How to paint a deck stripe?

[Donziweasel]

My 18 is teal but the interior is white with blue piping. I don't really care for the teal too much. Thinking about changing the deck strip to bluw to match the piping on the seats.

What is the best way to go about this? Recommendations on paint/primer etc.... ? Thanks!

[drick]

I wouldn't use any pain at all, I would have a man or company that can spray gel to re-sanded prep and gel that section is harder and better than anything else better than Amron better than two-stage clearcoat

[Conquistador_del_mar]

John,
It is relatively easy to paint a new color deck stripe, but keep in mind that there will be a lip at the edge of the paint. As long as there is no cracking in the gelcoat, you will not need primer which would only add to the final height difference. 3M makes an excellent fine line masking tape which will set your boundaries. Sand down the gelcoat stripe being sure to get as close to the edge as possible using a block. Do your final sanding with 500+ grit going longitudinally with the stripe - this will make the final paint coat look much better. You will want to use a single stage paint like Imron to help reduce the thickness that a clearcoat would add plus the single stage will look more like the surrounding gelcoat after being buffed. Be sure to go over the area to be painted a few times with a prep solvent to make sure you get all the remaining wax removed. After painting and removing the masking materials, depending on how anal/meticulous you are, I used to lightly wet sand the outside edge of the paint lip edge with a thin piece of 1000-1500 sandpaper and then compound down the entire stripe to 3M #3 or Finessit (sp?). You want to do the buffing within a day or two of painting the stripe or the paint becomes harder and buffing takes longer. On the paint edges, get your buffer wheel to go outwards by holding the buffer at an angle to help reduce the chance of lifting an edge of the paint. Take your time and it should turn out perfect. Bill

[Donziweasel]

Bill, thanks, just the info I need. George Carter once recommended a paint made by BASF called Uno. Can't find it. A few guys recommend Awlgrip. Imron has like 100 different ones, trying to figure out which on is best. Also, should I shoot it or brush it? Thanks!

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I have only shot paint so that is my recommendation. Your local automotive paint store should be able to sell what you need as long as it carries at least Dupont and PPG. I used to love picking colors that I wanted to use - :yes:. An inspiration picture.

[MOP]

Consider vinyl it is very tough mine was still great after 10 years, far less labor intensive and way less worry about mess!

[Donziweasel]

Phil, I want to try and paint it for the experience.

Bill, did your factory paint go under the rubrail? Mine doesn't. If so, did you take it off to paint? How much of a pita was it if you did? Never taken one off before......

[Conquistador_del_mar]

None of the boats I ever painted had pre existing factory paint - they were all gelcoated boats. I almost always remove the rubrail which is not a big thing. If yours is installed with machine screws and locknuts, you will probably need someone to help - otherwise you can probably take off the bow and transom pieces to get access to the deck stripe in less than 10 minutes.