Painting Fibreglass

[Clayon]

Well I am working on restoring a 1970 Moto Ski Capri snowmobile. I have a good hood for it, but the paint is faded from being outside for years. I have never painted fibreglass before and was wondering if anybody who has done it could help me out with a few questions.

1) Can I use the same paint for the fibreglass hood as I would use to paint the steel tunnel? I have heard people say you can, just mix more hardener with the paint, is that true?

2) Do I need to use a primer? The hood still has good paint coverage, it is just faded. If I sand that to rough it up good will that serve as a good base?

3) To get the best paint finish when do I want to wet sand? After I clear coat the paint or before?

Thanks for any help. :thumbsup:

 

[CarPlayLB]

I had a boat painted one time and my painter buddy would only use epoxy primer. Had to rough it up a bit first! Gotta make sure its REAL clean!

 

[Havasu Dave]

Well I am working on restoring a 1970 Moto Ski Capri snowmobile. I have a good hood for it, but the paint is faded from being outside for years. I have never painted fibreglass before and was wondering if anybody who has done it could help me out with a few questions.

1) Can I use the same paint for the fibreglass hood as I would use to paint the steel tunnel? I have heard people say you can, just mix more hardener with the paint, is that true? Yes

2) Do I need to use a primer? The hood still has good paint coverage, it is just faded. If I sand that to rough it up good will that serve as a good base? Need to prime

3) To get the best paint finish when do I want to wet sand? After I clear coat the paint or before? Same as automotive paints

Thanks for any help. :thumbsup:

I painted several boats with two part urethane and epoxy. Single stage. You can use two stage with clear, and color sand and buff after the clear. No color sand with single stage of course. You get a decent shine with single stage paint, but with a two stage, or urethane over a single stage, you can color sand, then buff. Takes a machine and compounds. (Not the $40 "buffer.")

I'd use a catalyzed sealer because fiberglass is porous enough to hide paint-wrecking things, as is old gel coat cracking. That can serve as a primer for top coat adhesion.

 

[Clayon]

Thanks for the help guys. :thumbsup: I will likely use a single stage since I used that on my Dad's snowmobile chassis and it turned out pretty good. Does that catalyzed sealer basically spray the same as paint?

 

[Havasu Dave]

Thanks for the help guys. :thumbsup: I will likely use a single stage since I used that on my Dad's snowmobile chassis and it turned out pretty good. Does that catalyzed sealer basically spray the same as paint?

Yes. I don't know what paint is available up there, but I've had good look with 2K from Nason. (DuPont) 4:1 ratio, about 10 PSI at the tip on a 1.5 tip. The same gun you'll use for the top coat. Look up 422-50 series for the urethane. I'd use a urethane-base top coat, since you get more leeway with it. It's thicker and you can build it up more, with less chance of sag or run. Get temperature appropriate reducer.

Note- all body work has to be done before this, including final wet sand.

 

[Clayon]

Thanks Dave. :thumbsup: It was DuPont urethane I used when I painted my dad's sled I believe. I went to a body shop, they mixed the paint and gave me the hardener to mix in it before I sprayed it.