Now this is a dumb question...

M

Mike...

New member
...and I know it is, so go ahead and take your best shot. :)

As you may recall (my username was "wannaboat" until recently), my TomCat 255 has blue striping However, I would actually have preferred Red. Bright Red.

Is it possible to change the color those stripes? If so, how hard would it be to do? (by a professional, of course)

I await the heckling. :)
---
mike


:)
 
Mike,

Nice boat, but I like the red trim myself.

A pro fiberglass man could sand down the blue, respray new red gel coat, and sand/buff out the new red gel coat.

The hull side stripe would be much easier to do than the cabintop. That cabintop requires a lot of masking.

You will need to find a top quality fiberglass finisher and get a quote.

Another option is to have the blue trim painted with a two-part LP (Allgrip) paint. LP paint is very glossy, and lasts a long time. Still expensive due to the sanding/masking/spraying/more sanding/respraying, etc. Again, locate a top quality LP boat painter and get an estimate.
 
Maybe we could do a signup list for boat swapping so we could all get the colors we originally wanted. I waited about a year till the right color and equipped one came on the used market, but agree sometimes we just have to take what we can get
 
OR you could go to Wally World and get some spray paint, then in a month, if you didn't like the color you'd have an opportunity to change it ! :shock:

Sounds like a major job to me.
 
My TomCat's trim has some sort of decal like gold strip through it , which happens to be a bit sensitive to power washing. But - maybe a "stick on" pin stripe could be placed over the fiberglass.

Blue and Black are common hull trim colors and we often see hulls trimmed with blue and black topped by red or green cushions, so I don't see any big clash of colors in whatever you do.

John
 
Mike...":2nklrprw said:
...and I know it is, so go ahead and take your best shot. :)

As you may recall (my username was "wannaboat" until recently), my TomCat 255 has blue striping However, I would actually have preferred Red. Bright Red.

Is it possible to change the color those stripes? If so, how hard would it be to do? (by a professional, of course)

I await the heckling. :)
---
mike


:)
Click to expand...

OK, since you're awaiting the heckling... how long have you had that boat? How many times have you gotten it wet? And now you want to change the color of the boat stripes?

Try this: get in the boat. Sit on the cushions so you don't see the color. Start the motors and go somewhere... anywhere. You're inside, you don't see the color of the stripes from inside. Now, after you've ran that boat a couple hundred hours, see if you can get the smile off your face and if the color really makes enough difference that you'd spend a pile of bucks changing it out.

More heckling: There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black.
-Nathanael G. Herreshoff

Boat humor - :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
I have had two C Dories which had a color other than my preference (Preference is dark blue--the boats were green). I lived with it and enjoyed the boat!

The best way to do the change, is to have a professional spray the stripe with Awlgrip, a two part poly urethane (as Larry suggested). The two park LP will last about 10 to 11 years, and you will not have to compound it every year. In fact Hatterus yachts were not gelcoated, they were sprayed with 2 part LP paints (I use "were" since there have been some changes in recent years"). Custom boats often are sprayed with 2 part LP and when you have worn out Gel coat, then you have the boat sprayed. If you are an expert with tip and roll, you can try it. But spraying will do better. LP is hard to spray, and there are some tricks to it. If it is not prefect, the best painters will sand it down, reprime and respray. This makes it a very expensive proposition. For a hull only--somewhere from $100 to $200 a foot. For the entire boat, it may be closer to $400 a foot (those are North Florida Prices--you can double that in Ft. Lauderdale). There are lots of variables, and the devil is in the prep.
 
drjohn71a":11cqymgn said:
My TomCat's trim has some sort of decal like gold strip through it , which happens to be a bit sensitive to power washing. But - maybe a "stick on" pin stripe could be placed over the fiberglass.
Click to expand...

Hey, John! Welcome back from wherever you've been...

Warren
 
Thanks to all for the replies.

Turns out there is an Awlgrip guy within driving distance, so I'll have him take a look and see what he thinks. The last thing I want is to attempt change the color, but then something goes wrong and it's all screwed up. But there is no harm having him take a look.

In the end, I might change the cushion color and be done with it. :)
---
mike
 
A suggestion.........maybe starting out your thread like this............Changing the Accent Color on a C-Dory.

I think Jim B. hit it on the head.

But if you insist it can be done. My friend changed his from dark blue to bright red about 15 yrs. ago and it still looks brand new. He did it himself and did an excellent job.
A picture of his boat MARYRED is in my photo album.

Good luck
 
Or, just get a vinyl lettering folks to make you a set of stripes the correct color.... As far as the fabric color, you may want to just have new cushions made, and, possibly upgrade the type of cushion too. Some may be surprised at the difference quality cushions make for good support on long days....or good naps!!! Use you "wrong color for you" stuff as templates at the canvas shop and keep them for resale some day. The folks want the old color stripes and interior..... get a heat gun, remove the vinyl stripes, and wa-laa.... one C-Dory....two color options.
 
Warren,

I've just been putting around Grand Lake in Oklahoma the past years with no major problems nor exciting adventures to relate.

I really like the TomCat and spend many happy hours on it year 'round.

As for the vinyl decals, that is what is on some of my hull stripes - a thin gold vinyl placed over the gel coat color to make gold stripes.

Like Dr. Bob says, though, when you first buy a boat, you have all these major things you feel need to be changed, but after using it heavily a year or so, those things seem pretty moot and other comfort/convenience projects take priority.

You have many years to change the color if you wish. I'd just get out on the water as much as possible at the outset.

John
 
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