Here is my boat.
It is a 1991 Well Craft Eclipse 20 foot inboard. I am the second owner. My wife's father bought it new in 1991 and I bought it from him approximately 6 years ago. The 4.3 liter mercruiser engine and outdrive were replaced with new ones in 2007.
In 2015 i redid the carpet and seats.
I am no longer feeling the 90's teal and would like to repaint the teal to a gray, black or dark blue. What has worked for you guys in the past? Any tips would be appreciated.
I've read the roll-and-tip method for one part topside paint and decided I'd rather buff out the glass on mine. FWIW I've read some accounts of getting good results using standard Rustoleum combined with the hardener that Tractor Supply sellsn but I haven't tried it myself. Some googling should find the method on it.
I like the teal. Gray and white looks like every other boat. Buff that thing up and it's a party on the water.
Considering the work it is going to take and the $$$ to do it properly, I would stay in love with the teal.
First thing is to decide if going paint or gel-coat?
"Awlgrip" is still the go-to product for this if you are going to go with a paint system.
I've had pretty good luck with Brightside polyurethanes from Interlux but I've never done the exterior of a hull with them.
Interlux is pretty much the name in boat paints. Not very cheap though.
marine paints ARE expensive, and with good reason. Salt Water is the harshest place for anything to be, You get salt water, wind, waves, and the sun all working hard to destroy your paint. While dark blue would look good on that boat, that turquoise is molded into the boat, making it much stronger than any paint. As long as it is not too badly faded, scratched, or the gelcoat has not cracked, I would leave it. That colour is distinctive and mostly maintenance free compared to paint
In reply to pimpm3 :
Keep the teal, add some fuscia accents to make it really pop.
That's as good as it gets buffing wise. I have tried multiple times to bring it back but it still looks dull.
Its a good boat and I figured painting it would bring the exterior up to snuff compared with the nice interior and newer engine. What about vinyl, is that a viable option?
I've got it's little sister in my driveway.
1992 186 Eclipse. The maroon on mine was very faded and chalky when I bought it in '08.
Wet sanding and buffing has brought it back very nicely. Now I just hit it with Maguire's Cleaner Wax and it's good to go.
It won't help you like the teal any better, but you should be able to wet sand with 1200 or 1000, buff and wax and look as good as new.
IMO, boats that have been painted always look like boats that have been painted. I think you would end up regretting painting over the teal.
pimpm3 said:That's as good as it gets buffing wise. I have tried multiple times to bring it back but it still looks dull.
Its a good boat and I figured painting it would bring the exterior up to snuff compared with the nice interior and newer engine. What about vinyl, is that a viable option?
I would look into somebody doing vinyl over the turquoise. If it fails after a year or two, you are only out a small amount of money compared to the work and cost of marine paint
Vinyl warp is becoming very popular in boating. Google will bring you many samples. You could just do vinyl over the teal or do the whole side.
If you do vinyl, make sure you buy the highest end stuff you can, either the top of the 3M line or Oracal 9500 type. Believe me when I say that old, cracked vinyl will be much worse to get off than the the work of sanding and buffing.
My boat is chocolate brown (hey, it's from '73, it was cool then) and the sides are HEAVILY chalked. I've just run some test patches with a 6" electric DA. I'll start with 800 wet, then 1200 wet, then 2 grades of paste on a foam pad. In about 10 minutes I turned about 6 sq ft into a brown mirror this weekend. I should be able to do the whole boat in a weekend and less than a case of beer. I think you'd be amazed what some sanding would do for that teal.
I actually started out above the rub rail with just some "fine" wet/dry sanding sponge blocks followed by buffing it with the DA. You can see the difference it makes:
Those colors are actually starting to be cool again. I wouldn't be surprised to see values start creeping back up on boats that look like that.
I brought the paint back on a boat like that not long ago. After much experimenting, Soft Scrub did the trick followed by waxing. I like the teal :)
I was going to suggest vinyl as well. If you look at the newer Yamaha boats, all the graphics are stickers.
I haven't tried to wet sand it just buffing. It can't hurt to try and wet sand a section.
Don't get any of the paint on your hootus.
pimpm3 said:I haven't tried to wet sand it just buffing. It can't hurt to try and wet sand a section.
This is a great project for child labor. It's hard to hurt the gelcoat using that fine a grit by hand. If you wanna ride the boat, ya gotta sand the boat.
Pete Gossett said:In reply to pimpm3 :
Keep the teal, add some fuscia accents to make it really pop.
This. Teal boat would be so good with some poppin 1990 accent stripes.
or pink
Any updates, pimpm3? Itching to see what you came up with.
Not yet, been catching up on work since returning from the trip.
Hoping to take it out next weekend.
What did you end up doing with your Eclipse? I have been totally restoring the same boat for the past 2 years. I too thought I was tired of the teal but have decided to make myself embrace it. I am currently wet sanding and buffing it out and I am trying to decide what to do about decals and graphics. I want to give it a little more modern look but I haven't found a graphic that will not clash with the white/teal stripes down the sides. I may just go with a more modern Wellcraft decal and emblem, along with a silver metal flake 3/4" boot stripe.
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