looking for advice

I have a 16 ft. tri-hull fiberglass boat, I purchased it for 500 bucks with a trailer as a "project" I don't want to have the same look as every other boat on the water so I was thinking about redoing the entire hull/transom in a special type of carbon fiber. the transom is rotten so I have to tear it apart and start from scratch but I was wondering what kind of preparation is involved in putting a new skin on the hull, what do I need to remove the old paint and gel coat with? do I even need to strip it or can I laminate on top of it? sense ill be using just clear epoxy to show off the carbon fiber do I need to worry about the lacking antimicrobial gel coat? iv ripped the stringers out they where so rotten I could suck them up with the shop vac once I peeled away fiberglass. What kind of preparation is needed for laying new stuff down, do I strip off the old fiberglass or can I sand it smooth and go overtop of it?? few pictures are attached of boat and planned carbon fiber (can get camo fiberglass to at an insane price of $150 cdn per yardx50")...Any input is appreciated negative or positive "first boat project"

Re: looking for advice

To lay more glass down under the deck or anywhere you will need to grind all the old dirty glass and gel coat down to clean and fresh stuff. the carbon questions are out of my league, but cost will most likely be the biggest challenge. Any reason you think Carbon fiber is needed? most just use new fiberglass to make all repairs.
If you read a couple of the fiberglass repair threads in the Restoration section, you will get a better idea of what is in front of you. Have fun with your new project!

Re: looking for advice

I know carbon fiber is not needed it just cosmetic, very cool looking I think. all the non visible stuff will be done in normal fiberglass. what's best for stripping? I was using a handheld sander but it seems like it will take me 17 years to do whole boat. I seen a video of someone using what looked like powered plainer with water attached (I gues for dust) what would you recommend?

Re: looking for advice

Re: looking for advice

Gee, how about a fancy paint job, on the exterior of the hull?

It will be real hard to make that carbon fiber look good, as in the original construction, the gel coat is sprayed onto the inside of a mold to make it smooth. You will need to spray the exterior with gelcoat and then likely wet sand to 1000 grit wet paper. It still may not look good.

Re: looking for advice

The true purpose of gel-cote is to protect the resins used in plastic construction from ultra-violet damage. (Fiberglass as we informally call it is actually fiberglass reinforced plastic. In fact, your registration will usually describe the boat as plastic.)

Straight epoxy will not do the job protecting itself against sunlight unless you do buy specialty products and they will be out of sight costwise, as will be the carbon fiber. As mentioned above: Why not do a custom paint job with high quality marine paint?

Re: looking for advice

thanks for the input, learn something new every day. I really hate painting especially outdoors, im aware of carbon fiber/epoxy costs but not the special epoxy yet. I would just like a very unique looking boat (hopefully not ugly) I plan on having the boat for a long long time because its my work, so im planning on sinking a good chunk of money into it if it gives me a long lasting cool looking boat. chris1956 was saying it will be very hard to make it look good, I figure they make car parts look pretty sweet and are exposed to the same elements for the most part, so its possible I assume, I expect to **** away $ with mistakes, it sucks but **** happens. thanks again for taking the time to share some knowledge

Re: looking for advice

Gee, Aren't car parts painted? Paint is made to be sprayed onto objects and to make them look good. Gel cote is thickened polyester resin. Different stuff than paint.

Give it a shot. Maybe it will work for you.

Re: looking for advice

Can,t beat the look of carbon fiber but a good painter can do any thing.