HOW WE PAINTED THE DECK, COAMINGS, AND GUNNELS
A "how to" story with tips and tricks for a 1975 28' Express.
Finally done painting the main deck, coamings*, and gunnels. Click here for
work in progress and
done pictures.
With the boat at home in the pole barn, we started removing deck railings and hardware back in March. Laid the SB and PORT railing sections and handrail on the floor. There wasn't much corrosion under the rail bases or other hardware. Sanded with 5 inch 8 hole 120 grit and a Dewalt orbital hooked up to the ShopVac. Also used a
2" air angle sander from Harbor Freight for the aft coaming and for feathering the vertical deck edges.
Removed the old fairing around the weld seams and other areas where the paint 'jumped' off with an air chistle.
Sure makes a mess. Sanded to feather with 80, 120, 220, and 320 grits. Many, many hours of labor. Prep is 90% of the paint job.
Had a tough time getting the aft cleats off. I was able to reach thru the bilge vent holes to spray some
PB Blaster on the screws and nuts. Used the cordless while putting pressure on the screw head. Drilled and tapped (5/16" X 18) threads into 1/4" SS backing plates (4) to re-mount the cleats. Installed the plates by reaching through the bilge vent hole. Then drilled and tapped a single 10-24 SS screw (countersunk) to hold
them in place. The photo shows the mounting holes covered with making tape. Sorry I didn't get one before installation and without the tape.
First order of business was to put a fresh coat of
Interlux Brightside on the sun deck and windshield facing because we didn't like the way it turned out from last year. Sanded with 220 and didn't have to prime. Used foam rollers and tipped Brightside Y4359 -
White (thinned 10% with
333 brushing liquid). When
rolled and tipped, the paint levels out nicely with no brush marks. The trick is apply when temps are below 80 degrees with low humidity. If too hot out it is difficult to maintain a "wet" edge.
Apply the paint with your roller. You want to make sure to get good coverage. Do not roll out any more than three square feet of area. Be sure to paint in at least two directions; horizontally then vertically, or vice versa, to get complete coverage. Finish rolling paint on the edge that your next pass will start on. Now using your brush, lightly run the tip of the brush end over your paint. You should see a faint pattern of the bristles or foam as you are doing this. Drag the brush tip from top to bottom of the area. The brush should be at about a 45 degree angle to the surface. The air bubbles and brush pattern will quickly disappear as the paint self-levels.
Be sure to start your next three square feet at the "wet edge" of the last three square feet. Repeat the process of rolling in two (or more) directions and using a brush tip to smooth out the roller marks. When you finish the entire area to be painted stop!!! You will be tempted to go back and "touch up" here and there. Don't do it. The paint will self-level. This is one of those times when you just have to trust the paint will do what it's supposed to.
Wait the recommended period of time stated on the label for the next coat. This may be up to twenty-four hours.
For the rest of the job, these are the steps we followed as per Interlux tech:
>where sanded to bare, sand to bare again and wipe with
202 solvent >etch with one coat of
Viny-Lux Primewash ASAP
>one coat of
Epoxy Primekote 404/414 within 24 hours
>sand with 120 grit, wipe with 202
>fair with
Watertite (epoxy) where needed, mask and apply using a trowel, spatula or putty knife.
>When the product has cured, wash with fresh water to remove
amine blush, and sand with 80 grade (grit) paper, wipe clean (do not use 202)
All surfaces got two coats of Primekote thinned 25% with
2333N thinner, sanded with 120, wiped with 202.
After masking the gunnel, rolled and tipped two coats of Brightside Y4248 -
Fire Red (thinned 10% with 333 brushing liquid) and sanded with 220 and wiped with 333 between coats.
For the coaming it was two coats of Brightside Y4359 -
White (thinned 10%), sanded with 220, and wiped with 333 between coats.
From the step plates forward it was a coat of Brightside Y4359-White (thinned 10%) and
Interlux Intergrip nonskid compound (
4 oz per 20 oz paint) followed by another thinned coat with Intergrip nonskid compound (
2 oz per 20 oz paint).
Had the powder coater do the aft handrail, hatch cover, and
stern coaming trim.
Disassembled the
search light, sanded, and spray painted with white and red Rustoleum.
Spray painted the
hatch opening and latch with white Rustoleum.
After removing the
old samson post, had to drill mounting holes and cut a 1 1/4" hole above the anchor locker for
new big SS one.
Installed Perko chrome clam shell vents,
Perko navigation lights, SS handrail tubes (.065),
13.5K btu Carrier low profile air cond, large poly step plates and
Perko LED step plates, all railings mounted on 1/4" nylon spacers, all railing set screw holes tapped out and screws coated with locktite, all other fasteners coated with
TefGel.
Very happy with the results. Now we're trying to decide if the vinyl skirt will be put back on...?
* COAMINGS — The vertical and horizontal surfaces inboard of the hull at the gunwale.
Surface Interval 1975 28' Express, Single Chrysler M360 ('87), Raymarine E120 MFD, HD digital sonar, GPS,
4KW radome, S1G AST autopilot, SIRIUS satellite weather, Floscan 9000, 25HP Mercury kicker,
24 volt stern thruster, Interlux Brightside paint ('06-'08) Trilux 33 on bottom,
Big Jon electric downriggers, Traxtech swivel mounts, Bert's track and ratchet holders. Click
here for all the equipment details and
here for the complete photo album.
