is 1979, but not sure. I found out that the stock engine (160 hp merc L6) has internal freeze damage, so I have to find a good block to work with. My main question is about the hull itself. The bottom part is white, and the cap is a very faded ugly light green. Is it possible to actually paint the cap and have it last without some sort of adverse effect? I was thinking of some shade of blue would be nice to go with the white bottom. The Bottom part of the hull has several cracks in the gellcoat. Some are long, up to 6+" and there are a few chips and blisters as well. These cracks have a name (I think) but its escaping me now. Is crazing it?? I don't remember... If I get nuts enough to try and repair this, whats the best way? Lots of sanding I presume and maybe some type of filler? Then is it possible to paint the rest of the hull white again? I was wondering how paint holds up to the pounding of water. Any thoughts? Also, on these older boats, the serial number is a lot shorter than what I'm used to, so how to you obtain any info about it? It's a Wellcraft, Model W1850V, and the serial # is 29292. I'm guessing that means its 18.5' long, but that's all I can figure out.

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

http://boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm

Check that out see if that helps you at all, maybe you can find some info doing some reverse engineering on any identification numbers on the boat.

Good Luck!

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

couldn't produce anything. all thats stamped on the hull is "29292". Nothing else...

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

Any ideas about painting a hull? Does it work or should I stay away from the spray gun??

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

Wellcraft is based out of NC so it might be able to send an email to them with the serial number. I just bought my fourth Wellcraft, first one a 76, then a 85, another 76 and the newest is a 1979. Well built but have had some issues with the decks. Hope this helps.

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

Yeah man, lots of folks paint their boats. There many paints to choose from, but you almost always get what you pay for. The one part marine paints do a good job, but most likely won't last more than a few years. For the longest lasting results, go with a two-part marine or automotive paint. It also depends on the application method you want to use. The one parts can be rolled and tipped or sprayed. The two parts need to be sprayed.

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

BigBoatinOkie said:

Yeah man, lots of folks paint their boats. There many paints to choose from, but you almost always get what you pay for. The one part marine paints do a good job, but most likely won't last more than a few years. For the longest lasting results, go with a two-part marine or automotive paint. It also depends on the application method you want to use. The one parts can be rolled and tipped or sprayed. The two parts need to be sprayed.

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What I was thinking about was regular car paint sprayed on with a HVLP system. Just a base/clear kind of job. I can hang the boat in the air to do the bottom using my wrecker, so that's no problem... Just wanna make sure it wont blow off at the first wave I hit. I also need to do something about the cracking in the gelcoat, but not sure what though.

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

If your boat will be trailered, then auto paint will be great. I used Nason paint by DuPont, which is a single stage acrylic paint, no clear. It laid down great, but I wish I had used a clear coat so I could buff and polish it to a mirror finish. I'm no body man, so I'm not exactly sure of the best way to fix your cracking. I'm thinking that you can use some of that marine Bondo, not regular Bondo. Then just sand it smooth, then sand all the gelcoat with 400 grit and shoot paint. Since you are doing body work, I would probably shoot primer, but you don't have to prime the gelcoat if you dont' want to, just sand with 400 grit. If you have lots of cracks to fix, then you might as well just prime the whole hull so the paint will look nice and uniform.

Re: 1979 Wellcraft revival

It will mostly stay on a trailer until I sell it. What I'm doing is gathering a few boats up, reviving them and I'm gonna sell them so I can get something larger. Project boats are easier for me to do this with, but I don't wanna do things half way just to sell it. If its worth doing, its worth doing the right way. I enjoy working on boats anyway.... I'm guessing ill have to grind out the cracks some and use some type of filler and prime/sand before painting. Ill try to get some pics up and let you guys see how bad they are, and maybe get a good opinion about It.