posted 01-01-2008 03:25 PM ET (US)            

I guess your boats must be in much better condition then the ones I see. The ones I get have thousands if not millions of tiny cracks in the decks, and the hull sides are so dull that no sanding and polishing will ever bring them back- thats if there is any gel left. Most of them show dark spots where the bare glass is about to show through. Then there is the tiny pinholes from the gel being opened up so much. Throw in a few old repairs to really make things pretty and you get the idea.

Most of the time there are also many holes no longer being used from various pieces of hardware being mounted, and then the obvious very loose screws from being pulled out of the glass. A chunk of gel missing there, a few scratches there, etc...

I agree if the boat is in such a condition that it CAN be polished then you are very lucky to find a 1968 boat that can just be polished up.

I just dont come across that many barn kept or kept under a cover boats.

posted 01-01-2008 08:05 PM ET (US)            

I feel your pain... I too just got a quote, for more than I paid for the boat, to paint the interior only of my '83 13'. I recently bought the boat to fix up and thought originally that I would just repair, polish, wax, the existing gel coat. The boat was used very little and it shows, but the previous owner let it sit outside for many years unattended in his driveway. As the years went by the cover failed and allowed the bow to become exposed to elements. Now the boat has spider cracks and crazing only on the interior bow area. The only economically feasable solution for me seems to be to paint the interior. I have been considering a product called Signature Finish. You may want to research it. I posted couple of days ago to see if anyone here had experience with the product, no luck yet.

posted 01-02-2008 11:15 AM ET (US)            

I live see you live in Virginia, I do also and got several estimates to re-gelcoat the interior of my 13'. Most of the shops did not even want to do the job, much less provide an estimate. The estimates I got were open ended and very high. My boat is in great shape other than some minor isolated crazing and cracking. I am considering paint but would like to know where you suggest that I go to get a good and affordable gelcoat job done.

posted 01-02-2008 07:29 PM ET (US)            

For the best result you need to prepare the boat for painting very carefully. Any surface flaw will just stand out with a new paint job. Removal of all deck hardware and the rub rail will produce a better job and eliminate any requirement for masking.

If AWLGRIP is the only route you want to consider there are places other than marine shops that use the product. Shops specializing in heavy duty truck body repairs often shoot AWLGRIP or similar products. If they are not busy a good price could be negotiated. Another option is your nearest civil aviation airfield where skilled painters use AWLGRIP.

posted 01-02-2008 07:57 PM ET (US)            

You can never, ever compare the two jobs.

Keep track of your time invested in it and in the end ask yourself how much an hour your free time is worth to you?

If you are going this route you STILL have to prep the surface, you cant just paint over cracks and holes- so why not consider prepping the boat yourself and having a pro spray it for you?

Last guy I knew who rolled and tipped just his hull had
well over $600 in materials which ended up getting sanded and sprayed because he did not want to look at brush marks.
He sanded, rolled and tipped, sanded, etc.. You will have to sand between coats.

posted 01-03-2008 07:56 AM ET (US)            

It is not very hard to spray AWLGRIP. If you don't have spraying skills, buy an inexpensive spray gun, I just bought a new one from Discount Auto supplies for $40 to paint my latest project, my 13 foot Whaler. then buy a qt. of cheap oil base enamel, and practice spraying your plastic garbage cans. Its about the same as spraying fiberglass. This will give you some experience. Also you can read about spraying techniques on the Internet.

I spray in a screened tent. If you do it inside, spray or brush, you better have some high tech ventilation systems available, as the fumes are pretty toxic. Most of the labor is in the prep work, which is time consuming but not difficult. Also hi-build primer is not needed, and only means an additional step, as you will still need to spray 545 epoxy primer over the high build primer. If you don't,and I made this mistake years ago, The hi-build primer is soft, and the top coat will eventually chip. Just do a better prep job, and you can eliminate the hi-build. If you are not an experienced brush painter and you don't want to tackle spraying, I would just do all the prep work, and have a body shop, spray your boat, using the AWLGRIP 545 epoxy primer, then AWLGRIP top coat. Don't use auto paint, it is not cheaper, and is made for spraying metal. Also, AWLGRIP top coat is not an epoxy, it is a two part Polyurethane. Only the primer is an epoxy, and is also a two part.

Here are some pics, of my spray job on my 13 footer;

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/floridaboy2053/Whaler%20repair/ Whalerprep1.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/floridaboy2053/Whaler%20repair/ whalerprep3.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/floridaboy2053/Whaler%20repair/ whalerprep2.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/floridaboy2053/Whaler%20repair/ whalerprep4.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c191/floridaboy2053/Whaler%20repair/ whalerprep5.jpg

Rich

posted 01-03-2008 06:24 PM ET (US)            

The initial estimate was about $7,000, the balance was unforseen work that was needed to prep the boat.

I could beleive that there would be alot of filling/ fairing needed to prep a 13 to have it ccome out perfect.

I had my boat painted by a company called All-Paint in Bristol, RI. On their website, they show a worker prepping what looks to be the interior of a 13' Whaler. You mmight give them a call to see what it was worth. I have only seen them do 1st quality work, and they get good money for what they do.

If you call, ask for the owner, Chuck.

posted 01-04-2008 10:14 AM ET (US)            

I think you are on the right path. I had my 1972 19' Outrage painted with Awlgrip 2000 last spring. I did the prep and had a person with experience do the priming and painting. The paint job cost about $3,500 which included the paint that is pretty costly. It would have cost me twice that if I didn't do the prep. The person who did the paint job was not in the business of painting boats or cars but rather was a serious car restoration hobbyest. He charged $50 / hour. The boat looks better than new. Unless your 13' has some emotional value to you I would say you might be better to look for a boat that just needs wet sanding, buffing, waxing and new decals which you can do yourself. The market value of Whalers, at least in my area, (Wisconsin) does not allow a person to recoupe the cost on most professional restoration jobs.

posted 01-04-2008 07:31 PM ET (US)            

I put in lots of hours preping and repairing. If I did not have to do the repairs, in which I used about 2 1/2 qts. of epoxy and 2 cans of 404 filler, I probably put about 50 hrs of prep for paint.

I have received dozens of compliments from strangers and my neighbours can't beleive it is the same boat. I have a before picture but not a really good after pic, yet.

I made 1 mistake, I rushed the last day on the inside, tried to put 2 coats on in 1 day. The 2nd coat came out perfect but it was to late in the day and the dew destroyed the shine! I will repaint this summer.

I used 2 kits of epoxy primecoat and 3 kits of oyster white to do inside and outside. I painted the anti-skid, which was well worn, with interdeck. I used about 2/3 qt. for the anti-skid. You really have to put it on light and work really fast. I did mine outside in the driveway with a 6 inch roller and the temps were about 25-28 degrees cel.

posted 01-07-2008 01:07 PM ET (US)            

we spray gelcoat ourselves and buy the materials from eastern burlap in norfolk. you really need a spray booth too (for either gelcoat or awlgrip). we sprayed a console in a tent in our backyard last summer & now the back of our house is oyster white (& so was my hair for 3wks).

if you're looking for a showroom finish, i wouldn't recommend roll-n-tip applications.

i'm not sure where to send you for a new gelcoat job. you really gotta love your boat to pay that kind of money. and it won't pay-off in a resale. but, i bet that there will be more marina ppl willing to do that kind of work in the near future, due to impending recession (just to keep food on the table).