Ski Boat Forum
Repairs and Maintenance => Boat Maintenance - American Skier => Topic started by: Ryanshirley24 on June 26, 2013, 02:37:09 PM
-
Hello I'm curious on how much to reprint my 1975 American skier? It's paint is in good condition but I'd like to maybe change colour or just repay to make look new again
-
You CAN prep & paint the gelcoat and some on here have done it successfully. I'm not a fan of painting a boat because gelcoat is not paint - its a color that is added to the gelcoat before its sprayed into the mold. You can remove the stencils & labels on the hull and cut & buff out the gelcoat to an extent and it will look much more presentable. Changing the color is not possible, except for painting and then its typically above the waterline.
Talk to Mike Harry, Ron Tanis and a few others on here that have painted boats. Mike's came out looking great. I don't know the maintenance requirements or longevity of painted gelcoat :(
Joel
-
As stated, gelcoat is a different animal. If you were looking to do a proper job re-gelcoating a new color over the entire boat it could get quite expensive, possible in excess of the value of the boat in totality. That said, I've seen people repaint the top of a boat (say rub rail up) with varying degrees of success.
Paint on a boat is not like paint on a car, and for good reason. It's much more scratch, ding, scuff, and wear resistant. Most people don't climb all over the top of their car on a regular basis...if they did, cars would probably be gelcoated.
The good news, I've seen terribly old, incredibly faded (nasty) gelcoat returned to near showroom condition...if you can tolerate the factory color. Gelcoat is very resilient. My last boat was a neglected '83 Glastron-Carlson...after a couple days with a buffer, the hull could pass for a new boat.
Me personally, if I felt the need to drastically change the appearance of my boat...I would look into decals (or boat wraps) before I'd think about repainting it. 2 cents.
-
Mine has been painted for years. It works just fine. BUT it would need to be a trailer queen, no way you can leave it in the water all the time. It is by far not the best option...... in my personal case the gel coat was so far gone that it was my only option, the only option I could afford as well since my dad and I (dad mostly) did all the work.
Personally, I would look into a wrap. You can make it look however you want and in the end you can take it back to stock at any time without any adverse effects.
Done properly and with the correct upkeep paint will work just fine, my boat is proof....... if anyone likes it or not. But its not gel coat and its not nearly as tough and versatile.
If you decide not to change the color you can get a detail guy to cut and buff the boat for less than $400 and itll look damn near factory new. With this option though you have to figure in new graphics all the way around and the cost of that. Id either go with a cut and buff or a wrap before I decided to paint unless you KNOW KNOW KNOW your paint guy and he KNOWS what he is doing and also you know how to keep it up.
Good luck
Mike
-
Thxs everyone for ur replies. I'm gonna try and see if I can get another season out of her then I'm gonna probably just pay a pro to do it and get it done right.