Painting grp cockpit

[Crinan12]

I'm keen to paint my grp cockpit
Even after cleaning and polishing it's a bit of a mess
There are stains/crazed areas/chips/holes.
Just wondering if anyone has any tips or advice about what product to use ?
I did see a previous thread where someone used a single coat hempel paint and the photo that was posted looked great
Thanks in advance

 

[jwilson]

I once painted a GRP cockpit in two-pack Awlgrip, after filling chips, holes from old fittings etc. I can be really quite a good painter or varnisher when I try (ie on boats) but whilst it was a considerable improvement over the old dull, rubbed, chipped GRP it was a much more difficult job to get a really good finish than painting big areas of hull topsides. I even had a couple or runs and curtains in the finish in some awkward corners.

 

[Poey50]

It depends on how far you want to go with it. For me, painting the deck and cockpit GRP was without doubt one of the most horrible jobs I have done on the boat - mainly due to masses of preparation including two days of masking and all done under a temporary deck tent. For all those reasons I used the most long-lasting method I could find and used International Perfection Pro. Very hard wearing. I hope it will last long enough to see my natural demise or the horror of doing it fades.

 

[Crinan12]

I had visualized it as a nice easy satisfying job - Painting it on the mooring on a hot sunny day. didn't realise it would be such an awful job to be honest !

 

[pvb]

Had you thought of asking a professional GRP valeter to have a go at it? You could be surprised by what they can achieve without painting.

 

[Poey50]

I had visualized it as a nice easy satisfying job - Painting it on the mooring on a hot sunny day. didn't realise it would be such an awful job to be honest !

Did I have enough prep time? Surface temperature OK? How's the humidity? Chance of rain later? Dust? Flies? Rain forecast for the next two days - will there be a chance to get a coat on before the maximum between-coat time is exceeded? Have I started too late to avoid the dreaded dew point? What is my escape route or will I paint myself into a corner? Nurse!!! The meds are wearing off!

Possibly it's just me ... others may have happier stories. It you take the time and effort will look nice though!

 

[Crinan12]

I'm being put off this job!
Didn't appreciate it would be so tricky
Pvb no I hadn't thought of a valeter - can they do much more than a cut and polish ?Thanks

 

[Concerto]

Crinan12.

You do not mention what yacht it is and how old. If the gel coat was brushed on, rather than sprayed like modern production yachts, you should be able to compound the gel coat to cut the stains out. The chips ground out to clean and then can be filled. The crazed areas can be flow coated and feathered in.

On my Fulmar I have almost compounded all exposed areas of gel coat as Westerly used a double coat of gel coat. Unfortunately Westerly used from the mid 1970's to mid 1980's a non UV gel coat, so it goes cream with time. Compounding removes the discolouration. Also Plastic Padding white gel coat filler is an almost exact colour match to the compounded gel coat.

If you can avoid painting, then I would suggest you do. If you decide to paint, then get it sprayed.

 

[Crinan12]

Sorry yes of course
It's a 1980 seamaster 925

 

[pvb]

I'm being put off this job!
Didn't appreciate it would be so tricky
Pvb no I hadn't thought of a valeter - can they do much more than a cut and polish ?Thanks

Painting it would be an awful DIY job, with rather unpredictable results. I bought a boat some years ago which had suffered some abuse in Spain, and the cockpit gelcoat was in a poor state. I got a professional GRP guy to fill any scratches/holes, then do a thorough cut/polish job, and the results were good. If you were to try this approach, it would be far cheaper than getting it painted, and might give your cockpit a new shine. Realistically, though, you need to understand that your boat isn't ever going to look like new.

 

[FlyingGoose]

Crinan12.

You do not mention what yacht it is and how old. If the gel coat was brushed on, rather than sprayed like modern production yachts, you should be able to compound the gel coat to cut the stains out. The chips ground out to clean and then can be filled. The crazed areas can be flow coated and feathered in.

On my Fulmar I have almost compounded all exposed areas of gel coat as Westerly used a double coat of gel coat. Unfortunately Westerly used from the mid 1970's to mid 1980's a non UV gel coat, so it goes cream with time. Compounding removes the discolouration. Also Plastic Padding white gel coat filler is an almost exact colour match to the compounded gel coat.

If you can avoid painting, then I would suggest you do. If you decide to paint, then get it sprayed.

Agreed , if really bad go to it with wet and dry (wet) 600 grit then 800 grit up to 1000 grit , fill in cracks and holes with a decent gel coat repair kit, and sand these down as well and then harsh polish with Buffer and fine polish then wax , you will never get an exact color match but it will take a good eye to see the diffrence and you will feel thankful that you never painted it .
Hard work but the finish will be very nice as others have said above :encouragement:

 

[jwilson]

In addition to my earlier post, Awlgripping the cockpit was a really really physically awkward job, which is why the results were not as good as I expected to achieve, knowing I can make paint look like a mirror in good conditions. I actually had to do it twice: the first time using International two-pack, which went on a bit late in the day and went dull and did not cure properly. Weeks later it had finally hardened fully and I sanded again and repeated with Awlgrip, which worked better. It's not a job I recommend.

 

[pandos]

I undid a painted cockpit on my first boat then cut back with wet and dry through to buffing and waxing. Was a terrible job to do but was supper when done..

 

[Concerto]

I undid a painted cockpit on my first boat then cut back with wet and dry through to buffing and waxing. Was a terrible job to do but was supper when done..

Presumebly it was good enough to eat off. I think you meant it was a super job when done.

 

[PCUK]

Why not think outside the box? Instead of using marine paints, spray it with car aerosols. The preparation will be the same but the quick drying will avoid any worries with damp, give a great finish and will be as long lasting as anything on your car. Finally when you scratch it, it will be easy to respray as good as new. Some boat manufacturers now use car paints so it is not such an unusual recommendation. Plastic primer is the one to start with.

 

[Cotillion]

Be warned.
Once you start applying paint/varnish to your boat it will be another job to do at refit time, year after year, after year as it chips and flakes away.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I painted the coach roof and cockpit when I had a leisure 17. It looked pretty good but not perfect. I did it in my garden and wouldn't like to do it whilst afloat as you run out of places to stand.

 

[Poey50]

Be warned.
Once you start applying paint/varnish to your boat it will be another job to do at refit time, year after year, after year as it chips and flakes away.

I wouldn't have a boat that needed varnishing for the reasons you give but I think that you are unduly pessimistic about paint. Having done it, my advice is if you do it, do it very thoroughly with no skimping on preparation and use a good two-pack paint even though you have to control the painting conditions more carefully. The reason being that a two pack paint is much harder. I used International Protection Pro - it is hard like an enamel and shows no signs of wear in the first year. It flows on with a roller so doesn't need tipping-off with a brush. As said before, despite the trauma I'm pleased with the results and I reckon it may be good for ten years.

 

[Poey50]

I just checked and I spent some or all of 16 days to do the deck including Kiwigrip on the non-slip.

 

[KAM]

Just finishing mine off. Very pleased with the result and wished I done it years ago. I think once the gelcoat has started to get porous its better done sooner than later. Mine was 38 years old. If the gelcoat is bad it's important to use an epoxy primer. Despite reading reccomendations to the contrary it's not worth rubbing down finer than 320 grit if using a high build epoxy primer. Using a 2 pack PU over the epoxy I found it was easy enough to rub down next day even working outside below 10 C. I would say it's not worth doing the job with single pack as most of the work is in the prep and masking. Worth removing as many fittings as practicable. With any small defects such as spider cracks it seemed much easier to be brutal and grind out the whole area rather than trying to fill individual cracks. I used sheets of old melamine furniature to practice on to get the optimum thinners mix. Go ahead you won't be dissapointed.