76 talyor paint job

[76 taylor]

i just bought a 76 taylor and it needs a paint job it has the gelcoat from the factory.iam a do it your selfer and and want to paint it white. do i have to sand it all the way down to paint or is there an easy way.if so how? and what kind of primer and what kind of paint will work best thanks

[y2kstang]

This would do better in the Fiberglass thread. But, you don't have to sand off all the gel coat just enough to get it smooth and uniform. Prime and paint. Primer and Paint sticks to gel coat great, just ask those who have gotten overspray on it how rough it was to remove it.

Before I painted I would try a multi-stage wet sand and polish to see if you could revive the gel coat. Unless it is painfully obvious the gel coat is too far gone. Many older boats have just gotten weathered really bad from years of abuse by previous owners and a good sand and polish will bring them back to life. I say that but I am a huge fan of gel coat finish because if maintained will outlast a top notch paint job by 5-10 years easy.