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I have a 1984 15 foot Whaler. Question is, Do I use Awlgrip and roll it on and is this somewhat comporable to having it sprayed? If its even close thats what I want. Trying to save money naturally. Has anyone done this, have reccomendations on types of paint or the process? Are there other paints as good as awlgrip that are less expensive? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated !!!!!! I dont know where to start.

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You can roll and tip Awlgrip. Post some pics so we can see what your working with.

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I hate to see folks say use the search so as not to do that I would say you can roll on a lot of diffrent paints with good results. The project pages are a good place to see what others have done. Now I will fall back to use the search. Speaking as a guy who painted my first project by walking in to boaters world and buying a quart of paint, there is a lot you can learn on the net now. check out our project pages here and use Google. A lot of folks restore a lot of boats get on Google and type in how to paint a boat or project boats. Just about any way you can search you can find evey thing from pictures to viedo. What ever you do be sure to use the correct primer or sealer for which ever paint you decide to buy. Hope this gets you off the ground in a positive way.

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Thanks for your quick reply. After the post I started looking around on the site and found the search button. Looks like rolling it is the way to go. Now gotta find a garage.

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I rolled (and sometimes tipped!) Interlux Perfection on my 13' last month and couldn't be happier - it's not *perfect* (I could have faired the hull better it turns out, so there are a few drips and drabs) but it looks damn good from 10' away! :)

I went on thick (3-5 coats) and gave it lots of curing time so it's quite hard (have dropped several tools in her already without damage).

If I did it all over, I might try to spray it next time, but that's not without it's issues (cost of the equipment, skill level, even better ventilation and respiration gear needed)... rolling is easy enough. Be sure to be well ventilated - I got quite sick one night from the fumes.

Also, keep dust down at all costs - there are spots on my boat that would have looked perfectly glassy, but for the little particles that managed to find their way through the air and onto the surface. C'est la vie!

For reference, I ended up going through about 3.5 quarts of Interlux Perfection, plus about 1/2 gallon of their primer, and a pint of the texture additive (I texturized the floor - looks and fees great)... plus lots of thinner (for cleanup as well as moderate thinning).

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I also recommend using the color off white. Its hard to explain without seeing it but i could imagine using regular white would look maybe a little to "white"

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FWIW, I used Interlux "Cream" color... looks fantastic, and close enough to the original that it's not a complete perversion of the Whaler ethos.

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I use oyster white. Painted my 15 with a brighter white. sanded it down as soon as it dyred and went back with oyster white.

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Interlux off white has a slight grey tint, hattteras off white is more of a cream shade. Keep in mind when I say slight, it is slight. I too found the white, just too white. I personally have used Interlux products and if you follow their advice, you'll end up with an awesome finish that lasts. They used to have a tutorial on their website and a cd with instructions also. Short version, sand, fair, sand, wet sand, prime, wet sand paint, wet sand, paint, smile. I did a roll and tip job on two different boats and it does work. I have other friends who used Awlgrip using the same technique also and the results were comparable. Remember, it's all about the prep. The actual painting process is the easy part.

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DWinter is right on, especially about the prep. I used Interlux Perfection in Oyster white on mine and am happy with it, but every area that I didn't do a thorough job on my prep work I found when painting. I'll fix them in (hopefully) ten years.

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Any surface you want flat you need to board sand. It is really a good idea to spray a high build primer, spray a guide coat, then board sand to see if you have any high or low spots. You can then fill the low spots. Any spot where you sand all the way to the glass will need to be glazed over before painting or you will have pinholes. DO NOT TRY TO FILL PIN HOLES WITH PAINT OR YOU WILL BE SORRY YOU DID.

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One thing I disagree with. Wet sanding is old school. Dry sand.

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Frick,

Before you do anything, read the MSDS, about the two part paint. I did and then found someone to spray the paint. I did all the prep work and let someone else spray it. If you stress your liver as much as I do with alcohol you do not want want to deal with applying this paint. Are you willing to save your liver for $1,000? Live long and prosper!

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If you use guide paint, you can't wet sand. It will wash the guide paint away.