Re: paint vs. re-gelcoat ???
I've just dragged home a 1984 Chris Craft Scorpion 21' Center Console 200 Merc OB. It was sitting on the trailer for approx 3 years after what looks like a pretty hard life of fun, fishing, and owner-fabrication. But I've been stricken by the style of the hull, and intend to have this 'project boat!' looking perfect again by summer.<br /><br />I've heard the cost of a professional repaint over gelcoat is outrageous because of the prep work involved, hazzmat licenses required, ect. After talking to a friend who's now approx 2 years into the construction of a (nearly finished) 48' epoxy-over-wood houseboat, I'm much more optimistic that I can actually achieve good results relatively inexpensively painting the entire boat myself. <br /><br />I'm still in a gathering info stage, but my plan paint-wise is to finish stripping the boat; all hardware, rubrail, etc., patch all the screw holes and some not-so-little 'other' holes with epoxy, fix hairline cracks with Gluvit, lightly sand and CLEAN the entire hull surface except for where there's bottom paint now, then spray it with Pettit marine paint that's just a hair lighter than the beige(?) factory gelcoat. Lots of very fine coats. Lightly cut with some polishing compound to level the finish, wax it, and go boatin'!. We'll see. <br /><br />I'm using the helm (about a 3'x4' gel-coated fiberglass box) to test my plan/skill before tackling the entire hull. <br /><br />Yours was the first post I came to on the forum; there may be others on the subject, but I'll be watching for replies to your post from the experts out there. <br /><br />Good luck with the boat.
