Mojo's Fiberglass V hull Project

[huntinfool]

Sorry I wasn't around to give advice. We have been remodeling our house and just did new carpet and got DSL (no more dial up!!!!!) First off I doubt that the boat has paint on it. It probably has gelcoat on it. Those cracks are only in the gelcoat and not in the glass. (paint would come right off, and since it is very hard to get off it is probably gelcoat) They do not need to be reinforced. But since you have already done it, it will just give you some more strength and an added turning chine. You can paint the bottom, but it will not last. I would only use gelcoat, but now that you have epoxy on the bottom that is not going to work. (gelcoat will not stick to epoxy)

I would look for an epoxy that you can use as a bottom coat of color. That would serve two purposes, one is it would give you some more strength and two it will give you some color.

Your doing a great job so far and keep up the good work.

 

[Rat]

Epoxy paint will not come off, gelcoat isn't the only way to add color to a hull. Any of the epoxy paint by Sterling, Pettit, System 3 or Interlux will work fine and last as long or longer than a gelcoat.

For the bottom tho, all the cool kids are using Graphite! You mix Graphite in the epoxy, roll and tip it on and you have a a super abrasion resistant bottom that will out last almost anything. The only downside is that Graphite only comes in black; so lots of guys are using it up to the waterline and then using the epoxy paint from there; kinda like we do with steelflex. That's what I am doing on the GF-16.

 

[Mojo]

Graphite sounds cool.. but i've already got some Pettit paint to put on the bottom so that's whats going on. I've just about got the bottom smoothed out to where I want it. Paint is going on this week..i'll post pictures after its all done up and pretty.

 

[huntinfool]

Epoxy paint will not come off, gelcoat isn't the only way to add color to a hull. Any of the epoxy paint by Sterling, Pettit, System 3 or Interlux will work fine and last as long or longer than a gelcoat.

For the bottom tho, all the cool kids are using Graphite! You mix Graphite in the epoxy, roll and tip it on and you have a a super abrasion resistant bottom that will out last almost anything. The only downside is that Graphite only comes in black; so lots of guys are using it up to the waterline and then using the epoxy paint from there; kinda like we do with steelflex. That's what I am doing on the GF-16.

While I agree, not many boat manufacturers use epoxy as their outer color coat. Most if not all use gelcoat. I was only refering to what was probably on the boat, not what was going on the boat. Gelcoat has been used for a long time and it works great, and it can be repaired. Epoxy will work too and it can be repaired also, but not as cost effective as polyester resin/gelcoat. Also not as fast to do repairs with.

I suggested using an epoxy on the bottom, especially since he has already used epoxy to put the boards on.

 

[Mojo]

Hey Guys,

Well I got the garage space to work on the boat indoors finally and it's everything I could want.. nice and spacious lighting and power. So i got the boat taken over and set up inside. I got the first coat of primer rolled out today, I'll be letting it dry overnight and i'll mix up another batch tommorow and apply the second coat. Then It will be time to sand it one more time then start applying paint.

After all this painting fun is done and over with i'll start fabrication on the interior. Now that I've got a place to work where i'm not limited by day light i'll be able to bust that thing out.

Pictures for your enjoyment below.

 

[Rat]

Sweet! Looks like she faired out pretty well. You need a sign on the front now, Mojo Boatwerks!

 

[Mojo]

First coat of Bottom Paint is on the boat. It takes six hours of dry time before i can put on the second. So i'll head back to the garage this afternoon and give her a second coat. Then the plan is to let it cure over night go back tommorow and sand then put on the final coat.

It was exciting after all of that prep work to finally start putting paint down. My anal retentive side is annoyed by the places i missed while smoothing out the hull, small pin holes in the resin and such that were hard to see when it was bare fiberglass. But I decided I can live with a few imperfections... its the bottom of the boat after all.

That paint I got goes on so thin! I bought a gallon of it just cause I wasn't sure how much I would use... Pffffft.... one coat of the bottom of that boat took up a whole whopping 1/16th of that can. I'm gona have a LOT of leftover paint.

 

[huntinfool]

Any place that has a pin hole or a place where glass is exposed could cause delamination. Keep a good eye on it. Paint is so thin and will scratch easily and could cause major problems later on. I could type a whole page on this, but will refrain. THe boat looks good, and keep up the good work.

If you want to ask any questions let me know and I can give you my phone number.

 

[Rat]

What paint did you use Mojo? Looks good so far. If you need to fill those pin holes it is pretty easy with fairing compound, even after it is painted, it's epoxy paint so it will all stick together.

 

[Mojo]

I started out using some Pettit paint i got.. but I didn't like it. Since it was so thin I sanded back down to my primer coat and put some interlux on it. Something that was a bit harder and had a better shine. It looks a whole lot better. And i filled in the holes i found with some epoxy and sanded them down smooth. That boat bottom is starting to look pretty pimp.

 

[SoFlaBassAddict]

That paint I got goes on so thin! I bought a gallon of it just cause I wasn't sure how much I would use... Pffffft.... one coat of the bottom of that boat took up a whole whopping 1/16th of that can. I'm gona have a LOT of leftover paint.

Send it down my way Heck, you're not even that far away from me. You know you want to.....

 

[huntinfool]

Sure looking pretty!

 

[Mojo]

NEW PIC. The bottom paint is almost complete. It will be ready to take to the lake this weekend and test out the motor and put some weight in the boat and move things around to find out where I need to mount batteries, live well and other heavy type stuff.

 

[huntinfool]

Paint job looks great! Be careful with her when you roll her over.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Nice paint job

 

[River Rider]

Looks awsome. What did you use to apply the paint?

 

[Mojo]

Foam brushes were used to apply paint. Multiple light coats, as per the manufactures directions for dry times and such. I'm impressed with that Interlux paint.

 

[bassonater]

looking good.

 

[Mojo]

Well, Got the boat out on the water this weekend as advertised. It handled great with the new strakes on it, that sucker would turn super sharp and the back end never did once try to skip out on me. Clocked it on the GPS top end of 27mph. All in all I was pleased with its performance.

However.. stability was a major issue. There is just no way that thing is going to get decked out, or have very much weight put in it. So the plan is to finish up the topside paint, put some nice wood on the benches, make it look prettier than it does now and put it up for sale. It's a great little boat, but it's not going to do what I want it too do.

I figured all of this out on Saturday, just my Dad trying to get into the stupid thing after I was already in and seated almost put me into the water. Tippy Tippy Tippy. So we talked it over and decided to keep an eye out for something bigger.

Low and behold the Bass Fishing and Tin Boat Gods were smiling on me and I found a SUPER deal on craigs list. A 1987 16ft Fisher Hawk 3V. For $1500!!! The hull is in excellent shape, it needs fixing up but since i bought most everything thinking i was going to use it in the other boat I've already got carpet and new hardware, seats yada yada. So here's a teaser pic, I'll finish up the other boat and update this thread as it gets completed but I'll make a new one once i start working on the new bass machine.

 

[Troutman3000]

Looking forward to that build.