1980's Hydro Glass Restoration Project

[kcon]

As these things usually go, I hit another roadblock. I'm installing my hydraulic trim tabs...

Starboard side, check!

Port side......uhhhhhh.....

So now I have to fill in the bilge pump drain hole lol, of course the trim tab hydraulic actuator would need to be mounted literally right over it!




Question for folks who know paint, have painted using the WOG tractor paint method, and/or question for Woodonglass


I was installing my trim tabs and noticed the area of paint on the transom is very soft, like my pencil tip, with medium pressure, lightly scratched it. It's not that soft everywhere, just parts of the transom. I also noticed when razoring/peeling off the paint around the HIN, that the paint is rather soft and rubbery, almost like a vinyl, whereas I would expect it to chip or flake.

Any ideas on that? Is it possible I laid the paint on thick there and it just needs more time to cure properly. I finished painting the hull 4 days ago. I used the tractor paint method to a T, only I used Rustoleum Farm & Implement for the paint.

If I'm for whatever reason doomed to soft rubbery paint, so be it!

Thanks much!

 

[Woodonglass]

Did you use the Hardener, and Mix and let it cook for 30 mins. per the instructions??? Was the Transom nice and clean and wiped down with acetone prior to painting??

 

[kcon]

Did you use the Hardener, and Mix and let it cook for 30 mins. per the instructions??? Was the Transom nice and clean and wiped down with acetone prior to painting??

Yup on all three counts. The surface was thoroughly cleaned and prepped. Only thing I can think of is the last coat mixture may have only sat for 15-20 minutes before spray out.


It really sucks if the hull paint job is weak, it's certainly not the end of the world - and i'll use and abuse the **** out of it anyway, but mostly I want to be on top of what I can do right next time, for painting the top cap, I imagine that part will be much more susceptible to scratches.

 

[kcon]

Another question, I purchased a cheap-o $60 outboard above deck fuel tank, 3/8 fuel line, and the following fitting

I'm wondering what the purpose of the below fuel connector is

I had that connection on my old outboard, it's listed for other brands, but I just wanna be sure I have all the correct fittings.

 

[kcon]

So I was back working on the boat today and it seems the paint hardened up a bit more, where I drilled more holes for the tabs the paint was chipping under the drill bit, which is great!


I filled in the drain hole from the inside, then laid 3 layers of 6"x6" 6oz fiberglass over the thickened epoxy filling.

For the trim tabs, three of the mounting holes on each side are below the deck line, so I over drilled and injected thickened epoxy into those holes, to avoid any screw to wood or screw to void contact.

So I can tell my deck foam compartments, on either outward side of the stringers, are 100% air tight and sealed....because when I was drilling the hole below deck from the transom to mount my trim tabs, I got a loud pop of air that shot out dust at me lol.

 

[kcassells]

Glad to hear the paint issue is over.

 

[kcon]

Glad to hear the paint issue is over.

Here's to hoping! I'll give it another week before I try to get it on the trailer to avoid damage before I'm sure it's fully cured. It still seems the same spot is still a little softer than other parts, but after some scratch tests I feel it did get better.

 

[oldrem]

Sure looks good.

 

[kcon]

Keepin busy.

D'oh! So I could blend/sand that in, maybe I will, but probably not. It'll be behind the trim tab hydraulic so who cares!

PSA: As I expected, the majic paint hardener slightly adds gloss to your paint, the identical color rattle can will not match the tractor paint method. Again, behind hydraulic = who cares.

 

[Woodonglass]

What gun and tip size did you use when you shot the paint? The Hardener DOES add Gloss and changes the color just a tad. For touch ups use a Pre-Val System. Works GREAT!!! $5 bucks at Home Depot!!!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Preval-9-oz-Complete-Spray-Gun-267/202533738

 

[kcon]

It's the Tractor Supply Ingersoll Rand HVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun, 1.5 tip. Yeah I'm gonna have to get that pre-val, then sort my stupid self out on how to mix ratios at different quantities

Figured the rattle can would be closer in color, nope! Luckily I tested that where it'll barely be seen anyway.

 

[Woodonglass]

I mix my paint using metric. It's soooooo much easier especially with little batches.
For the Preval Sprayer the Bottle is 9oz or 265ml. The correct hardener to paint ratio is...15ml per bottle of paint. Same process for mixing and "Cooking". 30 mins and ready to shoot. Dispose of all mixed paint after 8 hours. I use the Medicine Dosage cups to measure and mix. Get em here...https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/me...606757-product

Your orange peel was prolly caused from not having enuf air in the mix and the fan setting not wide enuf. Need to get the paint atomized enuf for it to lay down and flatten. A 1.3 tip is ideal. It takes a bit of "Fussin" to figure out the right combination but for a boat that's gunna get USED a 10ft paint job is good enuf IMHO!!!!:lol:

 

[kcon]

Awesome, thanks again for the tips! The first layer went on as smooth as glass, I can only assume we should have better adjusted the gun on the 2nd/3rd layers as you said, noted for next time!

 

[kcon]

Still chipping away! Unfortunately it's been hard to find the time the last few weeks, but I'll have the top painted and ready to assemble soon!

Trim tabs installed, with a generous amount of 5200.

(in this light from this angle you can see I didn't really do enough sanding of my epoxy filling before painting, lesson learned.)


To help fresh 17oz glass stick to the bottom of my splash well repairs, I first wet it out on plastic, let is start to set, covered it in peel ply, stuck it to the surface, and smoothed it out with some more glass, worked great.

Dry fit the steering as well

 

[oldrem]

Looking sharp

 

[kcassells]

Moving long just fine.

 

[kcassells]

How's it going?

 

[kcon]

It's....going!

Top cap is 80% sanded, just gotta go back over it with some 120. Splashwell is filled in with thickened epoxy, just gotta smooth it out and get the radius's filled in and smoothed to get it looking factory new.

The goal is to finish painting this weekend, checklist as follows!

1. Finish sanding
2. Fill pinholes / lowspots where necessary, but let some of them go because who cares anyway
3. Finish up splash well (sand/epoxy/sand....epoxy...sand?)
4. Rebuild the darn paint booth (endless storms ripped 80% of the plastic lol)
5. Prep, primer, lightly sand, paint two layers of white and call it a day!

On the hull I still need to grind a bit of old carpet adhesive on the inner gunwales that I've been ignoring since day 1,and add a fresh goat of bilge paint / gelcoat where necessary.


So that's my weekend! Thanks for keeping up!

 

[kcon]

So didn't get around to primer/paint, but I took my time getting it real smooth and filling in as many pinholes and low spots and I could.

Sanded it all down w/ 80 grit, then 120 grit with an orbital sander, then came back and hit all surfaces with a long bendy sanding board with 120 grit on it.


When I started with the 120 on the orbital sander, I laid down some powdered guide coat.

Here's my filled, sanded, filled, sanded splash well, hard to tell but it's pretty even and smooth in there now.
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Then I came back and filled in everything that needed it with two part epoxy fairing compound.
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So the top is finally just about ready to paint, was tedious taking care of all the issues with it but I'm confident it will look great. I counted it out and there was about 300 different areas that needed attention over the course of the build, from damage, to spider cracks, to holes.


This upcoming weekend I'll be lightly knocking down the above epoxy repairs to smooth those areas out again, then prepping it for some primer! Hoping to knock out the primer / paint in one to 1.5 days!

 

[kcassells]

You are looking great! So I prob missed what kind of paint? I used WOG's recipe with Kirbys paint and was darn happy. I'm a budget kinda guy. :joyous:
Didn't want to mix my own colors.