most durable paint to use on a vinyl / royalex canoe?
- Thread starter JIMB
- Start date
MGC
Scrapmaker
Russ Paden hasn't been around recently. If anyone (Terry Bradshaw aside) would offer an experienced answer, it would be him. He has been refurbing Royalex canoes since the earth cooled.
Personally, I would not paint one. I would fix up any major dings with thickened G-Flex (tinted to match) and call it a day. Anything you paint on the hull, be it Rustoleum, Pettit, whatever is going to fade and scratch back down to the vinyl layer. There a folks that lay on a coat of G-Flex epoxy...the process to do that is simply not worth the effort.
What I do with these old hulls is first give them a bath (Dawn dish detergent and vinegar) and then after the first layer of grime is gone I carefully re-wash using a 3M scouring pad and gently go over it again. I'll then buff it out with a marine wax. I have done this to about a dozen of these, all different colors, red, blue, dark green, disturbing green, banana. They all have ended up looking pretty good. You won't pass them off as new but let's face it, a 1976 hull owes no one a thing.
Personally, I would not paint one. I would fix up any major dings with thickened G-Flex (tinted to match) and call it a day. Anything you paint on the hull, be it Rustoleum, Pettit, whatever is going to fade and scratch back down to the vinyl layer. There a folks that lay on a coat of G-Flex epoxy...the process to do that is simply not worth the effort.
What I do with these old hulls is first give them a bath (Dawn dish detergent and vinegar) and then after the first layer of grime is gone I carefully re-wash using a 3M scouring pad and gently go over it again. I'll then buff it out with a marine wax. I have done this to about a dozen of these, all different colors, red, blue, dark green, disturbing green, banana. They all have ended up looking pretty good. You won't pass them off as new but let's face it, a 1976 hull owes no one a thing.
1905Gerrish
Loves Old Maine canoes
As Mike said a quality bath is needed first. I pressure washed mine to start the clean then the scotch brite pad wherever needed.. Over the summer I researched protectants and narrowed my search to two. UV light is the killer of these plastic canoes. My Royalex Tripper got two coats of Maxiglide Boat Guard SPF-50 and I was very pleased with the results. I'd say it looked 20 years newer and water now beads off it. I'd say its two shades brighter. The other protectant that I did not used that I found was highly recommended was 303 Aerospace Protectant.
Zack
Zack
MGC
Scrapmaker
2X on the Maxiglide. I used that on a Pathfinder hull last summer with nice results. I may eventually get my Penobscot out of the weeds and do the same with it. It's due. 303 is the defacto standard if you ask around. I have used it a few times and each time been a bit disappointed with the results.
