1980's Hydro Glass Restoration Project

[kcon]

Day two of primer, first I scuffed everything with 3m Scotch Brite Gray, which didn't seem sufficient, I believe it's around 700-800 grit, so I went back and orbital sanded everything with 320 grit, much happier I did. Here's the results after the second coat dried (the dim lighting does it a bit more justice than is deserves lol)

So here's some of the pitting I was referring to in my last update. No big deal really, I'll come back to it in the fall if I feel so inclined, I've been a perfectionist where I can be, but some things I have to let slide in the interest of getting this thing WET.
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Okay on to the COMPLAINTS. So day one, we got the primer thinned out nice, the mixture was rustoleum primer and majic reducer, with some acetone mixed in. My buddy was a professional paint manufacturer/spray tech so he mixed the primer as he saw fit, for the actual color out we will be following WOG's recommendations to a T. Anyway day one coat one the primer laid out like glass, very pleased. Day two coat two we had some moisture in the line, despite three water/oil separators (will have to sort that out by the time we get to color spray), anyway we had mild orange peel issues (see below) - I'm not TOO worried as I will be sanding it with 320 before the paint goes out, I just wanna be on top of the moisture in the line issue before color goes out. Conditions were perfect, bright sunny cool day here in NY with very very low humidity. The booth has HEPA filtered air coming in, and a huge AC setup, did a great job keeping the outside out.

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Anyway, being a perfectionist (well, I like to try to be anyway) I'd love a smoother surface, but I'm really not concerned, whatever it looks like after 320 sanding, is how it'll stay.

 

[Woodonglass]

What were your temps when you did the last coat of primer? What Gun are you using and what size of nozzle/tip does it have. What was your thinning ratio? did you wipe the surface with Acetone prior to shooting the last coat?

 

[kcon]

Woodonglass

Temps for first coat were in the 80's though it was later in the day and the sun was lower. Second coat (where issues arose) temps were in the high 80's, around noon, the paint booth acted as a green house (despite the large AC, it was HOT in there).

I'm using the $99 Tractor Supply Ingersoll Rand HVLP gun with the 1.5mm tip it comes with (I purchased a 1.4mm per your paint recommendations but it did not fit in the gun).

Thinning ratio was sort of eyeballed by my painter buddy in between test spray outs but he estimates we were around 3:1 ratio for both coats.

For surface prep after sanding, I hosed it all down, wiped dry w/ microfiber cloth, wiped entire surface with a 50/50 mix of acetone and mineral spirits, then hit the entire surface with tack cloth. Pretty tedious prep for a large boat surface lol, labor of love for sure.

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I'm assuming some of our issues as seen above come from temperature and moisture in the lines, well hopefully anyway as I can easily address those issues...the primer seemed very thin and we sprayed light coats. After we saw some orange peel we laid it on some more so I wouldn't sand through it when I come back to smooth it down.


Anyway, any tips?

 

[Woodonglass]

Primer is intended to be sprayed full strength or nor more than a 2 to 1 thinning. Primer has a LOT of solids and this will cause sagging and orange peel if the paint is too thin, Most primer guns use a 1.8 to 2.0 tip. 1.2 to 1.4 are tip sizes for finish coats. The larger tips allow thicker paint to be sprayed correctly

One more thing, almost every member on the forum that has restored a boat, have made statements that they probably spend WAY to much time on perfecting the bottom of the hull, making is SHOW quality, Bottom line, once you're on the water NO ONE will See, Know or Care how PERFECT you made it. If it looks fine @ 10 ft, then IMHO she's Good to Go!!!
NOTE: We ALL made this decision AFTER we had made it close to PERFECT!!!!:facepalm:

 

[kcon]

Thanks much, I'm having a hard time finding other sizes of tips for this Tractor Supply gun so I'll have to deal! So for the primer I have laid out I'll just have to smooth it out and deal! So I'm happy enough with my two layers of primer that after smoothing it out I'll be laying out some color coats this weekend.

I'm with ya on the perfectionist thing now, as long as it looks good at around 10 feet I'm happy, it's mid July and I just want it in the water already!


Because I can only get my hands on the 1.5mm tip for my gun, think I need to change anything regarding ratios for color coats, or will the 0.1mm size difference not make all that much of a difference?

 

[Woodonglass]

1.5 is ok, Just keep the Paint a bit thicker and slow down your spray passes. If temps are in the 80's I'd use a 50/50 mix of Acetone and Mineral Spirits to thin with and start 2parts paint 1 part thinner . See how it lays down and adjust if needed.

 

[Woodonglass]

Post a pic of the gun and the tip?

 

[kcon]

Post a pic of the gun and the tip?

Will do tomorrow morning! Thanks for all the help

 

[kcon]

Completely forgot to take that picture, busy few weeks over here. Doesn't help the process (which is dependent on ambient conditions) that it's literally been raining in NY for over 3 weeks.

It's the $100 tractor supply HVLP gun.

I sanded down the primer with 320 grit, mostly by hand, came out awesome after sanding, really solved any issues with grittyness or orange peel.

Here's how it looks after I sprayed it with the hose, some fake gloss.

Upgraded the booth with a vent out and another AC blowing air in, double layered it with plastic too, the weeks of rain and thunderstorms tore up the last iteration.

Anyway, here's the first coat of blue! I used WOGs tractor paint formula (using Rustoleum) and it worked flawlessly.

Gonna wet sand it with 320 then get another coat on it this weekend.



Thanks again WOG!

 

[oldrem]

Looking good!

 

[kcon]

Thanks! It's finally all coming together!

 

[kcassells]

Great Job!! Thanks for the details too! opcorn:

 

[kcon]

For my last coat of paint I was thinking wet sand it with 1500 then 2000 then buff it, then wax it. Does this make sense? I'm new to this

 

[kcon]

Question / point of opinion needed here. I have me some bennett trim tabs, as you can see in previous pictures my transom only spans 1/3rd of the aft of the boat, the rest is a quarter inch or so of fiberglass. I'm wondering about mounting my trim tabs. I was thinking I can again buy more epoxy and fill some PB in the area where I would drill holes for the trim tab screws, or I'd replace the screws it came with with larger bolts / nuts and back it with the thickest washer(s) I can get, then smother it with 5200.

Does that sound like a "good" idea? I can't imagine the trim tabs are taking so much force that a half inch washer wouldn't be sufficient.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd recommend using 3x6" piece of 3/4" plywood glassed tot he inside of the transom as a backer to mount them with. You'd be surprised at the amount of force a trim tab will take.

 

[kcon]

I was worried you'd say that, just when I though I bought my last quart of epoxy!

 

[kcon]

I present to you, a painted hull!

Coats two and three, done! Looks real good in person, a bit more orange peel than I was willing to accept, but in the continually frustrating interest of getting this thing in the water while we still have good weather, I'll put off wet sanding, buffing, and polishing until the spring.

Next stop, paint the top cap and window frames!

 

[oldrem]

Sweet! One more big job off the checklist.

 

[kcon]

Yup! Sure feels nice to finally have it coming together and looking the part! Can't wait to get it in the river and scratch up this nice paint job

 

[AShipShow]

Looks awesome! great job, and a big job at at that.