Painting an aluminum boat

[FishingFL]

Bought my boat about 5 years ago, nothing fancy, now it is in need of a paint job. It is a 14ft Alumacraft boat. Just wondering what kind of luck people have had with any particular brand of paint, did you sand first and then paint or just paint over? Any tips, do's and don'ts would be great. Thanks.

[PierBridge]

Here are couple threads for starters1

Painting an aluminum boat

Painting an aluminum boat on a budget

[FishingFL]

Thanks for the links. Being new to the forum I had not seen the great ideas previously offered on the site. Great discussion.

[bturck]

My son bought a used Lund Pro V1775. He did a total repaint and all new decals two years ago. It is awesome. A friend of his who owns a body shop did the work for him. Really looks good, almost nicer than the new ones...

[Coach1310]

I painted my 16' Alumacraft 2 years ago. It turned out pretty well and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. My process:

1. Strip the boat of all decals... mine were really beat up and this process took the longest of anything... i had tons of striping decals that were split, cracked, faded, brittle etc... used a hair dryer and a plastic putty knife.

2. Give the boat a REALLY GOOD CLEAN using goo-gone or something of that affect, especially if it has water stained areas or where the decals/sticky stuff was.

3. Give it a good scuff with sandpaper and then wipe it down with acetone.

4. Apply primer coat. Let dry. Another round of scuffing, wipe down with acetone. Apply second primer coat.

5. Let dry... another round of scuffing, acetone wipe down, first coat of paint.

6. Scuff, wipe down, another coat.

7. After dry, add third coat... I didn't scuff with this coat and mine turned out well, so not sure if that is proper or not.

I rolled all of my primer and paint on and "tipped" it with a brush. Bascially "tipping" is using the very tip of the paint trust to knock down any bubbles.

I used Brightside products and was pleased with the finished product. It took a little time, but was fun and much cheaper than a pro job, which my older boat doesn't really justify.