Hardtop paint-265Express

Jimmyfiretruck said:
You’re correct - I know very little about cheap low quality products
Use the best available, use the proper techniques - do it correctly …
Using low quality is never a good move - nothing will change my mind !
You stated “about as close as you can get to a true 2 part,without the huge cost” sounds to me, you admitted it’s not the same quality as awlgrip or gel coat …
Again, last time, using cheap crap isn’t my thing - may work for you , but it will lot for me

never use a single part paint
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I'm not a fan of single part paint and also not a fan of Awlgrip anymore. I switched over the Alexseal about 10 years ago. It's much easier to repair for the shade tree goon like myself. Painting outside is an adventure sometimes.

I couldn't spend hours of fairing to finish it with a single part paint. I'm not big on Earl Scheib...lol
 
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looks like orange peel to me ;)

Again, Awlgrip is great stuff. So is Alexseal. Gelcoat is nice.
Champagne is great at a black tie event but beer gets you drunk in your back yard.

I'm painting a top that no one will touch. I'm doing it myself in my one car garage in the winter in NJ. I don't have spray equipment.
I'm going to use one part EZpoxy. Not to be cheap but because it makes sense.

If I wanted to be cheap I would use Rustoleum Topside in gloss white and I would probably be happy with it. I used it in a motorwell after a transom repair on another boat and it held up pretty well in a spot that took abuse.
If you just want to get fall down drunk then PBR gets you just as drunk as Heineken


So my real question was about color... color on underside and color on the upper side. Do you think color on top would look odd?
 
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blindmullet said:
I'm not a fan of single part paint and also not a fan of Awlgrip anymore. I switched over the Alexseal about 10 years ago. It's much easier to repair for the shade tree goon like myself. Painting outside is an adventure sometimes.

I couldn't spend hours of fairing to finish it with a single part paint. I'm not big on Earl Scheib...lol
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You get the point !!
 
SkunkBoat said:
looks like orange peel to me ;)

Again, Awlgrip is great stuff. So is Alexseal. Gelcoat is nice.
Champagne is great at a black tie event but beer gets you drunk in your back yard.

I'm painting a top that no one will touch. I'm doing it myself in my one car garage in the winter in NJ. I don't have spray equipment.
I'm going to use one part EZpoxy. Not to be cheap but because it makes sense.

If I wanted to be cheap I would use Rustoleum Topside in gloss white and I would probably be happy with it. I used it in a motorwell after a transom repair on another boat and it held up pretty well in a spot that took abuse.
If you just want to get fall down drunk then PBR gets you just as drunk as Heineken
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No orange peel there - that’s gel coat …

wish I could add a video of the finished product
 
As far as the color on top goes, if it was me I would probably skip it. This is just me trying to imagine how it would look, but I think you're really only going to see a tiny bit of it around the edge... and do you have blue canvas? That might look odd having a band of color right next to the blue canvas. Maybe against white canvas, too, but definitely against blue. I still like the idea of color on the underside - I think that adds a nice personal touch.
 
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DennisG01 said:
As far as the color on top goes, if it was me I would probably skip it. This is just me trying to imagine how it would look, but I think you're really only going to see a tiny bit of it around the edge... and do you have blue canvas? That might look odd having a band of color right next to the blue canvas. Maybe against white canvas, too, but definitely against blue. I still like the idea of color on the underside - I think that adds a nice personal touch.
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white canvas

its a grady bubble top so you will see the top...well..other boats will see the top

old picture before white canvas
reFIsSRl.jpg
 
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I guess against white it won't really be that big of a deal. And it still eliminates the awkward contrast of two different whites next to each other. Hey... a better idea... paint the topside in camo and then it won't be an issue at all since it will just blend in with the surroundings!
 
I wouldn't worry about finish if I were doing it. The tops are balsa cored and really don't support much weight. If water did get in it would be worse as the top is a very thin skin. I'd be more concerned with adhesion and ability to withstand the environment. Just my 2 pennies.
 
Just throwing out an idea to make more work you :) What if you ALSO painted the hull side in the same color as the hardtop - or maybe just the part of the hull between the striping and the rubrail?
 
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SkunkBoat said:
looks like orange peel to me ;)

Again, Awlgrip is great stuff. So is Alexseal. Gelcoat is nice.
Champagne is great at a black tie event but beer gets you drunk in your back yard.

I'm painting a top that no one will touch. I'm doing it myself in my one car garage in the winter in NJ. I don't have spray equipment.
I'm going to use one part EZpoxy. Not to be cheap but because it makes sense.

If I wanted to be cheap I would use Rustoleum Topside in gloss white and I would probably be happy with it. I used it in a motorwell after a transom repair on another boat and it held up pretty well in a spot that took abuse.
If you just want to get fall down drunk then PBR gets you just as drunk as Heineken


So my real question was about color... color on underside and color on the upper side. Do you think color on top would look odd?
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I think a contrasting colour on the top and bottom of the hardtop would look great.
Regarding the pissing contest, I have a measuring tape if you need it settled. :cool: Or, you could just accept that someone thinks differently than you do. :rolleyes::D
 
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SkunkBoat said:
So my real question was about color... color on underside and color on the upper side. Do you think color on top would look odd?
Click to expand...
If you go offshore, a topside color that is noticeable from a helicopter could be useful in a worst case scenario. Just something to consider. I’d not go with black or dark blue for instance.
 
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I was just going to throw out what PointedRose said.

Skunk goes halfway to Portugal to catch fish..If something happened to those Zukes and SAR was dispatched to find him, a dark hardtop blending with the ocean color would make finding the boat more difficult.
 
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go fighting lady yellow underside. Always loved that color. It will brighten your cockpit on the darkest days
 
Wonder how much speed you pick up with no top lol
 
Out of curiosity, did you have any wires going through the top of the metal and your hardtop? I have an old gps disc sitting on top and I’m debating if it’s worth removing and filling a hole im assuming is about an inch wide. Thought I could just plug with a bolt as a quick job but the underside is the metal bar. I might just cut the wire and leave it there.

As for your colors, save yourself the hassle and just futureproof the repairs. If you decide to paint it, choose a color that you can live with when it fades. I think I would avoid any white as that will bother me seeing the enclosure color next to a freshly painted white if different. Curious how a shade of grey would look.
 
Yes I had to pull out a cable harness from the big frame. Power to hardtop, All around light from dashboard switch, and spreader light wires.
Also had to disconnect everythin going thru the small tube to the hardtop...Radar, VHF, 4208,multiple network and NMEA2K cables

Thought about gray but its not COLOR. and I lived on a gray ship for four and half years.

I get what everyone is saying though...easier to be purposefully different than trying to match
 
So in the professional industry, 2 part paints are used which do have a harder finish and generally last longer. This is what is usually sprayed on the huge yachts and mostly on boats during a full restoration. They cost more and are harder to apply.
I have used the Interlux on my bow pulpit and swim platform and the gloss and hardness is amazing. They usually hold up many many years without even applying wax. Thus why used on the big boats.
However, they are harder to repair as they don't allow blending like the one parts usually do.

The one part paints of today though are pretty amazing and hold up very well. Andy on Boatworks has been impressed with the Alexseal brand and it seems very easy to apply, is very forgiving to repair, sand, polish, etc.

I have re-gelcoated my entire bottom hull, all hatches and pulpit prior to last paint as mentioned above on the pulpit. So far, the Interlux is truely amazing with it's high gloss and easy to clean. Much better than the gelcoat which is porous and has to be really taken care of more than the paint.

Guys, there are plus and minus for all 3 applications depending on what you are doing.

I also wanted to repaint the top of my hardtop. If I was to do that, I would likely choose the Interlux again, but it is hard to apply. I would use the texture they recommended with their paint. I forget what it was, but it was excellent. On the hardtop, if you need to get up there and fix anything or install anything, if no texture, it can be very dangerous and slick since it slopes in all directions. Also, just crawling around up there will scratch and mar the surface. In my approach, I would put some texture.

Underside is great to make a color so it can reduce some of the glare, but think top is best with original. The reason I used Interlux in the first place is the color is so close of a match to the Grady color, it is hardly noticeable next to the gelcoat.

I have sprayed Imron (Urethane), Sherwin Williams Sunfire (2 part Acrylic Urethane) and many acrylic enamels and epoxies in the years past any the one that holds up the best over time has always been the 2 part Acrylic Urethane paints. Those were used for automotive and industrial industry. For marine, my experience is only with the Interlux so far. But I was intrigued by the Alexseal that Andy has demostrated many times in his videos.
 
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so this project is coming back around. Just got the frame back from welding. looks good.
I have done NOTHING towards patching/prepping the hardtop for paint. Lets all just agree that realistically you can't do ANYTHING in Jan/Feb in NJ.
March isn't much better...

Still can't decide on color.
Started leaning toward a quart of TotalBoat one part AquaMist for the underside and maybe Oyster white on top. Oyster white seems to match the very faded Grady color.
Or I could just go generic White and get a gallon of EZpoxy at West marine
I'm also going to be fixing the bottom piece of the tailgate and that will need paint too
idk...I gotta make a decision soon
 
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