Painting, Wrapping, Sticky Vinyl a Boat....How to?

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Tin Man

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I recently purchased a 2006 Tracker Pro Guide 16V WT.

It's a little bumped and bruised.....dents, dings, scratches on side of hull and scrapped on bottom of hull as if beached frequently on sand/beaches.

I would like to spruce it up and make it look nicer.

Here are three options I am considering:

1. Wrapping: Called and got one estimate for wrapping sides of boat (2' Tall X 16' long...taper to about 19" tall as it reaches bow.........$900!!! This is for one solid color.

2. Vinyl: I was thinking of sticky vinyl in same size as wrapping. I know a vinyl guy I'm going to ask next week. Thoughts on this?

3. Painting: I was also thinking of spraying it...sand, mask, paint.

NOTE: As far as dings, dents.....how to fill them? Bondo?

Thanks for any/all input!
 
If you like camo, Rustoleum makes a 4 color flat camo spray pack. I've done a console with it and was pleased.

Even if you don't like camo, plenty of people have painted boats over the years. Its all in the prep work. Johnny on this site knows all you need to know.

I painted a fiberglass 12-foot dingy many years ago. It held up fine. I used oil-based Rustoleum. rich
 
If you want your result to look like a new boat, whether you use wrap, vinyl, or paint; you will have to do the same process of prep no mater which final covering you choose.

Dents, dings, and scratches will always telegraph through.

When I did the restoration of an '81 Lund it had its share of dents, dings, and dock rash. I contacted most of the local automotive body shop in the early winter months and found a couple that would repaint my boat inside and out from the chime to the gunnels. MY instructions were to paint the inside with a single stage paint from the below the floor line to the gunnel and the outside with a two stage paint from the chine to the gunnels. They did all the sanding and prep. The were not to do any filler filling but use a filling primer, this would help camouflage the dock rash and any sharp edges.

I think the did a great job. If you take a critical eye and look down the boat side at an acute angle you can see all of the flaws. But if you walk up to my boat at a boat landing or see me out on the water, it look great.

I id all the vinyl graphic work myself. I spent $1000 at the body shop and about $200 on graphics.

boat_side.JPG
 
FishinLite said:
If you want your result to look like a new boat, whether you use wrap, vinyl, or paint; you will have to do the same process of prep no mater which final covering you choose.

Dents, dings, and scratches will always telegraph through.

When I did the restoration of an '81 Lund it had its share of dents, dings, and dock rash. I contacted most of the local automotive body shop in the early winter months and found a couple that would repaint my boat inside and out from the chime to the gunnels. MY instructions were to paint the inside with a single stage paint from the below the floor line to the gunnel and the outside with a two stage paint from the chine to the gunnels. They did all the sanding and prep. The were not to do any filler filling but use a filling primer, this would help camouflage the dock rash and any sharp edges.

I think the did a great job. If you take a critical eye and look down the boat side at an acute angle you can see all of the flaws. But if you walk up to my boat at a boat landing or see me out on the water, it look great.

I id all the vinyl graphic work myself. I spent $1000 at the body shop and about $200 on graphics.


Your boat looks great!

How were the dents repaired? I would think Bondo would need to be used to fill the dents and dings and deeper gouges.

Thoughts on Bondo? Any reason you did not want filler?
 
If you fill the outside of the boat, what are you going to see on the inside of the boat? With most automotive repairs you don't see the backside of the repaired panel.

I don't know what your skill set is but mine doesn't extent to body work. I had no MAJOR creases or dents in the side of the boat. Aluminum is fairly soft and with most major dents and dings the metal is stretched. For a panel repair to look good and not look like a patch you have to cover a VERY LARGE area. I didn't have any very large areas without rivets.

The applied vinyl graphic tend to breakup the visual area of the surface and camouflage the surface flaws.

The last thought is that I was PAYING for prep work. I was on a budget.

This was an old boat, I was never going to make it look like it had just rolled off the show room floor. I wanted to look as good as possible within the budget I had.

I had estimates from $800 to $5000, with a few I don't touch boats.

I would rather spend my money of fishing toys. Since the picture, I have updated the toys to include two Helix 9's one side imaging, one down imaging on the bow, plus a 360 imaging on the stern. I-pilot link on the PowerDrive and an Ethernet switch to tie them all together.

You have to decide what is important to you... :D
 
I agree on the fishing toys....especially the Helix and TM with iPilot!!!!!

My boat is a Tracker Pro Guide V16 and all of the interior is covered with decking, console/windshield, etc. so nothing can be seen on interior from an exterior repair. I just hate painting without filling the dents and dings. Some dents are on bottom of hull and are like 6"-8" like bumping into a large log or something. Scratches are on bottom of hull as if beached several times over the years. Other dents are 2-3" bangs into a dock type on sides of hull.

It seems like Bondo would do wonders to cover these damages.

I, too, do not want to spend a fortune on cosmetics.....I'd like an HDS-9 Gen 3 and a 24V MG with Pinpoint GPS!!
 
Go HERE... https://www.tinboats.net/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=13599

And send a PM to Johnny. Be warned that he had a recent accident and has been less active on this site for a month or two. If he is feeling better, you will get some great advice.

rich
 
My profession is autobody repair
I sanded my complete boat. Applied epoxy primer that has a 7 day open window which means I have 7 days to apply paint without the need for sanding.
After waiting 2 days I began painting
I did not remove the dents because it is a 1961 AceCraft that I want to use, not display at shows
I used Rustoleum with hardener on the inside, single stage white on the bottom and base/clear blue on the deck
When I get the interior back in it I will take photos and post them
 
"I did not remove the dents because"

Ha Ha... I frequent three or four fishing/boating sites. I mostly just read the posts. I do pick up on themes and attitudes by seeing so many posts.

One theme that is prevalent is that the guys with fiberglass boats have to take extreme care of them. No nicks, cuts or scratches allowed. Fiberglass boat repair seems to come at a premium, and matching that Candy-Apple Red; silver flaked paint must be very hard, as the cost is very high.

On the other hand, the guys on the Tinny Boat section often are very happy with their boats. One of the many reasons is that they don't have to worry about getting a scratch, or bumping the bottom and causing thousands of dollars of repair costs. Many were former owners of the fiberglass boats.

They do readily admit that the fiberglass boats rode better in heavy weather. But, that is the trade-off for a craft that takes less care, and goes way shallower; tows better; burns a lot less gas and costs much less!

Keep your nicks and bangs. I am keeping all of mine, too. To me, a car or a boat is a tool to get me where I want to go, so I can do the things that I want to do.

rich
 
I priced a wrap in my area and it was going to cost 10.00 a square foot. Needless to say that's not on the table any more! Yikes!
 
The problem I have with wraps on boats is good luck keeping them in one piece. I use my boat, hard, and that multi-thousand dollar wrap job would be hammered in one season. Paint is more durable, cheaper and easier to touch up.
 
If your boat has dents and dings a solid or glossy color will make them stand out especially if want to get a factory new look. You will have to prep the surface better before going that route. If you paint a camouflage pattern it will hide the blemishes a little better.
 
When I cam back to owning a boat after a long dry spell (pun intended), I purposely migrated towards an aluminum boat for the very reasons Rich gives in his post above. I didn't want to worry about dings, scratches, or keeping it shiny. Just say no to fenders! :D

On the other hand, I can sure appreciate some of the nice looking boats people are building here on TB.
 
To be honest, if I hit a wave and my boat split in 2, I'd just swim to shore and fish from there... the dents are staying :D

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
KMixson said:
If your boat has dents and dings a solid or glossy color will make them stand out especially if want to get a factory new look. You will have to prep the surface better before going that route.
I painted my hull with the brightest white paint I could get. The dents stand out just like they did before. The way I prep doesn't change whether it is a flat surface or dented. Stripped to bare metal is still bare. Once stripped I orbital sand using different size pads and grits. The sanding pads I have start at 8 inch and decrease in sizes to 3/4 inch. Then I apply epoxy primer and paint
 

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