If it's already screwed up....

P

pez

Member
I have an old laser that a buddy painted before I learned about things like gelcoat and such... the paint is, well, crappy looking now (3 years after). It's actual auto paint that we purchased from a napa store. There's a big chunk of paint missing in the front, revealing the primer we used, and the top ended up being two different colors as he did the cockpit seperate from the rest of the top... so the white on top is actually gray, the cockpit is nice and white...

So should I strip this off, sand it and start from scratch? Or should I take it to a professional auto body guy and let him handle it... any thoughts?
 
Pez, we are there and doing that.

Our winter project, for my young daughter and I, was to fix up this old (1974) classic Laser.

It had also been painted with Car paint and primer and they were pretty scratched up by the end of the season.

To strip off the existing paint, we used a product called "Ready Strip" Marine (http://www.ready-strip.com/Pages/readystripMARINE-PD.html) found at West Marine. Product does not smell strong, it is like a gel that you apply with a paint brush or roller in a thick coat (used 2 quarts), I wish I had bought a gallon to have some extra for touching up. You apply, wait for 4-12 hours (it turn white when ready). When apply in a nice thick coat, the paint strips itself off, run a scraper no effort.

We then saw that the original hull was not looking good, so we wet sanded to remove everything left over and smooth things to get it ready for the new, unplanned, paint. A two part polyurethane/epoxy paint as recommended here. Good news, the princess get to pick the color (not pink):)

Through the winter, she has learned to mix and apply epoxy, fiberglass, gelcoat etc. it turned out a great fun project for both of us.

Do not know what the end result will look like, but all the labor of love put into it, will certainly be a big motivator for the young one to hit the water:cool:, in a few weeks. Still winter up here but can't wait!!!:D

HAve fun.

GG
 
winter ---ugh! Here in Southern California, it seemed to last for hours! Let's just skip it next year. Who's with me?

... repainted a dinghy once (college days). Finn. Spent weeks of prep, rounded up the material (LP) and the equipment I thought I needed to do it right. The fog rolled in early - fine layer of mist turned the project to orange peel. Oh well, wet sanded it back down and really made no difference whatsoever. Made me feel better and I gained from the experience.

Looking back, some of my favorite regattas were in ugly boats. And it's hard to regret any time spent messing around with any of them... and the if you get to do that with your kids, count your blessings.
 
g1... thanks for the advice, I see all thew success stories of people doing it the right way and I'm all about it now....
 
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