Glen-L.com

I am working on some sample boards to determine the color scheme on my Zip. I have read a lot of posts and I am still confused about which way to go when it comes to paint. I have been leaning towards an automotive finish over the epoxy base. Mostly I am leaning this way because I want the color options out there that I haven't found looking at bottom paint and marine paint.
I went to a Wesco autobody supply this morning and talked with a seemingly very knowledgable sales lady. Wesco is a distributor of PPG paints. She said PPG does not recommend or warranty their product in a marine application. Yet she sells product to a lot of people who refinish their boats all the time with little or no problems.....but it's not warrantied......yikes.
She said something that interested me that I thought I would ask here.....
She said that if you put a urethane color coat on that you can spray a marine varnish over the top as long as it's solvent based. Has anyone here ever done this??
Should I defy the manufacturers recommendation and just go with the Urethane clear coat??
decisions, decisions, decisions. It really is fun to go out and research this stuff and meet all this different people with all their contradictory opinions!!! Now it's me...the rookie that has to make the call.
All I know is I want a super smooth and high gloss finish.

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I am building a Zip....really....I am

hi Fred-
if you like the automotive finish then go with that. done that once myself... not durable enough below the waterline if you plan on leaving your boat in all season.
why you would put marine varnish over it though
-Billy

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Billy's Belle Isle website

A few years back I used their product called Concept 2000. Its simular to Imron. Back then the dealers were able to match a paint chip or some fancy colors of your golf pants which gave a person a wider range of colors. I cannot tell you that its longer lasting than Imron or Awlquip, but much more friendly to touch up than the awlquip. We always waxed the Imron and would really bring it back to life over the years on many of the Hatteras yachts where it was used on every boat. This is not recommended with the Awlquip. Another fantastic paint was the Sterling Paints. They came out when awlquip was having some issues with their catylasts in warm and damp climates.

That paint could be brushed and would look as good as any spray job. Clear coating never had any U.V protection persay but some of the paints also did use a clear coat as standard operating procedure over the topcoats especially over big boat transoms as an extra protection and over the gold leaf names which was a barrier coat for the diesel soot making it easier to clean repeatedly.

Oh NO!!! Tell me you don't have a boat that matches golf pants!!!!

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Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Fred5150 :

Are you wanting a way to do wood natural finish?
I sprayed automotive clear urethane over clear epoxy and it looks great.
Yes, varnish looks great over clear epoxy, but I simply used clear auto urethane instead of varnish.

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God Bless our Troops; especially our Snipers

I'm sure....thinking about it more....that she was advising me to cover the color coat with Marine varnish simply because the product they sell is not recommended for marine use.
I will say that she was pretty emphatic that the urethane coat would work just fine as long as I wasn't going to leave the boat in the water over long periods....which I won't.
Seems like everybody wants to cover their butt these days. Can't seem to get a straight answer from anybody (I'm not talking about the people on this forum....I'm talking about the salespeople I talk to about specific products).

Thank you all for the input........

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I am building a Zip....really....I am

Mr.Pirate, whats wrong with having a boat the same color as my golfing pants? I mean this should satisfy everyones tastes too.
Pick your poison mate.


Remember if you go with a clear finish or varnish over epoxy, I highly recommend that you use the special coatings hardner too for your epoxy.

In no way, shape, nor form would I put varnish over a color paint as you describe.
Applying a clearcoat over the color the same as is done on autos with auto paint makes sense.
I have auto paint on mine topsides and transome, with no problems. Mine stays on a trailer though, not floating all the time.

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God Bless our Troops; especially our Snipers

Since PPG won't warranty their paint on a boat, it's my opinon to use their Omni paint which is cheaper and they never warranty it. I have used it on cars and I used it on my Zip and never have had a problem. My boat lives on a trailer also. Which ever you decide to use , I would prime over the epoxy with a high building primer and sand it before putting the color on . The clear should be put on quickly after the color coat. The color should be dry by the time you clean out your gun. They say you have a twelve hour window, but that's pushing it in my book. I hope this helps.
Jerry

Jerry,
Thanks for the input. Are you saying that 12 hours is the max time between coats?? It makes sense. I assume the short time between coats allows for a chemical bond.
How many coats of clear?? I've heard three is good.

I think I'll stick with my original plan to do an all automotive finish over the epoxy. this boat will probably never be in the water for more than a day here and a day there.... I'll probably dry it off when I pull it out of the water.

Thanks alot!!

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I am building a Zip....really....I am

Fred,

The 12 hour window is between the color coat and the clear coat. Like I said , I would not wait that long. I have been told that it is something to do with the color coat gasing out. Use just enough color coat to cover it well , one coat will be enough.I'm not a professonal painter. I buy paint at "English Color". If you ask for it your paint dealer should give you a print out giving you data to study before you start. At least this one does. Three coats should do it with the clear. You can sand with wet paper between coats of clear. The last coat can be sanded as well, then compounded and buffed out. Lot's of elbow grease! If you are not familar with wet sanding, the dealer should give you some pointers.
Jerry