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Greetings. I just purchased a 1985 11' tender which I intend to refurbish. Can you recommend a good, comprehensive book or DVD for this purpose? Also, I am confused on gelcoat v. paint. Is the interior of the Whaler also gelcoated, or just the hull exterior? The interior gelcoat/paint? has worn down to the fiberglass in many places. Can I just sand, prime and paint the interior? I will post some pics once I figure out how to do so. Thank you in advance.
- Bob
Both the interior and exterior were origionally gelcoated.
There are different opinions on this. Painting is eaiser. Gelcoat is more difficult because it requires polishing, but is more durable and more origional. I have only tried spot gelcoat repairs, never a full interior.
No, you can't just sand, prime, and paint. First you need to scrub the surface with a special solvent to get rid of any wax and other crud. This step is important.
Interlux paint has a website with lots of information. boatpaint.com
Thanks for the reply Ryan. The Interlux painting guide looks good - I printed it and will study it this weekend. Given the age and condition of the boat, and my lack of experience, I'm leaning toward painting it (after all the prep work of course) and not getting into any gelcoat work. Since some of the paint will be directly on fiberglass, will I need to worry about water intrusion? Fortunately the gelcoat on the hull is mostly in decent shape - it's the interior that has a lot of exposed fibergalss.
I think I might have bit off more than I can chew with this project!
Hi Bob, a good source for repair info is www.westsystem.com, they put out a great product altho a maybe a little pricey They sell a repair video for $18, and will probably send you a whole package of repair manuals free (if you ask them nicely ) There tech support is fantastic . I'm sure other brands like interlux and mas are good also, but my only experience has been with west system epoxies. I have also used the tech support at yachtpaint.com (boatpaint.com) about there paint products and they were very helpfull as well. my main advice would be to get as much info as you can use quality products and take your time , the most important part of the process is your prep work. The prep work is the same for gell coating or painting but from all i 've heard, if your redoing the whole boat or major part of, painting is probably the easier and more practical way to go. good luck!
Mike
Do a search on youtube as there are alot of repair stuff in video for free. you can see alot of stuff like patching, filling, painting and gelcoating fiberglass. Just takes time and fast internet connection.
) There tech support is fantastic . I'm sure other brands like interlux and mas are good also, but my only experience has been with west system epoxies. I have also used the tech support at yachtpaint.com (boatpaint.com) about there paint products and they were very helpfull as well. my main advice would be to get as much info as you can use quality products and take your time , the most important part of the process is your prep work. The prep work is the same for gell coating or painting but from all i 've heard, if your redoing the whole boat or major part of, painting is probably the easier and more practical way to go. good luck! 
