1970 Seafari conversion to CC

[Capt Chuck]

Just a thought here
It appears those vertical rod holders / cap supports are going to be real "Toe Catchers" and also block water washdown flow.
They don't need to tab too the deck. I would reconfigure them

BTW: Great Job!

[DonV]

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...isplay.php?f=3

Here ya go, notice there are some other sections with good info and advice, including the gathering section!! Your boat is looking real nice, you are really on your way to a sweet ride. Good luck!

[afishin82]

Originally Posted by DonV

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...isplay.php?f=3

Here ya go, notice there are some other sections with good info and advice, including the gathering section!! Your boat is looking real nice, you are really on your way to a sweet ride. Good luck!

Thanks Don! It's gonna be so much sweeter once I get that hermco bracket hanging on the stern!

[afishin82]

Originally Posted by CoreyTrx

The boat is coming out great. Have you thought about spraying the gel coat? You will save tens of hours of sanding if you spray over rolling. Plus it's a lot easier to get even coverage spraying then rolling. You can get a cheap gun from Harbor Freight that will work good. I spray it all the time with some duratec or patch aid mixed in. You don't need a huge compressor either. I have a craftsman that I think is a 30 gallon and it keeps up fine. It will really save you tons of time. Keep up the good work.

I would love to spray it but have had nothing but frustration the last couple times I sprayed gelcoat. I would have to do some sort of primer to ensure I don't get pinholes and sand that anyway. So just figure I will try rolling and sanding. I've gotten pretty good at sanding anyway....it's my favorite thing ever!

[afishin82]

Originally Posted by Capt Chuck

Just a thought here
It appears those vertical rod holders / cap supports are going to be real "Toe Catchers" and also block water washdown flow.
They don't need to tab too the deck. I would reconfigure them

BTW: Great Job!

The boxes on the sides are for support and one side is for my fuel fill and vent. I wish I didn't need them but I do. I'm sure my toes are gonna hate me for it at some point. Drunk friends at the sandbar are gonna hate it even more!

[flyingfrizzle]

This is what you need to spray the gel, no thinning needed. Still will require sanding but not as much as rolling. You can thin it and spray threw a gun with a big tip and get good results but it can be tricky. The gel gun works well and don't take much training to use it. Best thing is it cleans up in seconds, you just throw the cup away and clean the tip orifice and you done.

[afishin82]

Originally Posted by flyingfrizzle

This is what you need to spray the gel, no thinning needed. Still will require sanding but not as much as rolling. You can thin it and spray threw a gun with a big tip and get good results but it can be tricky. The gel gun works well and don't take much training to use it. Best thing is it cleans up in seconds, you just throw the cup away and clean the tip orifice and you done.
Attachment 10349

So how do you deal with the pinholes? Prime it first?

[flyingfrizzle]

If you are using poly-ester gel then you are better off just fairing it out with a poly type of fairing compound first. It will take care of the pin holes and also the ruff spots or low spots. Spraying a thick coat of high build poly base primer like dura tech will be better prior than just spraying straight gel on the bottom. Block the high build primer down between coats and get it close as possible then spray the gel as even a possible on top of that. Once the gel sprayed it will have to be blocked down and buffed out to a shine. If you don't get it true before you apply it you will sand threw the gel on high spots and have to re-coat it. Rolling it will make for a lot more sanding. You also don't want to fill the low spots with gel due to if the gel gets to thick it will crack. To thin is also a problem. Gel needs to maintain a cetin thickness to hold up. Dura tech also has gel additives that will help against water intrusion. That is the problem with the poly gel, it is porous and will over time suck water in. A good epoxy barrier coat will prevent this but then you can Not coat poly over epoxy or it will not stick well. You can do epoxy over poly but never poly over epoxy. They make vinyl-ester gel coat that will provide you better water protection than the standard poly. This will prevent blister in the long haul at a little more cost. You can even install the ve gel over an epoxy barrier coating for better protection. I usually only gel coat molded parts due to the high labor evolved in buffing out the sprayed / rolled on gel coats. You will sand either way but no buffing if you use a 2 part urethane over epoxy.

This is what I usually do:
I use 2000e interlux epoxy primer most of the time as a base primer. It is a high build, high solids 2 part epoxy that goes on thick. I spray several coats until I get the required thickness which is about the same as the thickness of a dime. I use epoxy water tight 2 part filler (fair compound) on the low spots of scratched and gouges over the first coat of 2000e to take care of the big stuff. Once the bad spots are took care of on top of the first coat of primer then I do several more coats and block it down between those coats to get it even straighter and truer. I try to buy two different colors of the high build primer (white & grey) so that you can alternate them between coats so that once sanded the high spots show better plus you can see you coverage better on recoats as you spray over the last. Once it is close I use interlux epoxy 2 part primekote or awlgrip 545 primer over that as a final primer seal coat. The 2000e is a barrier coat and seals up the old glass and prevents water intrusion. The primekote or 545 is a final pre-paint primer that goes down prior to spraying the final product. After this I use awlgrip or interlux perfection as a top coat. Three coats with light wet sanding in between them. The final coat I don't touch. If you use awlcraft instead of awlgrip then you can wet sand and buff plus touch up in the future.

Either way will yield good results, but you will get better protection with the ve / epoxy products over standard poly gel. I would at a minimum use a dura tech additive or step up to a vinyl ester gel if you are set on spraying / rolling on gel coat. Talk to Dave (blueheron) he had a good result on his 25 seafari doing the bottom of his boat in gel coat. I think he thinned and sprayed it from a paint gun with a large tip. He did not have much sanding or buffing doing this way as you would using the other methods above. You got to have everything super fair tho going this route just like using paint cause you wont have the extra thickness to sand down into afterwards as you would with spraying with the cup gun or rolling the gel. Maybe he can give you some tips if you want to try to thin the gel and spray in like paint.

What ever you do just be prepared for many hours of sanding and buffing to get the gel to look good as it dose out of a factor mold. Main thing- get it close before you apply anything. The prep work is what makes a final coat look good. There are many ways to skin a cat, and positives & negatives of both. Also make sure you under coats are compatible with the top coats, don't mix polyester over Epoxy. Some ways are more forgiving than others and can be repaired better than others. That's one good thing about gel coat, it is repairable better than some paint top coats but you don't get the water protection of the epoxy products. Like said before there are more than one way to do it, just make sure you prep / fair it well and apply it correctly whatever way that you pick to do it. I would do what you are most comfortable doing.

[Bushwacker]

Although you'll still have to do the fairing and block sanding that Frizz describes, why even spend all that time and effort on gel coat, which is porous, will quickly oxidize anyway and require frequent maintenance?! I'd use Signature Finish paint, which doesn't require any primer and will work fine below the waterline, unlike most other urethane paints like Awlgrip or Awlcraft. It's intended for DIY use, is easy to roll & tip and repair, and can be buffed to eliminate any orange peel. I used it on my bottom painting project 5 years ago and it's still holding up great. Island Trader used something called Insignia which is also supposed to be good for below the water line and is probably better if you want to spray it. I read the All At Sea article on the new paint forum member Shine is selling at a good discount, and it also sounds good, although I don't know if it will hold up underwater. All the paints are probably a bit more expensive than gel coat, but if you count your time and labor as worth anything, I think any of the paints would be far superior, longer lasting and less maintenance than gel coat!

[afishin82]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

Although you'll still have to do the fairing and block sanding that Frizz describes, why even spend all that time and effort on gel coat, which is porous, will quickly oxidize anyway and require frequent maintenance?! I'd use Signature Finish paint, which doesn't require any primer and will work fine below the waterline, unlike most other urethane paints like Awlgrip or Awlcraft. It's intended for DIY use, is easy to roll & tip and repair, and can be buffed to eliminate any orange peel. I used it on my bottom painting project 5 years ago and it's still holding up great. Island Trader used something called Insignia which is also supposed to be good for below the water line and is probably better if you want to spray it. I read the All At Sea article on the new paint forum member Shine is selling at a good discount, and it also sounds good, although I don't know if it will hold up underwater. All the paints are probably a bit more expensive than gel coat, but if you count your time and labor as worth anything, I think any of the paints would be far superior, longer lasting and less maintenance than gel coat!

Wish you had sent that message earlier! My main concern with paint was leaving it in the water for a week or so. That's why i went with gelcoat. I already rolled the gelcoat on and got the whole boat sanded down with 80 grit. It's coming out nice but I did burn through in a couple spots on the transom that i thought i faired good enough. Figured 5 coats would be enough. Nothing more gelcoat won't fix. I'll post a couple pics when I get a chance.