Painting an Aluminum Boat

[PhishingPhreek]

I have a 12' aluminum boat that looks... eh, old and used. I wanted to spruce it up a little bit by painting it. Has anyone here ever painted their aluminum boats? If so, so what paint did you use and where did you get it? How has it held up? Did you use a clear coat afterward to give it a newer, shiny look?

I've never done this before, so any assistance would be great! Thanks guys!

[Fish Hawk]

Myself I would just go with Rustoleum for an old 12' boat. Or else you want to go all out and have it done.

[PhishingPhreek]

No, I want to do it myself. lol

I was going to buy a paint gun since to do it. I can have multi use of as well since I went through 35+ cans of spray paint last year during Halloween. Sherwin-Williams sells auto pain, so I was just going to go there and get that paint and find a good metal primer. I was just wondering if anyone had done this before and had some info they could share.

[Halibut Warrior]

Before you put any paint on it, check into etching the bare aluminum after removing the old paint. There is a citrus (grapefruit) wash out there for that. Good luck.

[Fishless]

Louis I did it on an old aluminum I wanted to camo paint for duck hunting, pain in the ass, as Crowbart says you need to etch the aluminum to get the  oxidation off (then quickly before our crappy air with the pollution starts to do it again you paint/spray a good aluminum primer on it, let that dry and then paint a good over coat color. Went through the instructions supplied by paint shop and painter.

2 years later it started peeling the paint off soooooooooooooooo, I would take the boat get some powdered cleanser like ajax wash and etch the aluminum good, make sure there is no gunk left on it and grab the good spray paint can and start (or your paint gun). biggest thing is where the water funs along the aluminum when boat is in the lake is where peeling will start (especially around the rivets) that area needs to be real clean.

good luck

[AZfisherdude]

Check out this thread phreek.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=381699&highlight=repaint+aluminum
If it doesn't help then ask on this forum. These guys restore boats all the time.

[Piscolli]

Clean and prep the hull real good and use a zinc based paint. It will stick.