Decided to leave my SS with no paint...

[MTboatguy]

When I bought this boat over Memorial day weekend, I was a bit confused because the hull was all aluminum with no paint and no Starcraft badges on the outside of the hull. I did find out what the original color was on the boat by some left over paint on the bottom of the hull. It was avocado green!

So I have decided to just leave it aluminum with no paint, do you guys suggest spraying it with a clear coat to maintain it, so that surface pitting and corrosion doesn't happen? Or should I just apply some type of surface protector on it every once in a while, in my environment, leaving anything raw normally ends up with deterioration after a couple of years.

Thanks.

 

[alldodge]

Only reason (I see) to paint an aluminum hull is either you don't like the looks or your in salt water

 

[MTboatguy]

Only reason (I see) to paint an aluminum hull is either you don't like the looks or your in salt water

Thanks AD, I like the way it looks, no corrosion on it at all, and no salt in its future, so maybe I will just pressure wash it every once in a while.

 

[GA_Boater]

Even with the old green stripped off, the prep to paint another color is still gonna be about as intensive as if the she was still green.

And then you bump a dock and scratch the new paint.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Polishing compoind + high speed polisher then spray with Sharkhide

 

[DLNorth]

Here in the upper Midwest, most Lunds have unpainted bottoms, Crestliners mostly painted, Blue Fin larger boats painted, fishing boats unpainted bottom. No need to polish, just let them turn a natural gray.

 

[Watermann]

You can't just clear coat bare naked AL, it would be a huge mess as it started falling off without any SE or ZC primer for it to adhere to.

Most all of the boats made in the PNW are bare now with either partial paint on the sides or wraps. 5052 AL has great corrosion resistance and the parts that are painted are not where the corrosion gets started, it's where something never dries out that is up against the AL, like saturated foam or rotten wood.

 

[MTboatguy]

Actually WM, there are several clear coat products on the market that are specifically designed to spray directly on polish aluminum. Most are UV stable, non chipping non yellowing and are protective coatings.

Toon Brite is one that I have used in the past and it is a good product, we used it on Airstream and Avion travel trailers when doing restorations on the older models that had 5052 aluminum skins.

 

[Watermann]

I've seen products like Sharkhide, Zoop and such sealers that only last a short while but not any paint type clear coats made for AL boat hulls. Then there's resistance to fuel products and abrasion. Maybe you could post a link to a clear coat not a sealer that adheres to polished AL, I'd like to read about that wonder product. I would think the only option would be clear powder coating.

If your thinking about Cerakoat, it's 30 bucks for a 4oz bottle, used for small parts and I'm not such what it costs by the quart or gallon to spray on a hull.

I say paint or let it age gracefully. For brightening the AL I use JJV's Best. http://www.jjvsbest.com/index.php/products/aluminum

 

[MTboatguy]

I do a lot of Cerakote work, it is part of my firearms business, so I can get a really good price on it, the only reason I shy away, is because it has to be heat cured, but again, I do have a full Cerakote shop for guns.

I am really not all that worried about it as I will be boating in cold water so corrosion is not a big deal around here. But toon brite is a good product and with having a Cerakote shop, I pretty much have all of the needed equipment to spray it. I don't use so called "Miracle" products, I use products that I have tested and know to work, my reputation depends on it.

I will probably leave it bare and polished based on the conditions I encounter.

https://www.toonbrite.com/

 

[DLNorth]

Seems like a bright polished bottom would scare away the fish,
unless you fish for bass, then it's just a large lure.

Dan