Re: Restoring a 1960 Duratech Marlin- Any Tips?
Hi, I also have a Duratech Marlin,
The texture on the bow is textured vinyl. The following is the explanation from the website:
http://www.duratechboats.com/index.html
"About the DuraDeck finish. In 1956, Duratech began applying a reddish-pink protective textured vinyl coating to the enclosed bow and gunwales of all of their runabouts. In '58 and '59, this was applied in a light blue color, and in 1960, the color changed again to what they called "sparkling bronze". In 1961 when Duratech was phasing some boat models out and many new models in, this protective finish was changed to an aqua green color (as seen on several models in the gallery). The aqua green color was used during the remaining years of production. This patented protective coating was called "Duradeck". The textured vinyl material came in sheets and was baked onto the deck and gunwales by the Alcoa Corporation."
I also wanted to repaint my Duratech and successfully got the boat down to bare aluminum. I had a horrible experience sanding because I could not get the vinyl off. I had sections where I was at bare aluminum and the majority of the boat still had the vinyl texture. The vinyl wont sand off in any easy way, so I had to revert to stripper. I used 5f5 and some other stripper I had lying around. This makes the vinyl separate off the aluminum and can easily be scraped off. A putty knife will work but its worth it to get a scraper because you can get a lot more paint off with it. Once you have it down to aluminum I cant offer any great advice. I used rustoleum primer and navy blue paint. It looks really nice but I want something a little more durable. I also abuse this boat which is why I had to paint it in the first place.
As for the Duratech logos, Mine were ripped off before I bought my boat and i have not bothered to replace them.
Good Luck with the paint, this took way more time and effort than replacing the transom on my Duratech, you might want to do that too, its pretty easy and definitely worth it. I put a 50 hp on the back of my 14 marlin and the transom held up fine, that is after it was replaced. Probably a little over capacity for horsepower, but I have a 35 hp on it usually and I feel that it is the perfect size.
Ask any questions you feel like I have replaced everything except the nav. lights since I bought this boat
