new gel coat

[knock down 2]

i have an 94 albemarle 268, she a good boat doesn't really need it but want to regel coat her and make it look new again. now people tell me alw grip is cheaper way to go than gel coat but not sure just want to through it out to see what respones you all have on this??


tight lines
patrick

[clt_capt]

The prep work either way is going to be about the same.

If you hire a pro to spray Awlgrip or AwlCraft, you'll have a shiny pretty boat immediately - with gelcoat, even sprayed, you are gonna have to wet sand most likely.

Paint it and be done.

[54bullwinkle]

Def go with Paint. Better finish, easier to clean. There are plenty of guys who can roll and tip an Awlgrip finish that is pretty near as good as spray.

Key is to do as much of the work yourself.

Removing every possible screw, fastener, rail, cleat, latch etc yourself will save you a lot of bucks and give you a better finish.

I had a 22 foot cuddy done for about 2k for prep and painting. I did all the non paint work myself.

Boat will look like new

[wfujewell]

Just had my boat repainted this summer. I dropped the boat off on July 6 and had her back in 13 days. I didn't do any of the prep work and all in, it was about 8500-9000 (I had other work done so I am not sure of the exact amount).

It is a dark green hull and I was told to paint or else I would need to redo the gel coat in another 4-5 years.

The boat looks tremendous according to my neighbors. I must say a good job was done. Unfortunately i am in NJ so I can only recommend one boat painter, but I assure you he is one of the better.

The only drawback is that the paint scrapes/dents when landing a shark or when you father bangs a sinker into it.

I went with awlseal (the chemist from awlgrip went to awlseal a few years back). Low maintanance as well.

[nautiduck]

Whats the cost comparatively for gel coat?

[Avenger]

If it's a good quality gelcoat it can be polished to bring back the shine. You might want to talk to somebody who's handy with a buffer and have them try it out. Just something to consider.

However, if it's not salvageable I'd go with paint too. Hatteras painted just about every boat they ever made right out of the box. Must be okay.

[clt_capt]

Avenger makes a great point.

If you are dead set on recoating - either gel coat or paint, take an afternoon - and see if you can recover the finish. If you can't, then nothing lost but a little time.

take a small section and use heavy rubbing compound - applied with a machine - if it starts to shine up, then go over the same area with cleaner wax - again machine applied.

If it doesn't look good as new, then take another small section and wet sand with the finest wet or dry paper you can find - try an auto parts store - 1500 or 2000 - heck 4000 if you can get it. after that, buff it out with the cleaner wax again...

[Captain Jay Kavanagh]

I would paint it with Awl Grip, specifically Awl Craft 2000.

[Mackey]

No brainer, Paint it !