Attempting to paint my boat

[Kansas Angler]

I am currently re-doing a 14 foot aluminum lonestar and I already made the decks and ordered carpet, but now im stuck on the paint. I plan on painting it a beige or tan color, something alog those lines. But the only 2 marine paints i know of are Rustoleum and Fasco's Steelflex. Does anybody know of different paints? Anybody have any tips on painting aluminum boats? I also dont have an air compressor so I would probably have to brush or roll it on unless somebody gives me a better idea.

Thanks,

Nick

[retiredbosn]

If you are going to brush it on I wouldn't bother with a Marine paint. The typical marine paint is meant for a constant submersion environment. Interlux makes a nice marine paint, but for my money I would just use an akyld enamel, IMHO I would and have and do use Rustoleum Professional Series, you can get it for something like 20 bucks a gallon, will self level (within reason) and the brush or roller strokes will not be noticable. As my name suggests I'm a retired Bos'n Mate US Coast Guard, and one of my primary jobs was deck maintenance. You can spend a whole lot more, but if you want something that is easy to apply provides reasonable protection and easy to touch up an akyld enamel is the way to go. BTW akyld enamel is really old school automotive paint, and again Rustoleum makes it and is easily found, cleans up with regular thinner, no special equipment needed and will do a fine job.

Here is a b4 pic of my boat

and after using an alkyd brushed on with a good brush

Good luck

[done]

Good info bosn!! I wish I had heard from you before i painted my jon boat. The only real marine paint I found here that was not in obnoxious colors was from a dude downtown who makes his own. Was like $200/gallon. Came in 2 parts (paint and activator) and had to be sprayed on.

Don't get me wrong, it is awesome stuff, but at $20 a gallon I could paint it over and over and over for the same price.

[Wayne P.]

If your aluminum boat has never been painted or has exposed aluminum showing thru paint, you need to use an acid etch primer made specifically for aluminum before you put on any paint. Over that primer you can use just about any auto or hobby-style paint.

Do an internet search for painting aluminum to find out all the steps necessary. A thorough pre-cleaning is needed too.

I tried a shortcut paint job on an aluminum boat a few years ago and as soon as the hull got wet, the paint just fell off.

[Kansas Angler]

Thanks for the help, at the nearest lowes the only colors they have are white, blue, grey and green, so i was wondering if i could just add pigment to the white paint to make it a beige color?

[smokepole]

K. A. I used rustoleum aluminun primer from lowes and tractor paint from tractor supply. It has worked great for 2 years.

[retiredbosn]

Kansas, believe it or not you will only need two quarts tops to paint your boat. Mine is an 18 footer and I used a quart of green and and half a quart of the beige. What you can do is look at the quart sized cans (my Lowes had a much better color selection in the quarts) and mix a brown with the white and get the beige, just play with it until the color is what you are looking for, use a gallon can to mix it in they sell empties too. As far as the aluminum primer thing goes, if you lightly rough the hull with a fine grade sandpaper you can use regular primer and save some money again. Just depends how much elbow work you are willing to do. The etching primer has an acid base that etches the aluminum chemically to make the primer hold. Roughing the hull lightly will accomplish the same thing just mechanically. A lot of people don't think you can use the alkyd based paints on fiberglass and as a result pay a lot more for their paints. But you can use regular enamel if you know how to put it on: and it doesn't weaken the glass.

[detroit1]

What about repainting a painted aluminum boat? My '96 grumman (white from factory) needs a redoo, and i am unsure of what prep and paint is needed. Anyone?

[retiredbosn]

Same as above, you will have no problems, good luck.