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610
02-11-2009, 11:50 AM
Hi,

I am currently doing up an old reef ranger and am at the stage where I need to start thinking about what I need to do in preparation to paint it. I intend to paint the inside using 'flowcoat' and the outside using '2pac'. I would be interested to hear any thoughts/advice on what I need to do to prepare the surfaces before I get started.

Micadogs
02-11-2009, 03:34 PM
Hi 610, best advice I can offer is get a pro to do it. These guys will save you money, not cost you more. I learnt this the hard way. What I thought was good prep wasn't even close. I spent 3-4 hours sanding just the nose. It probably needed 10 - 12 hours of my prep. A pro could probably prep a whole boat in a couple of days. I didn't have the right gear either for spraying 2-pac, or teh right area to dry it. When I have finished it looked like a snikers bar with all the lmups, bumps and dust settled onto it. The paint basically fell off soon after. Had it done by a pro and it turned out fantastic. The cost is in the prep though. If you call aorund the pro painters, I'm sure you will find one that will let you help with the prep and save some $$'s that way. The painting takes all of 15 minutes per coat. Regards Adam.

dreemon
02-11-2009, 04:56 PM
Preparation, then more prep , like Micadogs said there is no shortage of work involved, I did mine and thank crist I didn't end up with a "Snickers bar" ;),

I didn't have a shed so my problem was with humidity and making the brand new shiny 2pac go competly Flat over night, doa search on reno and you'll find some good reading, for patching scrapes and dings I used epifill, great stuff, have a look at how much you think you might need and buy double the amount,

good luck with the project,

lethal098
02-11-2009, 07:11 PM
as stated above, get a pro to do it, i started the prep on mine and cost me over $200 for stripper and sandpaer,then spent numerous hours over hours. sent it to Sean at top flite spary worx at caboolture and he had the whole boat soda balsted to remove paint and cost i think abot $800ish. he then painted it all in 2 pac, and it looks a treat, if you would like his number pm me and i will pass it on. cheers Lee

gavsgonefishing
03-11-2009, 03:32 PM
610,

I am going through the process of painting the outside and flowcoating the inside. It is a huge job, so if you want to do it yourself you have to be committed. It is not a weekend paint and run, if you want a decent job its all about prepping the surface properly.

If you are painting over existing gelcoat and you have repaired the major bits that stick out, I would use a guide coat over the hull then rub the whole thing back with say 120 grit in line sander ( you may have to go rougher if the existing finish is really shabby). This will show the spots that need to be repaired a lot easier. Do the repairs, then go over it again with a good eye for detail, mark the areas that need to be repaired and fix then then. I would then use a 2 pac hi build primer, guide coat rub back again lightly with 180grit, through the repair process again, and when you have it right hit it with 240 orbital sander. All the corners etc will be done by hand. YOu may need another coat of hi build, or you may be lucky enough to put a final under coat over it. There should be no blemished in the work at this stage. Rub it back with 400, then you are ready for the final coat. Clean down the boat with wax and grewase remover or equiv between all coats.

Short version to a long process, good luck

Gav,