Looking for guidance on hull work.

[Oldcaster]

Been lurking/reading and now looking for some advice from the experts out there on the best way to approach cleaning up a boat that I acquired. Having some trouble with uploading pics but hopfully this will work. - Looks Like I need to do 3 Posts before I can post pics so will break this down into several parts

 

[Oldcaster]

A bit about me, I?m very handy and can usually figure almost anything out given enough guidance. Wife and I raised 5 kids and had a great ski boat for them, was fast but as the wife and I have gotten older, we've evolved to using a boat maybe ten times a year to go out on a lake and putz around. The boat will spend most of its time in the shade at the house with a cover on it. Got rid of the ski boat and found a great deal on a setup that I have always loved - 1994 Bayliner rendezvous 2359 with the 4.3 liter Mercruiser and what I believe is an Alpha 1, 2nd Gen drive. I was able to pick it up for about 25% of the Blue Book value so feeling good about putting a little bit of money back into it. Before purchase, we took it out on the lake; she floats, the engine purred like a kitten, great compression test, just in need of some TLC.

I have my engine guy helping me with the little problems that exist, stiff throttle and steering, trim, etc.
Have pulled all the cushions, all being replaced with new, beautiful helm seat built for two ordered with mounts, getting the new snap-in Berber carpet and a new Bimini to be ordered should finish up the top half.

As you can see from the pics, a cover will be a new thing for this boat. The finish on the boat is horrible from the rub rail down. The deck itself is in great shape, when you rub there's no oxidation or paint coming off, and I believe for the white on top all it will need is a good buff and wax.

So this brings me to the task at hand and that is fixing the bottom of this boat. I hate that Bayliner blue color. I want to get rid of all the blue and to make it white with a red stripe and pinstripe decals. As you can see from the pictures that white Haze is pretty much all oxidized paint. What I don't grasp is how to go about refinishing this.

I have explained it to two different boat shops with pictures, they tell me that it could run between 2 - $10,000 for them to fix/paint it for me.

I found that a good pressure washing has removed most of the oxidation. I pulled out the old rub rail and have blasted the metal clean and removed all the silicone around the rub rail. The blue coating on the bottom of the boat has me scratching my head. I'm not sure if it is underwater paint or if someone felt like painting a coat of blue paint on. You can see from the pictures it is chipping/ flaking/ wearing out, so I need to do something about that. Anyone know if this blue was factory or added after the fact?

One boat place told me there is no way it can be the underwater stuff because it only comes in Black. Another place told me I could get the underwater paint in different colors. Like dark red blue or black,

 

[Oldcaster]

When I get online and research I can see a thousand different ways to potentially fix this boat rum shooting gel coat, rolling gel coat, shooting paint, grinding, sanding, rubbing, washing, Lord knows what.

There are some pretty good little scuffs and scratches around the Keel areas, but my understanding is that the glass is pretty thick there. I have picked up a bunch of hull repair gel coat repair kits to play with, and I think I can tackle the gouges/scrapes

Optimal solution for me is that I repair any gouges scratches using a gel coat repair system
Then sand rough up the bottom area from the rub rail down followed by an application of satisfactory paint that is white that will seal it up and protect it.
Then above the rub rail, I would rough up and shoot paint similar to how I would paint a car.

I am not worried about people and what they think, if the finish isn't perfect, if there's brush strokes or roller strokes or anything like that or if the surface isn't a flat piece of glass reflecting everyone's reflection back at them that is fine with me.

I want the upper part above the rub rail to look nice but again it does not have to be perfect. I want to repair the big scratches and in an Ideal World sand rough up the blue area on the bottom and sides and get something that is white back over it.

No problem with putting in the elbow grease to make it happen it's just I have had so many conflicting opinions on how to do this;
blue has to be sanded off completely before you can do anything
sand the rough areas of blue, feather the edges and paint

I have been picking up different types of repair materials to experiment with but figured I might as well get some opinions from folks who know best. Given the fact that it doesn't have to be "perfect" yet I do want it to look decent without breaking the bank.

I have attached a bunch of pictures of the areas and to try to convey the state of what I'm dealing with. Let me know if I am missing anything - Most of the chips that you see on that blue undercoat happened when I was pressure washing the boat. Whatever I do I would hope will be durable and last the 10-15 years that I would expect to be using this as described above. Thank you again in advance and sorry about the length,

 

[Oldcaster]

Trying to add pics but it will not let me - tells me I have to have 3 posts before I can add attachments... sigh

I put the pics in my Dropbox for Viewing, Hope that works - Brian

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/95ymgwmdx4i8thl/AAC0G_6ERphDmgAqbSTdJSPXa?dl=0​

 

[hvymtl939]

Looks like a nice project! I would repair those areas with bigger gashes, and then use a fiberglass restoration kit to bring the gel back to life. I had great luck on an old Glastron using the Meguiars one.

 

[gm280]

Well first of all, :welcome: to iboats Oldcaster. Always great to welcome a new member here on iboats...

Okay, I am reasonably sure the blue is not paint. It is more then likely gel coat. So unless you can wet sand the blue back to a good finish, you may have to either prep for paint or re gel-coat it again.

As far as the repairs, that too is in the gel coat. If the sub material is still in good condition, you can get gel coat in the blue color and repair it. It will probably not match well, but unless you want to recoat everything, you may have to live with the miss-match. JMHO

 

[SHSU]

What kind of time line and budget we working with? So much easier to spend other people's money!!!!! (That is what my Admiral tells me....) Have you drilled test holes in your transom and floor to make sure you have good wood or are you just going off feel?

As for the paint, I am with GM you need to decide what kind of final product you want. Gel coat fades with time so matching is going to be very difficult unless you redo everything.

JMHO

 

[Oldcaster]

Researching pictures of this boat, I do not see any of them that came from the factory with a blue bottom on them like this. It looks like it was taped off, the blue layer chips (see pic 9) with persuasion, underneath is a shiny white layer of what is obviously gelcoat. My thoughts are to repair the damage, sand up the bottom and find something that I can paint over the blue/repaired areas to make the bottom white again. Is there a paint that will work for that?

I would guess that in average year here the boat will spend approximately 20-30 hours in the water. The rest of the time it will be in the back garage cooking in the Arizona Heat. It's an Arizona boat so I am reasonably confident that it did not spend a bunch of time wet where the wood could have been damaged. Does not have to be a Showboat but if there's something I can reasonably do to make it look decent then that is the objective. Otherwise I could probably use it for the next ten years just like it is with no problem whatsoever. I am pretty sure it's not in danger of sinking I would just like to erase some of the neglect it has been through.

Is there a paint that I can apply to sanded gelcoat that will adhere reasonably while boating? As I said they normal trip the boat gets wet for 6 hours and then has about 20 days to dry off.

thanks

 

[mxcobra]

darn thats a big neat boat. But it is a Bayliner So first thing is better cut her open and check for rot. before anything else is done.

 

[SHSU]

Researching pictures of this boat, I do not see any of them that came from the factory with a blue bottom on them like this. It looks like it was taped off, the blue layer chips (see pic 9) with persuasion, underneath is a shiny white layer of what is obviously gelcoat. My thoughts are to repair the damage, sand up the bottom and find something that I can paint over the blue/repaired areas to make the bottom white again. Is there a paint that will work for that?

I would guess that in average year here the boat will spend approximately 20-30 hours in the water. The rest of the time it will be in the back garage cooking in the Arizona Heat. It's an Arizona boat so I am reasonably confident that it did not spend a bunch of time wet where the wood could have been damaged. Does not have to be a Showboat but if there's something I can reasonably do to make it look decent then that is the objective. Otherwise I could probably use it for the next ten years just like it is with no problem whatsoever. I am pretty sure it's not in danger of sinking I would just like to erase some of the neglect it has been through.

Is there a paint that I can apply to sanded gelcoat that will adhere reasonably while boating? As I said they normal trip the boat gets wet for 6 hours and then has about 20 days to dry off.

thanks

Either way with everything you will find on the forums here, I would suggest drilling a couple test holes. Better to be double sure you were right then having something eat at the back of your mind. JMHO

As for the paint/gelcoat. Given proper preparation and dry time, it should be fine for what you are doing. You looking to try and paint on trailer or block it up?

 

[Oldcaster]

darn thats a big neat boat. But it is a Bayliner So first thing is better cut her open and check for rot. before anything else is done.

OK, How would one go about "cutting her open"? Or "drilling some holes" Where at??? I can crawl around under the deck and see the structure - In the center, it looks like the drain hole has been plugged and I am in the process of rebuilding/restoring that piece. Removing old wood and re-fibreglassing everything in layers. - Not that it concerned me from a structural standpoint but more from an aesthetic side of things.

As stated before - I would probably be comfortable using the boat "as-is" for the next ten years. I seems that I should be concerned that it is going to sink. There are no cracks or anything, I ran the boat for several hours in the water, and everything was dry underneath so no leaks.

So am I missing something in this theory?

1-- Repair Fiber Inside with Marine Polyester Resin, Fiber Mat woven and non-woven and Cloth - Interior repairs get painted with Rust-oleum Marine Topside Paint
2-- Repair Gouges - With Evercoat One Step Finish Premium Gel-Kote
Then I figured I could prep the hull, sand it up real good, Like a car prep, then Primer with Interlux Epoxy Primekote, finally I would then reduce the Evercoat One Step with 10% acetone and shoot it on the primed surface either with HVLP or may even roll it on. - That would get it all white again - then Buff - Reshoot, Clearcoat it with a UV protecting something or other or whatever the situation presents at that point.

What am I missing, is there something dramatically wrong with this theory? Probably will not be perfect but for the use, I plan on for it, I would think this would work, and may even come out looking pretty good if I take my time with the prep. Will probably be about a grand in supplies and a lot of elbow grease?

Alternatively, does everything with boat hulls have to cost $10,000...

 

[SHSU]

OK, How would one go about "cutting her open"? Or "drilling some holes" Where at???

Just need to drill a couple small holes in the lower part of the transom (from the inside) to see if you have rot coming out or dry wood. Also a couple along the bottom of your stringers. If dry wood comes out then you can reseal holes with 5200. If rotten wood/discolored wood comes out then you need to drill more holes further down to see how far and what kind of rebuild/fix you will need.

As stated before - I would probably be comfortable using the boat "as-is" for the next ten years. I seems that I should be concerned that it is going to sink. There are no cracks or anything, I ran the boat for several hours in the water, and everything was dry underneath so no leaks.

That is good, but in fiberglass you might have cracks that are soaking things you can't see.

So am I missing something in this theory?

1-- Repair Fiber Inside with Marine Polyester Resin, Fiber Mat woven and non-woven and Cloth - Interior repairs get painted with Rust-oleum Marine Topside Paint
2-- Repair Gouges - With Evercoat One Step Finish Premium Gel-Kote
Then I figured I could prep the hull, sand it up real good, Like a car prep, then Primer with Interlux Epoxy Primekote, finally I would then reduce the Evercoat One Step with 10% acetone and shoot it on the primed surface either with HVLP or may even roll it on. - That would get it all white again - then Buff - Reshoot, Clearcoat it with a UV protecting something or other or whatever the situation presents at that point.

What am I missing, is there something dramatically wrong with this theory? Probably will not be perfect but for the use, I plan on for it, I would think this would work, and may even come out looking pretty good if I take my time with the prep. Will probably be about a grand in supplies and a lot of elbow grease?

Alternatively, does everything with boat hulls have to cost $10,000...

See below link for Woodonglass' schedule recommendation when fiber glassing:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...1961-lonestar-flamingo-splashed-w-pics/page42

As for your interior paint, look at the Rustoleum Industrial paint. From what I have seen recommend here on Iboats, it is pretty much the same thing as the Top Side but a lot cheaper. A quick search will help validate that.

As for your gelcoat will have to leave that to some of the other guys as I am not very familiar with that one.

 

[mxcobra]

+well from what your saying looks like you're going to be ok, The way I look at boat rot is,(
(main thing so you dont sink is the Garboard drain held on nice and tight to the transom?)

If you mount something to the boat structure
.Like on a stringer, transom, or deck with wood screws. and the screw don't bite. pulls out easy. with pliers or fingers. Then you got ruined wood structure under the glass, so you gotta cut and grind the glass back. to see what the wood looks like underneath. In my case It was an easy diagnosis. First thing I did when I brought my new boat home. I was reaching inside fiddling with the transom. and ripped a big chunk off with my hand. From their it was game on.