Questions About Painting An Aluminum Boat

[mrtennman]

Great advice here, I am following these steps and just recieved my items yesterday. I have a 17' aluminum basstracker that I have stripped down to refurbish. I am going to use these preps on the bottom prior to applying "coat it" by goop. It is epoxy based. Once it cures I will prep the sides and paint the entire boat with epoxy primer and paint. Would you recommend priming with chromate primer on the bare aluminum before priming with epoxy primer? Also, before applying the alumniprep and aldoline, what are the proper steps to prep the aluminum? Is sanding with a fine grit enough? Thanks for any advice

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

You posted in this old thread http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-...ith-pics/page2. We prefer starting new topics and use the old threads as reference. Click on the Forum Help in the sig below and look at the Forum Rules, #12 in particular. You have a better chance for answers and advice in new threads. Thanks.

You say you will be using Coat-It. It's a good product for sealing leaky rivets, but it works best inside the hull. Something to think about.

I'll let others talk about the prep work. Good luck on your paint job and Merry Christmas.

 

[oldboat1]

Key is your choice of epoxy-based primer. Get and follow mfg instructions for use. Guessing, would probably not want to apply anything under epoxy -- thorough sanding is probably going to be enough for an epoxy bond.

 

[gm280]

This is a hard one to say being how I never used Epoxy primers over bare aluminum. My usual method is to sand down the entire hull with 320 or 400 sandpaper and especially any imperfections like nicks, scratches and the sort. Then after wiping the hull with either Acetone or Lacquer Thinner, apply a Zinc Chromate base primer followed with the Epoxy primer. That way you know you have everything covered correctly. Bare aluminum isn't like fiberglass hulls or even automobile sheet metals. So Zinc Chromate is the first thing needed to prep for follow on primers and top coats when working with aluminum. I'm sure others will have their own ideas, so wait a while and see what is offered. JMHO!

 

[zool]

If youre using Alodyne and Alumiprep, you don't want to use a chromate or any etch or wash primer, over it, its a detriment.....Alumiprep is the cleaner, Alodyne is the Conditioner. Epoxy primer goes over the alodyne, then a compatable paint.

You sand the hull ist to the desired finish, like GM said, and use a surface cleaner before and after sanding.

PPG's DX503 and 533 are the same product....heres the tech sheet

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...kMWAqZnyARjCzirXw&sig2=0hRoJMZPHytvHobN7tZYQg

 

[mrtennman]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up cleaning the bottom really well then sanded. I used alumniprep and aldoline as a prep. Then i coated just the bottom surface with coat it. Let that cure really well. Then i proceeded to prep the sides the same. My buddy has a body shop so we used an epoxy primer then top coats, followed by three coats of sealer. It turned out amazing, however, it hasn't seen the water yet. Seems to be a great bond tho.

 

[mrtennman]

No Title

 

[gm280]

Nice paint job there. You must feel very proud knowing you brought back an old boat to new looks again. :thumb: