[nikki1]

i've stripped the paint off,tighten up loose rivets,put gluvit on them.now i'm ready to paint do i need a primer before i paint? /what kind of primer and paint? any info/thanks

[petrolhead]

Yes you do need a primer if you've stripped it back to bare metal, zinc chromate or an epoxy primer, I prefer epoxy myself and you can get ones that are intended for aluminium, although standard epoxy primers seem to work OK for everything I've ever painted.

[fire831]

nikki1, depending how much you want to spend or how good the job has to be, I just painted my 12 ft. alum. with Krylon Rust Tuff. I got it at NAPA for around $8.00 a quart. All I did was used a wire brush on my drill and got it down to bare clean alum. no primer and applied with a good china bristle brush and it turned out great. I know you should use a self etching primer but the good stuff I priced $34.00 a quart was cheapest I didn't want to wrap that much money up in this old boat.Good luck and get ready for some hard work but it's worth it when your done.

[mellowyellow]

the real question is how long do you want it to last?petrolhead is correct here. it will last for decadesrather than years that way.

[petrolhead]

Also, in my experience, a good paint job using the correct primer will increase the resale value by at least the cost of the materials, so you lose nothing whether you intend to keep the boat for ever or sell it in the forseeable future.