Re: 1978 Sea Nymph SS160 resto
Since you are trailering the boat, I doubt it will make much difference that it's topside paint on the hull bottom..........
It did turn out looking great BTW.
If you go to Rusto's website & look up MSDS & TDS for Marine Topside paint & the Professional paint (that many have used on their hulls), and compare the same color (I used Gloss White) the TDS for Topside says NOT for below the water line. The TDS for the Pro has NOT recommended for water immersion. If you read the MSDS for both, the Topside, (in Section 9: Chemical Properties) under Solublity in water, is listed as SLIGHTLY, the Pro is listed as NONE.
If you were to call Rusto & ask, I suspect that NEITHER is recommended by them for water immersion on a hull. Although WOG has done a ton of leg work & research, I suspect if you call the Magic paint he recommends for either glass or aluminum hulls, and were to ask them about using it on a boat hull, they'd say it isn't recommended for either or for water immersion as well.
The Valspar Implement paint that used to be available at Tractor Supply & was his recommended low cost boat paint, wasn't recommended for boats either. I did call & speak to their tech line about finding a supplier close to me, the local TSR didn't carry many choices & were difficult to deal w/ trying to order it. For fear of liability, the tech strongly recommended against using their products on a boat hull, and didn't want to send me a color chart if I was painting a boat.
There are boat, marine & hull specific paints available in the market place, we all pretty much know that. It is usually expensive, so many of us pick something else.
You choose Rusto Topside paint, did a great job prepping the hull & shooting the paint, so if for no other reason, I again think it'll last a good long while, and look great for a good long while too....
Thanks for posting the prepping & painting steps, they'll likely help many aluminum hull restos....
I may have forgotten: Tell the Admiral she done good w/ the motor cowl decals.