Looking for a painter to paint my CD22 Angler -- know any

M

moknots

New member
After attending our first C Brat gathering on the St Johns river in Florida, it's going to be hard to continue to enjoy our very experienced 1987 vintage boat without sprucing it up a bit! Man, talk about boat envy:o)

Shopping for an east coast boat to use winters for a few years, but would like to keep Bloo until we do something more comfortable for Alaska cruising in a few years (if the plan goes according to plan!).

Anyone know of a painter (pro or experienced amature) I can hire in the Pacific Northwest? My local body shop has no experience with Linear Polyurethane so I am prepared to trailer to someone who knows their stuff.

Any estimates on the cost of a complete exterior paint job? Tried buffing the gel coat and it was not thick enough to buff out without starting to show fiber (photos in a prior post). TIA!
 
I have used Tim Jones, d/b/a Pacific Fiber Finish . Tim used to work at the C-Dory factory in Auburn. He repaired a gazillion holes and abrasions on our 20 year old former fishing machine. He also refinished our cabin roof and brow and the interior dash as well. He has a shop in Tacoma. In addition to fiberglass repair he also
does bottom painting and detailing. Their web site is pacificfiberfinish.com 206-380-4749
 
Great to meet you all at the Hontoon gathering! To have a marine professional in our area you would be looking at from $200 to $500 a foot, depending on what has to be done. (because of the smaller volume of the c Dory, or if you don't want a complete job, it may be had for less. The boat has to be fully sanded, degreased (and silicone traces removed), any minute scratch filled, then primed, sanded, primed again sanded etc,--and sometimes a 3rd time. Then time for spraying the 2 part LP (several coats, and then clear coat)--only a few people are truly experts, and it pays to have an expert. There are some who will tip and roll, rather than spray--may be a little cheaper, but if you want a professional job, then the full treatment, is worth the money. Out of several dozen technicians in our area, I will only let one group paint my boats, because of the quality of the work. They are a husband wife team--and it really takes two people to get that primo job.

In my opinion, the best paint remains Awlgrip--Imuron can be gotten for less, but with long term in the water use, does not seem o held up as well.

Whoever you get--see some samples of their work--and a work in progress. Be sure it is perfect.
 
just idle curiosity


Did anyone use a heavy compounding like 3M super duty and wool pads, changing pads often and heavy duty Makita machine?

or if heavily oxidized , sand with 1000 grit sandpaper first

Then polishing compound ex 3M finesse II with foam pads

Then real paste wax like 3M or Collinite Fleet Wax

I curious if the existing finish could be restored before going to paint
 
moknots":3eqhast0 said:
it's going to be hard to continue to enjoy our very experienced 1987 vintage boat without sprucing it up a bit! Man, talk about boat envy:o)
Click to expand...

Some say a little patina bespeaks the beauty of experience. 8)

We have painted boats in our shop but Ontario would be a bit of a drive for you. :) Working from the boot stripe to the rub rail is not too bad but topsides can be pain. Lots of climbing up and down and lots of masking.

I would recommend epoxy primer topcoated with Imron. They use it on Fountains so it should make a Cdory stand out!

Regards, Rob
 
BrentB":2x3lfvpe said:
Did anyone use a heavy compounding like 3M super duty and wool pads, changing pads often and heavy duty Makita machine?
I curious if the existing finish could be restored before going to paint
Click to expand...

I have done that on several fiberglass boats. In Ye Old Days with a big Milwaukee buffer (my shoulders hurt just typing that), and in more recent times with a heavy duty (but not nearly as heavy) Makita. It's amazing what you can bring back with the right materials and techniques. Really beautiful results can be had.

However, as the OP mentioned, the boat in question isn't a candidate for that technique because the gelcoat is not thick enough - it's getting down to the underlying weave almost right away. Usually gelcoat is thick enough for one or more "episides" of buffing out, but... not always.
 
BrentB":1er0zkd0 said:
I didn't know if a small area or entire boat had thin gelcoat
Click to expand...

Good point. I don't remember from the original thread. If it were just the brow or even the whole "color" area, that would be significantly less involved/expensive to paint. moknots, I forget, but was it just the brow or other color areas? Or the main "white" areas too? Having the color areas painted would be MUCH less significant. So many fewer things to mask around, fewer odd angles, no non-skid, windows, deck fittings... etc.

BTW, just to echo what others said above, a good, well-executed paint job, with a high quality two-part paint will not come cheap. It's a huge amount of work, typically requires a good setup (paint shed) and tools, and the paint itself is expensive. I have occasionally known of a great yard painter who moonlights just *topsides paint jobs (outside in good conditions) and does an excellent job; but for every one of those there are probably fifty doing low quality work (and since these coatings can last 20 years or more, you'd have to suffer with the results a long time).

* i.e. sides of boat from deck to waterline.

If you were doing just the color area, it would be orders of magnitude less expensive due to less paint and much less prep. Might be fun to have a different/custom color C-Dory! (While just buffing out the white, presuming you can.)
 
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