31 Bertram painting/"body work"

[CappelloVince717]

I wish I could figure out how to post pictures. I have sanded the hull of my 31 Bertram with 100 grit down to gel coat. My concern is I have noticed millions of tiny little cracks like spider cracks. They aren't deep and don't seem structural. I've read many different ways to go about fixing them. I'm almost at the point of paying someone. I want the paint to come out nice and I'm no painter. Any help or anyone on the jersey shore area that could come look at it and give me advice would be much appreciated! Thanks fellas

Email Vinnypaul717@yahoo.com

Let me know if this link works

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gieh7hjmjfw08 ... 9.jpg?dl=0][/url]

[Marlin]

What did u sand down to gel coat, previous painted finish

[CappelloVince717]

Yea it was like 4 coats of paint then primer

[CappelloVince717]

[urlhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/gieh7hjmjfw08wq/Photo ... 9.jpg?dl=0][/url]

[Marlin]

Was the previous painted finish also crazed? If not, I'd consider spraying a double coat of 545 , spray a mist coat( rattle can as the Capt would say) of black lacquer primer , long board sand with 320 ,repair imperfections with 545 , block out and color coat

[CappelloVince717]

The old paint was chalky not to bad it was chipping everywhere. Thanks for the input I appreciate your help!

[Tony Meola]

Vince

Sounds like you are working with the original gel coat. I am not a glass guy, but I have been told if the gel is cracking it needs to come off to you get down to the glass. Then the high build primer then paint.

Marlin has more experience but if he is thinking that it was painted then it might be a different story.

Maybe if Robbie from Raybo see's this he will chime in.

Vince aren't you on LBI?

[CappelloVince717]

Toms river nj about 30 min north of lBI. thanks

[Bruce]

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You post on here as an img file not a url.

[Marlin]

I did the process I described and the finish is still great. To grind all the gel coat off is a monumental task and lots of gouging will occur, then u have to fair out with filler of some chemistry, wait for it to cure,( maybe a couple months) and then go thru the final finishing process. The black brow on my new ride was crazing ( only 2 years old, but black) . We ground it down past the crazing, rolled on thicken epoxy for for numerous days, air board the finish till fair ,then let it bake in the Florida sun for several months curing, then attacked it again with lots of high build primer,long board sanding and finally the finishing process. I didn't invent this process, I learner end about it at Seminole yard in Jupiter,Florida . We did the same process to my F andS the year before,the chemistry has to cure!

[Tony Meola]

I did the process I described and the finish is still great. To grind all the gel coat off is a monumental task and lots of gouging will occur, then u have to fair out with filler of some chemistry, wait for it to cure,( maybe a couple months) and then go thru the final finishing process. The black brow on my new ride was crazing ( only 2 years old, but black) . We ground it down past the crazing, rolled on thicken epoxy for for numerous days, air board the finish till fair ,then let it bake in the Florida sun for several months curing, then attacked it again with lots of high build primer,long board sanding and finally the finishing process. I didn't invent this process, I learner end about it at Seminole yard in Jupiter,Florida . We did the same process to my F andS the year before,the chemistry has to cure!

Marlin

It sounds like you got her down past the crazing. I think Vince had no surface crazing and found crazing when he sanded it down to paint. Would that make a difference?

[Tony Meola]

The old paint was chalky not to bad it was chipping everywhere. Thanks for the input I appreciate your help!

Vince I keep my boat up in Forked River just to your south. What is the name on your boat? I usually go up the Toms a couple of times during the summer. Don't remember seeing any 31's docked up there, but I have never gone in and out of the marina's.

[CappelloVince717]

Tom I bought my boat as a full restoration. It hasn't been in the water since 2001! Her name is dragon lady 3 and she was originally from forked river back in -96-2001 I think? Anyway the project has gotten off to a fast start. If you ever want to come check it out let me know!

[Tony Meola]

Tom I bought my boat as a full restoration. It hasn't been in the water since 2001! Her name is dragon lady 3 and she was originally from forked river back in -96-2001 I think? Anyway the project has gotten off to a fast start. If you ever want to come check it out let me know!

Vince

Will have to stop by one day and check out what you are doing. Dragon Lady, does not sound familiar and back then I pretty much knew all the 31's in Forked River.

Good luck with the Resto. If you have any questions everyone is here to help.

[Al C]

My boat was named Dragon lady IV also purchased in Waretown NJ Holiday Harbor Marina?????

[Tony Meola]

Al

Where do you keep the boat now?

[Al C]

Tony

Boat is now in Staten Island changed the name to Miss Amy after Sandy.

Al

[Tony Meola]

You are up by Carl. He is on Staten Island also.

[Carl]

You are up by Carl. He is on Staten Island also.

We are in the same Great Kills Harbor, used to be at the same marina, just at opposite ends of it.
I think maybe once are paths crossed when our boats were out for the winter.


Al, I think you did a bit more then just change the name after Sandy...it looks real sharp!

[cariedl]

Fixed it for you.

[CamB25]

uggghh! that's not going to be fun.

[Marlin]

The hull glass is now 40-50 years old, the chemistry has cured! Sand with a DA with 80 grit, spray or roll on a coat o 545 ,spray a mist coat of black lacquer primer, long board sand with 220, re apply 545' , block out with a large foam block with 320 , do your final color application

[Stephan]

Marlin-
Does it make sense to reduce the first coat of 545 to make sure it gets down into the cracks? I believe there are different reducing agents for spraying and rolling. My recollection is recoating within 16 hours if you want to build it up.
I found it very expensive and very smelly but good at its job.
Regards,
Stephan

[CamB25]

545 doesn't fill pin holes very well, I doubt it will fill crazed gel coat. It might be worth an experiment though. 545 has no body, its just a primer. Lots and lots of coats. Twice as many if you roll/ brush. And any movement will crack your paint layer.

Any paint manufacturer will tell you to grind it all away to a sound substructure and then begin the paint prep "process". Crazed gel coat is not a sound substructure. Aside from taking down to glass, you could grind out all the cracks and fill them with evercoat or epoxy. The gelcoat is probably done moving after all these years.

I did the dremel grind and fill method on portions of my hull sides. It takes time, but it is much less work than grinding everything back to glass.

Good luck!

[Marlin]

When I said sand with 80,I ment sand thoroughly, after the block sanding of the guide coat of black lacquer primer, any pin holes/ blemishes will surface, re apply 545 if necessary ,guide coat ,block sand until u get a prep job that satisfies you. If you roll on the first coat, up will get a considerable build up that will fill the pin holes/crazing but could leave brush /roller marks. I don’t mess much with experimenting with paint chemistry, they are the experts,your application technique will determine the final product. Proper rollers / brushes , tack rags , de waxing solvents/ methods , temp,humidity all contribute to the end result .i continue to use a 6” festool vacumn sander system which can be set in a grinding mode or DA mode for initial prep work, bigger is better,continuous long strokes/ movements will help shape/fair the surface. Spray on 3 coats of Awlcraft 2000 , additives that are suitable to the current temperature/ humidity conditions ,using the allowing the proper tacking times between coats,follow the recommended amount of product be applied each time and u will end up with a homogeneous tough urethane finish that can be color sanded the next day to clear up any dirt, over spray, sags

[Tony Meola]

I know we all agree that if you have crazing that you need to remove the gel coat in order to prevent the stress cracks from re-appearing.

Well I had an interesting conversation with a local Glass Guy who is going to re-paint my deck and spray on new non-skid. While in his shop talking he was showing me a couple of hatch covers off of a sail boat. He was getting ready to paint them as part of the topside work he was doing on it.

He was spraying Petit barrier coat on the hatches as a primer. Then he was going to shoot them with AlexSeal. He was telling me while the process is pretty new, he thinks he found a way to avoid having to remove all of the gel. He said the barrier coat would prevent the crazing from re-appearing.

He was using Petit because he thought it was just a better product plus he said it sprayed on smoother than the Interlux.

I thought it was an interesting theory and if it works would really save a lot of work.

[Raybo Marine NY]

The barrier will not stop it from crazing again, tried it a few times over the last 20 years and have seen those boats from time to time since then. How long it will last depends on a lot of variables and how much exposure to the sun.
It will be a nice foundation and may give you a few years for the cost versus stripping the gel and reglassing it’s tough to beat

[Tony Meola]

Robbie

Good to know . I will let him know when I see him in about a week or two.