Imron or Awlgrip

stevewy · Post by **stevewy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:04 am

I have a 1978 33 flybridge cruiser. Has anyone had any experience with either Imron or Awlgrip paint? If so, what are your suggestions and roughly what cost am I looking at? Thanks

Justinf89 · Post by **Justinf89** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:53 am

I used awlgrip oyster white. It's a perfect match for my 1977 gelcoat. Just make sure you do it right because you can't sand it afterward. It's truly amazing paint.

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:32 pm

Steve, First I would recommend not painti8ng your boat unless you have no other choice. Once you do that you can never go back and the lifespan of paint , while pretty good, is not the same as gelcoat. Justin is right, the oyster white awlgrip is a pretty good match to the Bertram gelcoat . Both paints are good, the awlgrip gives you more choices of differing hardners , so you can roll and tip or spray it, I recommend spraying. I also recommend that you use the original of either paint, linear polyurethane, not the newer acrylic variants , much tougher. All that said, you can usually restore your gelcoat by sanding and polishing, especially on an older boat. The cost of painting is huge to get it done right. Pretty much the kiss of death as far as resale goes.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:54 pm

maybe not the "kiss of death as far as resale goes", but close to it, especially if it wasn't done right. The previous owner of my boat painted it himself using what appears to be a one part epoxy and a roller. It looks like crap and I would much rather restore gel coat than prep and repaint. Painting here is not as frowned upon as it is in New England, I suspect because having more sun here we get more gelcoat deterioration. I also believe the older Hatterases, which are popular here, were painted by the factory. In any event, Frank is right.. paint only as a last resort.