'87 Supra Saltare "Rebuild"- Keep the Big Girls Running!!

[oldman]

[QUOTE=Rusty;49177] I've been researching paint options in the mean time.

What type or brands of paint are you looking at? Are you painting both bottom and sides. In the classifieds a guy from PA gel coated the whole hull of a old rider looked like a beautiful job.

[jsandy]

having the exhoust above the water will be cool for about an hour. after that your just annoying and everyone else on the water will hate you. please i've owned hotrods since i was 12 and if theres one thing ive learned is loud exhoust is only cool if you never drive it. plus everyone that lives on the river/lake you boat on will hate you too. just a thought, but when i build a car or truck for someone i ask them what they think we be cool a year from now or 5 years from now. build for the long run

[Rusty]

having the exhoust above the water will be cool for about an hour. after that your just annoying and everyone else on the water will hate you. please i've owned hotrods since i was 12 and if theres one thing ive learned is loud exhoust is only cool if you never drive it. plus everyone that lives on the river/lake you boat on will hate you too. just a thought, but when i build a car or truck for someone i ask them what they think we be cool a year from now or 5 years from now. build for the long run

Haha....Good point. I never thought about how I would feel about the exhaust after it looses its luster. Thnx.

[Rusty]

[QUOTE=oldman;49244]

I've been researching paint options in the mean time.

What type or brands of paint are you looking at? Are you painting both bottom and sides. In the classifieds a guy from PA gel coated the whole hull of a old rider looked like a beautiful job.

You know oldman, I don't know. What brand do you recommend? I'm was thinking only the sides, however, since he has the cap off....It would be ideal to consider both. Still shopping...

[sybrmike]

I'd be careful "painting" a boat. Back in my younger jet boat days, we'd paint em up fancy only to have them scratched and cracked all to heck in a season or two. Boats constantly flex, are stepped on, bumped, etc. & paint just doesn't hold up too well. Maybe now with all the plasticizers for flex bumpers & such it's much better, but I'd research for sure.

Gelcoat is harder to apply out of the mold & more expensive, but is durable, more flexible, & can be sanded/polished/buffed many times.

[oldman]

[QUOTE=Rusty;49370]

You know oldman, I don't know. What brand do you recommend? I'm was thinking only the sides, however, since he has the cap off....It would be ideal to consider both. Still shopping...

I agree with sybrmike. First restore your original gel, especially bottom. Very few paints are made for below water. If you paint sides or top, Awlgrip is good. If you do it yourself I like awlcraft. Can get many years out of paint that you prep and prime correctly and easy to maintain. Sure is nice to have the durability of gel coat, but it's a big process to do right. (maybe a wrap?)

[khelfrich]

i would not paint the whole boat i would either leave the gel coat how it is or step up and do the gel coat the gel coat is a very long process to do and my factory gel coat was perfect just need buffed but i hated the color so i redid the whole thing in white one of the best things about gel coat is if you scratch or gouge it it is very easy to fix you can literally just fill in the scratch with a paint brush and then sand and buff, which you cant do with paint. but I'm not going to lie if you do gel coat you need to get yourself a good RP gun with about a 2.5 tip this will give you the smoothest finish and least sanding after it is sprayed. when spraying you have about 20 min between tearing the gun down and cleaning out which means you can spray about 2 cups of the gun (aprox 1.5-2 quarts) if you try to go longer the gel on the side of the cup ends falling off the side and clogs the gun. it took 7 hours to spray just the bottom half of the boat. also i suggest finding a way to flip the hull over if you do gel coat cause your looking at about 2-3 months of sanding after work and buffing. doing all that sanding on your back would suck. if you talk to boat repair people about overall refinishes they will tell you to use auto paint they say it looks better and flexes more then gel coat. talk to a body man they will tell you to use gel coat it has superior durability and is much easier to fix a scratch in then paint is. whatever you do get dura-tec High gloss to mix in the gelcoat mix about 20/80 or 30/70 duratec to gelcoat. makes it alot easier to spray.

[Rusty]

I know, right!?

[Rusty]

HEre we go! THe cap comes off on monday and the show is about to begin. I'm excited! See how dirty that fiberglass is?? All that was done by a stupid crepe mertle in front of the house....completely soiled the inside the day i forgot to cover the boat and it rained! I spent days picking out all the blooms and seeds that had turned to mush. I even spray washed and it still never came clean again...take heed, its impossible to clean out...so learn from my mistake!

[TitanTn]

And the fun begins! Good luck and keep us posted.