Paint an Aluminum Jon Boat...

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I just purchased a new Tracker Grizzly 1754 foot jon boat. I am going to carpet the floor and deck, but I would like to paint the outside hull first. Nothing is wrong with the paint now, it's brand new, so I would like to keep from sanding it if I didn't have to.

I would like to paint it a pearl blue like the expensive bass boats, but did not know how to paint over aluminum or how to add the small pearl flakes.

Any suggestions? (paint type, methods...)

Thanks,
FlyBye

I called "House of Kolor" regarding some of their "Kandy Pearl" paint and they said that the boat would have to be sanded first. That might be a deal breaker... I sure would hate to sand perfectly new paint off the boat especially being aluminum.

I would still like to hear from anyone who has tried something similar.

FlyBye

I dont think they mean to sand it completely off. It just needs to be roughed up so the paint has something to stick too. I think your gonna need to sand it a bit regardless of what kinda paint you decide to put on it. Just out of curiousity, why are you concerned with roughing up a new paint job if your covering it with new paint?

You'll have too ruff it up if your painting on it. If your going for the bass boat look you'll probably want metal flake since that's what most of them have.

BassBlaster said:

...Just out of curiousity, why are you concerned with roughing up a new paint job if your covering it with new paint?

Click to expand...

Silly, I guess... I just have a hard time scuffing up something brand new, especially since I don't even know what I'm doing. I guess I'll bite the bullet sooner or later. The last time I remember painting was finger painting in preschool. It's been a few years.

Here are a few photos. It is pretty bare bones right now... but I have a vision!

given it's no all clearcoated and such, a simple SOS pad will scuff it enough to give the paint adhesion especially with a good primer. Just a recommendation, if your going to do it, I would say do it now before you have any nicks, dings and scratches. even the smallest imperfection will require a lot more pep before you paint to get the right results.

Since you have to clean the surface in preparation for paint anyway, just scrub it real good with one of those green scratch pads. then clean it good with a pre-paint cleaner/de greaser and a lint free cloth and you should be fine. I used one to scuff the surface of a fiberglass boat and it accepted the paint great.

What are your plans? Nothing like a brand new blank slate to start from. The great thing about a boat like yours and a lot of others like it is that the floor and front deck is already done. it wouldn't take much to cover the rear bilge area with a hinged cover to protect/hide the tank.

If you have never really painted before and your looking for a paint job like a bass boat has (Deep color with metal flake, and clearcoat) you might want to take it somewhere and have it done. Even if its just a $200.00 paint job from Maaco.

Tiller steer...Center or side console? 70hp Merc?