Color change....maybe

[kenfyoozed]

I do not like the green of my 97GTX hull nor any of the colors other than the white, but it has issues as well. My question is if I were to flip the hull, does the engine have to come out? I would drain fluids of course but would rather not have to remove the motor if I could avoid it..... just mulling it over.....

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

IMO, the short answer is you can. Now, someone surely is waiting for me to hit the post button so they can tell me I'm 100% wrong.

 

[mikidymac]

No issues with it upside down. If it were mine I would add some fresh counter balancer oil once it’s back over as it can drain out of its cavity when upside down too long.

 

[etemplet]

Is there a prescribed method or rolling a jet ski over to work on the bottom?

 

[mikidymac]

Is there a prescribed method or rolling a jet ski over to work on the bottom?

Just make sure you drain the oil and fuel. It would also be a good idea to fire it a few times dry to make sure there isn't any water in the pipe.

 

[dgoodwin10]

I used 2 engine hoists and tied off the front bow hook to 1 and used a long ratchet strap as a sling attached to the other to turn my GTX over. Not saying removing the motor is required, but it was hard enough to rotate a bare hull.

 

[kenfyoozed]

When I decide to flip it I will put the forks of my fork lift in foot wells to be used as a stand. To roll it over I will probably do something close to what is described above. I have equipment at my disposal so it shouldn't be to hard.......famous last words

 

[etemplet]

If you have a fork lift you can just use two ropes around the ski and make the lifting points pull from the side of the ski rather than the top. I have a backhoe and that's what I'm gonna do if I decide to roll it. That said, I'm not gel coating so what kind of paint do I use? Someone said you need a paint the bonds better to the glass, melts its way into it. I need Black. If I do all this crap... I'm keeping this ski. LOL

In the picture you can see the repair done just under the Seadoo graphics. It's U-G-L-Y.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I have an EMPTY tunnel hull boat upside down at the moment, reparing sponson cracks. Just slid it off the trailer and rolled it over by myself, no help. Only weighs about 350lbs but yeah, I broke a sweat on that move.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

If you have a fork lift you can just use two ropes around the ski and make the lifting points pull from the side of the ski rather than the top. I have a backhoe and that's what I'm gonna do if I decide to roll it. That said, I'm not gel coating so what kind of paint do I use? Someone said you need a paint the bonds better to the glass, melts its way into it. I need Black. If I do all this crap... I'm keeping this ski. LOL

In the picture you can see the repair done just under the Seadoo graphics. It's U-G-L-Y. View attachment 41266

Epoxy bonds well to both gel coat and polyester resin glass composites. Top end Yachts are painted using AWL-Grip.

I think you could roll on some gel coat and make it look great.

 

[mikidymac]

As above, nothing will be a durable as gelcoat especially on the bottom. I GGuliot has done quite a few that look great. the hardest part is sanding it smooth and buffing.

If you want to paint it use an automotive epoxy primer then paint. Some have also gotten pretty good results with appliance epoxy rattle cans.

 

[kenfyoozed]

I plan on doing an epoxy gelcoat. Has anyone ever tried adding graphite powder to their gelcoat? Of course the color would have to be black, but I have built a few wooden canoes and it is found that adding graphite to the bottom will help decrease water friction. It also helps to slide over and off submerged objects but thats another issue with our hulls..

 

[mikidymac]

Well, gelcoat is polyester, not epoxy as far as I have experienced. You really don't want it to be super slick either so I wouldn't add anything that is not approved by the gelcoat manufacturer.

 

[kenfyoozed]

There are some epoxy based "gelcoats". Its funny that re- gelcoating happens in the marine industry a lot yet it is a common thought that new polyester resins will not stick to old polyester resin based fiberglass. Don't get me wrong it will to a point but that union will fail is something is going too. Where as if epoxy resin is used in the same repair ,the union between polyester and epoxy will be the last part to separate. Poly is easier toward with and a lot cheaper though.....

 

[mikidymac]

Just like most things there are a lot of myths and old info. I like epoxy a lot more but didn't know there were epoxy gel coats now. Pretty cool. I know polyester doesn't like to stick to epoxy but I have seen repairs of polyester gelcoat over epoxy repairs and they seem to hold up.

 

[noviceskier]

Couldn't you just use regular automotive paint then cover with clear epoxy? Or will you have to wait for the paint to cure so air bubbles dont show in the finished work?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I'm a big fan of epoxy, never have any bonding issues but there are materials it wont bond to, polyethylene is one. I'd rather work with epoxy than poly, maybe I'm just used to it. Poly is a lot cheaper though.

Gel coat is porous, water soaks through and acidic delamination of the polyester resin becomes an issue over time sitting in water, you can see this as blistering under the gel coat of unprotected boats that are tied to a dock soaking in water for months. That's why better bottom paints are usually epoxy type, they provide protection from water penetrating through the gel coat.

There are some bottom paints containing graphite for the purpose of making the hull faster, I'm not a big fan personally b/c I don't want to have to deal with it in case of repairs but if you're a fan of speed this may help.

The rattle can of epoxy and Marine-Tex has always been part of my gel coat scratch and gouge touch up routine, can't see that changing for something more complicated or expensive.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Couldn't you just use regular automotive paint then cover with clear epoxy? Or will you have to wait for the paint to cure so air bubbles dont show in the finished work?

Everyday brush your teeth with this epoxy does tend to yellow with sun exposure but I think they have some UV inhibitors available to pretty much eliminate that in some flavors.

If you want to use automotive paint then I'd use the complementary clear coat for the paint. Ypu might say I'm not big on experimental concoctions.

I have a boat painted with automotive paint this way, as if it was a Corvette. It's done fine and I've used appliance epoxy for the bottom scratches with no issues. I wouldn't leave it tied to a dock for the summer though.

 

[mikidymac]

Couldn't you just use regular automotive paint then cover with clear epoxy? Or will you have to wait for the paint to cure so air bubbles dont show in the finished work?

There are different types of "Epoxy" There is epoxy paint then there is epoxy laminating resins. I think in the fiberglass industry it is more common to be talking about epoxy and polyester resins.

I have never seen anybody put clear resin over automotive paint, you would use and activated automotive clear coat.

As sportster said the thing that is the most damaging to epoxy resins is UV exposure.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I know polyester doesn't like to stick to epoxy but I have seen repairs of polyester gelcoat over epoxy repairs and they seem to hold up.

I think this relates closely to amine blush.
Amine blush when working with epoxy: what you need to know

And then you have other properties, like can a cross-linked resin system have good adhesion with a mono-linked surface. It gets pretty complicated and I won't pretend to know if brand x can be used over brand z without issue, just if you're lucky it might work but that's experimental in my mind.

 

[noviceskier]

There are different types of "Epoxy" There is epoxy paint then there is epoxy laminating resins. I think in the fiberglass industry it is more common to be talking about epoxy and polyester resins.

I have never seen anybody put clear resin over automotive paint, you would use and activated automotive clear coat.

As sportster said the thing that is the most damaging to epoxy resins is UV exposure.

Resin is what im thinking about, I might experiment around with this really.

Base coat
pearlescent (optional)
clear coat


Bake it and wait for it to cure, then apply the resin as a protective coating? Our shop floors have been epoxied and it seems to be very durable. I'm just wondering if the resin would react nicely with the paint.

 

[GGuillot]

I plan on doing an epoxy gelcoat. Has anyone ever tried adding graphite powder to their gelcoat? Of course the color would have to be black, but I have built a few wooden canoes and it is found that adding graphite to the bottom will help decrease water friction. It also helps to slide over and off submerged objects but thats another issue with our hulls..

I with you, I didn't like the dated 90's green on my 97' GTX. I stripped it and flipped it onto a cradle I made, 2x4's, wheels, carpet. It was like that for months to get the bottom prepped and apply black gelcoat. Sanding it smooth is where the back breaking work is, but the results and durability is worth it.

As far as slickness, with all pitting gone, finished in 2000 grit, then polished, glazed, and waxed, it's shiny, sleek, and durable. Season 2 on the GTX and season 1 on the GSX, all I need to do is wax it at the end of the season.

Ck my threads in the signature block...I rolled it on and used a place called FGCI coatings for the gelcoat.
I must warn you in advance, the sanding alone is a ton of effort, I estimated about 70- 80 hrs on the GTX hull and about 50-60 hrs on the GSX hull. The GSX went a little easier because I got all the trial and error done prior on the GTX.

 

[mikidymac]

Resin is what im thinking about, I might experiment around with this really.

Base coat
pearlescent (optional)
clear coat


Bake it and wait for it to cure, then apply the resin as a protective coating? Our shop floors have been epoxied and it seems to be very durable. I'm just wondering if the resin would react nicely with the paint.

You can’t. The resin isn’t UV resistant. In has to have a topcoat to be protected.

 

[GGuillot]

Is there a prescribed method or rolling a jet ski over to work on the bottom?

The way I do it, have it upright on the cradle, strip it totally, doesn't take long. I grab a warm body and walk it into the grass, set it down and roll it over. Tell the warm body (one of my boys) to grab his end and set it on the cradle upside down. When done on the bottom, grab warm body again and reverse process.

I did two skis this way...

 

[kenfyoozed]

Sanding for me is not an issue. Try polishing a copper top of a 600G still from raw hammered copper to mirror perfection, 120 through 3000grit then polishing compounds start. Kinda gets me into a zen place now when I have to do it.