Painting an Aluminum Boat

[Tom Linderholm]

After walleye season closes and the ice began to get sketchy I began to get the softwater itch bad. Whats a guy to do, you can only sit in your boat and organize all of your tackle and take inventory so many times before you know you are set. With the leftover time I took on a little project of painting my barge.

We are working with a 1991 Crestliner Sabre measuring a bit over 22 feet.

I began by removing the pinstriping with a flat razor blade and misses hair dryer, I found that the sun faded stickers were quite difficult to pull off and broke quite frequently. This was the toughest part of the project, who would think a inch wide strip would be so difficult?

I ended up having to take the Dremel to it to get the rest off. Once that was done I set myself up with 220 grit sandpaper and continued to sand down the old paint till it was pretty well thru to the aluminum.

I immediately began with the primer. For this project I applied with a very smooth roller PETIT metal prep quick dry zinc chromate primer picked up at Marine General

After two coats of this, about 2 1/2 qts. I allowed it to dry 24 hours. Prior to applying the paint I went over all of the creases & welds on the boat and scratched them up with a brillo pad to ensure adhesion.

Next began the paint process, I decided on a solid black for the boat and a dark grey for the bottom. Both of which were Interlux brand Brightside Polyurethane single part enamel. I also used very smooth rollers to apply this. It's important to run a few coats on some cardboard to get rid of the fuzzy's that come along with the rollers. I would suggest using the best you can find. I finished up the trim with a regular 2" paint brush. I went with 2 coats on each of the paints. For the black I went through 2 quarts and on the Grey it amounted to 1 Quart.

After allowing to dry for 48 hours in low humidity and a temp of 65 degrees it was time for stickers. Valv helped me out with a set of Crestliner stickers for the old barge. Make sure you have 2 people applying them, its a tricky process. Start from one side and lightly press the stickers on and work out the bubbles to the other side. Once you peel off the backing take out the hair dryer and a razor and heat up the remaining air bubbles and give them a little poke with the razor. They will flatten out with very light pressure if any.

And walla! The finished product, at least for this season. Next winter will bring the interior work.

Total cost for forementioned work

$100 in primer

$120 in paint

$35 in stickers THANKS VALV!!!

and another $50 in sandpaper, rollers, etc.

[PerchJerker]

That looks SWEET, and I bet it'll look even beter on the water. Very impressive. The decals really add a nice finished look to it.

[Nate McVey]

Looks like a whole new boat Tom, happy birthday to you!

[BoxMN]

That does really look great! Good job!!! Also, thanks for giving the info on paint, as many people always have questions. I did several duck boats (one we did a really nice job on, rehabbed the whole Alumacraft fishing boat into a kick but duck boat) and a pontoon, and the main difference I did was use an air sprayer to apply paint. It worked great and looks great, but you have to mask everything off, and then the mist still gets in areas you don't want

Nice rig!

[marine_man]

Looks great Cheffrey!

One tip for future sticker applications - take a squirt bottle and add one drop of dishsoap. Spray the area you're going to apply the sticker to and apply the sticker. The soapy water will let you move the decal up / down, etc and will make it easier to push all the air bubbles out. Squeege the rest of the water out and you're done!

marine_man

[Valv]

Tom, I am bringing pinstriping and more decals...I'll trade for brats and krauts

[Tom Linderholm]

Quote:

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Looks great Cheffrey!

One tip for future sticker applications - take a squirt bottle and add one drop of dishsoap. Spray the area you're going to apply the sticker to and apply the sticker. The soapy water will let you move the decal up / down, etc and will make it easier to push all the air bubbles out. Squeege the rest of the water out and you're done!

marine_man

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Information that would have been helpful yesterday! J/K I am thouroughly pleased with the way it came out, minus a few creases.

Valv.....where would I put more stickers???

[Duffman]

It looks sharp Cheffrey! Nice job, I suppose it'll be stained with some salmonoid blood soon enough.

[Tom Linderholm]

I was going to put silver flakes in the paint but figured it would be covered in salmon scales after my first trip to Lake Michigan this year. Spent a half hour peeling ones from last year off the motor.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Nice work. How did you get paint on the areas of the hull that ride on the bunks of the trailer?

[Tom Linderholm]

all of the work was done on the trailer and I basically painted around the bunks. I guess I am not really concerned about the way the bottom looks. It won't make the fish bite any better. A few years back we lifted a 21' fiberglass off a trailer to paint with home made hoists out of 8x8's, a engine puller, and a tractor. I'm not going thru that again.

[Valv]

I wish I read this before Swap Meet, I have nice boat stands, you can lift each end and set it on stands.

Tom remind me next june or so about a KeelGuard, you need one....

[g_anoka]

That looks like a new boat. I have an older Sylvan, and I know see my next big project. I bought the boat this spring, and my son and I have been considering modifications, I am going to add this to the list. Great post, very informative.

[EBass]

Very nice job!

[JimBuck]

Geesh! Very nice work! I also own an older Sylvan Backtroller and have been throwing around the idea of it in the next few years. I LOVE that black.....I bet she sits nice and pretty in the water too!

[Tom Linderholm]

After 2 seasons the paint job has held up pretty good. Likely going to add another coat this spring and put a clear coat over it for protection as she took a few good dings sitting at the docks in the Apostle's last year.

[ATV hugger]

I'm thinking about painting my 18' sylvan aluminum boat also. How has this paint job held up? It looks great love the graphics.

[Tyler23]

your boat turned out really nice. good job. looks like you might have to get after the trailer now lol? that boat looks huge.