coating and paint for steel boat

i have a 1456 steel john boat. i was wanting to apply steelflex, but have heard bad reviews recently, and was wondering what would other options be. btw i was wanting a real smooth finish on the exterior and something coarse in the interior

Just wandering where you got bad reviews about steelflex?

I used rustoleum and a roller, make sure the surface is clean before you start. I did 2 coats. It will save you money, steeflex is expensive. I did it on my boat and it shines as so far It's bullet proof.

about the steelflex, i have just heard that for the price and the life of the coating after sun, water, wind, dirt damage it wasnt worth it

what kind of rustoleum?

There are literally hundreds of folks right here on this site that have steelflexed thier boat. I havnt read a complaint yet other than the actual application process.

I found steelflex to very inexpensive. Cost about $65.00 for 1 gallon and I could have easily done 2 boats the size of mine. My boat is a 1542 and after putting on several coats (which were not needed) I have about 1/3 left. The finish is super hard, very smooth and glossy. After using it, I could not be more happy.

ttsam... would you be interested in selling you 1/3 can? im only wanting to steelflex the exterior, so it should work

I only did the bottom of my 1436 and it took the whole gallon. I went light with the first coat but the next had to be pretty heavy otherwise it was very transparent. I'm sure I went a little overboard as most people have some left and I used the entire thing but I doubt 1/3 gallon is gonna cover it.

If you compare prices of quality paint to Steelflex, you'll find the Steelflex isnt so expensive.

Where do you live? I will give it to you for free. Its black, might get hot out in the sun. Actually, no might about it, it will get HOT!
I might have exaggerated about how much I left at this moment, since I used it to also seal the bottoms of my plywood decks but I do have a good amount left that you can have. it goes a long way!
I'm in Tampa.

Here is a pick. As you can see i only did the bottom and a little up the sides. Might explain why I had so much left over.

https://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee471/TTSam/P1000631-1.jpg

does it seal small leaks any good? i have a few small welds leaking and was thinking it may work better at that then alternatives

Absolutely it seals the leaks. I didn't need to but I also used it on the interior under my floor deck just in case. Its best attribute is sealing leaks in my opinion. I had some small leaks also(pin holes and what not) and first used JB weld then put the steel flex over that.

I dont know how Bassblaster got a whole gallon on the bottom of his boat. I put it on very thick( several coats) after the first coat and still have plenty left over after also doing the interior and bottoms of all my plywood decks.

I'm not sure either because it seems everyone has some left but I can promise you I managed to do it, lol. I had to take a mixing stick and scrape the last little bit from the cans to finish the job. I applied it exactly as described on this site.