I'm going to start painting the old duck boat here soon and get her re-rigged for next duck season. I have an old 14' Polar Craft that pretty much has no paint left on the floors and I've spray painted the outside camo a few years back. I know that I'll be needing a self etching primer to repaint and a good cleaning to remove any grease and oil. My real question is... does the boat need to be completely sanded down or would a good cleaning and coat of primer be sufficient. I'd like this paint job to last longer than a rattle can job would. Any suggestions or advice?
If you paint over old paint without sanding, you're going to get the kind of surface the old paint had and the adhesion will be only as good as the old paint. To do it right, a thorough sanding is necessary. You don't have to sand down to bare metal, but you do need to make sure any surfaces left are solid and well sanded.
If you want to do it right use a good wire cup wheel on a grinder and clean it to bare aluminum then wipe with acetone ASAP and prime it right away then paint it. If you let freshly cleaned aluminum sit just a few hours it begins forming oxidation and it is the powdery white film you see on aluminum. Paint will not stick to it. I like to use two part urethane primer and two part utethane paint. Try Tuffcoat on the deck, I love it.
Pressure wash your boat with 3,500 psi minimum to blast as much stuff off as you can. Then sand it to get the bright spot roughed up. If paint is stuck on good the new paint will be fine. After sanding wash it with hot water and TSP (Lowe's paint section) or Phosphoric acid (best if you can find it), this will etch the metal and existing paint. Rinse it, prime it and use an oil paint.
Here's another hint... folks who paint airplanes know exactly the steps needed to get a good durable result on aluminum.... It's been years (around 1980) since the last time I had an aluminum hull painted - we used Amer-flynt (similar to Awlgrip, a two part paint) - and I must say the paint held up better than the underlying structure (it was an old riveted Starcraft that we put back together at least three times during the years I ran it...). Let us know what you come up with and how it worked out for you.
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