1964 Traveler I Think

SunnyD1964

Cadet
Joined
Apr 24, 2026
Messages
6
Is this normal after you sand off the paint? This is my first restoration.any advice is greatly appreciated and welcomed, trying to restore the whole boat
 

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matt167

Rear Admiral
Joined
Sep 27, 2012
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4,371
I can’t see what’s going on in the video but can kinda see you have sanded past the gel coat in the picture. That’s not good. Your boat isn’t painted it’s gel coated.

Very common to scuff and paint an old fiberglass boat. Just don’t try to remove the gel coat. To repair what you did just get a small amount of gel coat. Follow directions and paint it on. Sand it flush ( not through ) and then just scuff and shoot your paint
 

MikeSchinlaub

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 14, 2025
Messages
738
In the video, it looks like you're dealing with a poorly prepped repair from years past. If you have material flaking off, you need to get all of that off or your nex paint will do the same thing.

The picture looks like either lots of sanding with 36 grit or lots of beaching and sand bar hits. You'll keep burning through if you try to sand that smooth.

Post some farther out pictures of each side. If the whole hull is like this, and you want it back to factory, you'll end up gel coating the entire bottom. That's a huge job.
 

SunnyD1964

Cadet
Joined
Apr 24, 2026
Messages
6
I can’t see what’s going on in the video but can kinda see you have sanded past the gel coat in the picture. That’s not good. Your boat isn’t painted it’s gel coated.

Very common to scuff and paint an old fiberglass boat. Just don’t try to remove the gel coat. To repair what you did just get a small amount of gel coat. Follow directions and paint it on. Sand it flush ( not through ) and then just scuff and shoot your paint
Do i need to do the gel coat? Or can I do just the paint, I sanded it down because you could see the fiberglass through the gel coat, it was done poorly
 

SunnyD1964

Cadet
Joined
Apr 24, 2026
Messages
6
I can’t see what’s going on in the video but can kinda see you have sanded past the gel coat in the picture. That’s not good. Your boat isn’t painted it’s gel coated.

Very common to scuff and paint an old fiberglass boat. Just don’t try to remove the gel coat. To repair what you did just get a small amount of gel coat. Follow directions and paint it on. Sand it flush ( not through ) and then just scuff and shoot your paint
Also the video is me showing where the sunlight is coming through, and the picture is of the sunlight
 

SunnyD1964

Cadet
Joined
Apr 24, 2026
Messages
6
In the video, it looks like you're dealing with a poorly prepped repair from years past. If you have material flaking off, you need to get all of that off or your nex paint will do the same thing.

The picture looks like either lots of sanding with 36 grit or lots of beaching and sand bar hits. You'll keep burning through if you try to sand that smooth.

Post some farther out pictures of each side. If the whole hull is like this, and you want it back to factory, you'll end up gel coating the entire bottom. That's a huge job.
Ive been using 80 grit to take off the old, then gonna go over with 120, to smooth it.
 

MikeSchinlaub

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 14, 2025
Messages
738
Do i need to do the gel coat? Or can I do just the paint, I sanded it down because you could see the fiberglass through the gel coat, it was done poorly
Anything on the lower hull should really be gel coat. A good single stage paint could work, but will still be much more susceptible to damage. Base and clear won't take to constant water contact well, and will get damaged the first time you load it on the trailer from the water. A boat is a lot of weight dragging on those bunks, rubbing the dock, and bumping into stuff.
 
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