Quick questions for the new project

Been lurking around here since last year when i bought my first boat. Last summer I decided i had officially outgrown my canoe that was fully outfitted for fishing and sold it help finance a new project Boat. So the search started and after a month of looking i found myself a 1979 Lowe Hustler pro. Had to drive 6hrs to get it but compared to everything i was finding local (all over priced junk) it was worth the drive. The boat and trailer were both in good condition considering the age and i was happy with the price so me and the owner shook hands and i brought her home. Since i got it mid summer i deduced to just get her cleaned up and get a trolling motor on her and call it good till winter. Well winter came and i got busy with my basement and other stuff and money was another big contributing factor that evtually made me decided that i would wait till next year to fully build the boat and deck it out. I’ve got big plans for her next winter and I’ll have the time and money to go all out.

Anyway i had already bought paint since the boat is a god auwful sky blue and i couldn’t stand it and i knew that painting would be the first thing before i built my deck since the boat is already pretty heavy even when it’s empty. So i got a buddy to help get it off the trailer and on some Dolly’s to get started painting her before the season really kicks off here. The paint i am using is rustoleum top side, going with battle ship grey, i also bought a quart of black to tint the grey a little bit darker.

My question is about prep I’ve read a ton of post on here and other places and it’s kind of back and forth. I know some say if the paints holding well just scuff it up and prime any bare spots. For the most part the paint on the boat is rick solid there’s only a couple of places underneath that the paint is loose enough to chip.

I put in a couple of pics to show the conditions of the boat for better advise the last picture is a crack I’m going to braze there was a deep dent there and when i banged it out before flipping the boat it cracked on the outside. The question is do i stop it all down to base with aircraft stripper and then prime and paint or scuff up the paint that’s on there and prime the Bare spots and proceed with rolling out paint. Any advise is much appreciated. Thanks

I would power wash and that will show you where the loose paint is. Then scuff the whole thing with a palm sander. Any bare aluminum spots should be primed lightly with a self etching primer. Don’t overdo this step because the etching primer can tunnel under good paint and give you a hard time. Just a light spray over the bare spots and a real light sand over that when it dries. Then paint. Rustoleum works well with hardener. Proform makes one called wet look that really brings up the gloss. Do this outside or with ventilation. Isocyanates are nasty dudes! Many many threads on painting boats. I stripped and painted one last winter, had 4 coats of paint on it, 2 reds and 2 different blues. It was a nightmare! If the paint on it seems solid, I’d just sand and paint.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just went through this and I am in the middle as I write this. I read enough to convince me to sand smooth any paint chip edges and then lightly sand/rough up the paint that was good. I primed the entire surface and will be adding top coat next day or so. I am brushing, so it won't be auto body quality, but will suit me. I did steel wool the primer coat to take off any burrs in the primer.

Thank you for the quick responses i really didn’t want to go though the process of stripping it all the way down if i didn’t have to mostly because i didn’t want to add the extra time to the process, but all in all i want this paint to last as long as possible.

Anyone got a quick reference to the hardener mixture ratio?

I would go by the directions on the can. Also a good idea to buy from a professional paint store, they can steer you the right way.

Got my primer all laid and smooth sanded it all down last week, went to roll my first coat last night and I’m a little disappointed with how dark my mixture of rustoleum topside battle ship grey and black turned out, does anyone know if you can mix regular rustoleum with top side to tint the paint? I don’t have access to top side around me so i would have to order more online and wait for it to get here. Also anyone got an idea was color i could mix in to lighten up the next 2 coats? I was thinking maybe rusto aluminum color but I’m not sure pics are what the paint looks like now and other pics is what i was hoping to get close to