Need aluminum boat painted

[Fastwin]

In the quest to restore my boat it has come time to re-paint the non-skid floor. I have called the spray-in truck places and they want $690. .. yes. . . $690.

I read online about how to paint aluminum and it seems each person has their own (confusing and deadly) chemical cocktails to prime the aluminum surface. Herculiner would be nice, but it doesn't come in green and I've used it in a Jeep before and wasn't that impressed. It flaked easily.

To keep it period-specific I'm not sure which type of paint to use. They didn't have Rhino Liner in 1962. My first step is to blast the interior with a 4000psi pressure washer to knock off any old paint to avoid sanding the entire floor because there are 1,000 rivets that will destroy sandpaper.

Any suggestions? Anyone want to do it? I am looking for a forrest-green color.

 

[SpurHunter]

A buddy of mine used a self-applied bedliner that came out great. Check into that.

 

[Fastwin]

Sounds like something similar to herculiner - do you know the name of it?

 

[SpurHunter]

I dont, its been 3-4 yrs ago.

 

[shootkrt]

I used a polyurethane based paint made for aluminum boats that I had got at Boaters World. It really has held up pretty good for the past 3 years except for running into a couple of docs a little too fast that left some scratches, Oops. Since boaters world is out of business I don't know where you would get some now.

 

[Fastwin]

Remember the brand name? I wonder how well it would hold up to foot traffic and gear getting thrown/ slid around the boat.

 

[BustinBass197]

I would think that powder coating would work really well too, but not sure on the cost.

 

[jonathanfaith2]

My aluminum boat came from the factory with the decks And floors all sprayed. I love it, looks good and very easy to clean. The only downfall is that it can get alittle slick when wet. I had to add non slit treading to where I stand on the front deck. I would check the xpress web site and look at the boats that are sprayed to see what they use.

 

[nickajack-smack]

Get some industrial paint in whatever color you like paint the floor and while the paint is still wet take a hand held sand blaster turn it down on low and shoot the sand on it let everything dry then come back and put another coat on top of that. You will have a none skid surface and it will last a long time. You can get black beauty sand at porter warner and is very cheap

 

[shootkrt]

the polyurethane base paint has held up very well and the deck as well as the sides, the brand was top coat but that is a boaters world brand. I have seen the same paint on the net. google polyurethane aluminum boat paint. it usually runs about $25 per quart but works well and I put mine on with a foam 3 inch roller with light coats. it is a self leveling paint and you don't see any roller or brush streaks. everyone that sees it think it was sprayed.

 

[digitalcb]

(quote) "I read online about how to paint aluminum and it seems each person has their own (confusing and deadly) chemical cocktails to prime the aluminum surface. "</p>

Good paint prep results in a not-so-smooth surface. The relative roughness of a surface is called the "anchor profile" in the paint business. Some degree of relative roughness eliminates the slick surface and gives the paint something to "grip".
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This is why sandblasting is so great, it removes the old paint and presents a great anchor profile to the new coat.
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Aluminum is normally smooth so you need to prep it to present an acceptable "anchor profile" to the paint. The "chemical cocktails" are merely degrees of aggression. Vinegar works. Muriatic acid works better. Sandpaper works, the rougher the better.</p>

I have a 40 year old aluminum canoe whose seats I painted with oil based enamel 40 years ago to keep the oxide off my butt. The paint is still intact.</p>

For anti-slip, mix a coarse sand in the paint or spread a finer sand on the tacky paint. </p>

Boats the age of yours probably had a combination of mastic and lead based components which were prevalent prior to the 70's and had excellent bonding and slip resistant qualities. You can possibly still find some similar boats to yours hanging on Davits on some Wing Walls with their originals coatings intact.
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