I have a pontoon boat raised helm platform I need to paint, but its a rough finish for traction, HELP

G

gerard143

So over the summer I remodeled my pontoon boat and brought new life into it. It is coming out beautiful. I bought a brand new fiberglass dash and painted it gray with SPI stuff as it was tan and my whole boat interior theme is gray based.

Anyways.... the last piece of my puzzle was this raised platform the dash sits on. I was hoping and praying I could actually get it and after a year and a half of waiting the part finally came in. From initial photos I had seen of other boats with it I assumed it was a smooth surface on it. But it actually textured, which i guess makes sense for traction so you don't slip on it. It is made from colored plastic, I believe vacuum formed.

So this leads to my question. Being that it is a textured surface I am not sure how to prep it so paint bonds well. I cannot sand it at all or I will mess up the surface and its gonna look a bit shoddy painted. So what should I use to get the primer to bite into the surface well?

Also there might be a little flex in it as the seat bolts right to it and my weight will be on it from walking/sitting on it. I figure maybe some flex additive or something (which I've never added to paint before).

Here are some photos of what it would look like installed in the boat and photos of the actually platform that showed up.
 

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#1 you wont need any flex additive with spi clears and primers. #2 what type of plastic is it made out of, abs? flip it over so you can see the back side. take a clean white rag and put some acetone or lacquer thinner on it. rub the back side of the plastic and see if the rag bites into the plastic. if the solvent on the rag bites in or leaves color on the rag then no prep is necessary. just shoot it as you normally would. spray a sealer coat of epoxy, then base then clear. if the rag doesnt bite into the plastic then just hit it with a grey scotchbrite, spray adhesion promoter then paint same as above.
 
Backside is sprayed with fiberglass strands to hold wood pieces in for the seat and dash to bolt to but there’s a couple small areas not covered I could test on.
 
I would clean with 700 like you would an engine 2 or 3 times.
Spray 600 and go to base after that to keep film build down.

Now if you call me Monday and remind me I will see if I have any walnut powder left, if I do we can put in last coat of clear and we can prep council the right way and forget about the texture.
 
Ok I may have not read good enough.
Do you want to leave in grey epoxy?
If so and I have the walnut powder were in business.
 
I want to coat with a light gray sealer or primer. Then my gray base color. Then clear.

What does the walnut powder do? Just adds some gripe I assume?

Also for a surface like this that will see some abuse and have me walking on it etc, what clear do you recommend? A super hard clear or?
 
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We use to put the powder in epoxy and SS's 1 to2 oz per gallon as an anti-slip, for floors, bus and truck engine purtches.
If I have any left I will need to see if it effects the color of clear as not sure it will work in clear and not affect color.
For clear I would use 5000 or 2100
 
I will be covering the top side of it with a snap in flooring material so no worries on the walnut powder.

What’s the diff between 5000 and 2100 versus universal?

I did spray the dash that will sit on the platform with universal. Universal seems to have a slight yellowish hue to it which did shift my gray base color to have a slight tan hue to it.

I read 2100 has good uv resistance and is water light in color. How’s the 5000 uv resistance and color compared to universal and 2100?
 
all the spi clears should be crystal clear. none should ever change the base color.......ever. i have not seen an spi with a tone to it in the almost 20 years i have been using it.....except the matte clear
 
Ya I bought a quart of universal for my dash end of last summer. It def was not color of water. It had some decent yellow to it. A second quart I received later wasn’t as bad but still have a yellow tint. The more coats I sprayed the more I noticed it change the base color toward a tan hue. As I wet sanded the clear and took some off you noticed it less. So no doubt the clears yellowish hue altered my base color slightly.

The ppg dc4000 I also used for a diff job was clear like water. Solvent popped like a mother on one job though.
 
well i dont know what you have goin on with the clear you got but it should be totally crystal clear. any mfg clear would need to be really super amber color in the cup to notice a color shift on grey once its sprayed and put on in a thin coat. if your uv clear was in fact that yellow then something is wrong. like i said, i have never seen that with any spi clear in the hundreds of gallons i have used over the past 19-20 years. i would never have been able to use it on any of my work if that was the case
 
Wasn’t crazy yellow. Just a clear coat with a slight yellowish hue to it. 2100 is the clear that’s supposed to be clear like water. Most of the clears I have ever used have a slight yellow tint to them. Aside from the few that are specifically made to be water like in color.
 
scroll to the 6 minute mark. The left and right clears have a yellowish tint. That is what universal was like for me. It was not super colorless like the center clear in this comparison.
 
Curious to hear back on the questions I asked about the 5000 and 2100..


“I will be covering the top side of it with a snap in flooring material so no worries on the walnut powder.

What’s the diff between 5000 and 2100 versus universal?

I did spray the dash that will sit on the platform with universal. Universal seems to have a slight yellowish hue to it which did shift my gray base color to have a slight tan hue to it.

I read 2100 has good uv resistance and is water light in color. How’s the 5000 uv resistance and color compared to universal and 2100?”
 
I had ppg dc4000 in a cup. And universal in another mixing cup that was identical. The universal had a noticeable yellowish tint to it when comparing the two. Now the end result was still a beautiful paint job. But with 6 coats of clear on there from what I was seeing the color was getting more tan each coat. As I wet sanded my orange peel out I swear the tan hue became less and less noticeable. 2100 specifically mentions it’s good for whites because it is such a clear clear. So obviously some clears that aren’t as clear change the look of the base color. My gray is very light. While it’s not white it is def a light color.

Anyways I’m not saying the universal is a bad product by any means lol. And I’ve only sprayed about 12 jobs my entire life. So not a pro. I am very happy with the end result with the universal clear. This dash looks badass and is the nicest paint job I have ever done.

So to get back on track......

Just looking for good advice and comparison info between the universal, 5000 and 2100 for this application.

You mentioned to use 5000 or 2100. I am curious why those might be a better choice over universal. And I am curious how 5000 differs from 2100. I see some general usage info on the sheets about the clears but since you make them figured you could educate me better as to what is different between these clears a little more then the vague summary on the tech sheets.
 
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2100 is exactly the same resin, the same uv package only difference is solids. At 44%..
 
Hmmmm. So why not use universal? Isn’t a high solids clear essentially better if you want a really good show finish.
 
Yes but the 5000 and 2100 will get harder faster. If the uv that you used on dash feels fine than use that.
5000 and 2100 are production clears
Your not going wrong with any of the three clears.
 
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