looking for primer and paint suggestions

Hi, am just about to repaint my beams and looking for the best results possible out of a can.

Any brand recommendations, success stories or warnings?
both primer and paint for salt water use

thanks!

PS I do plan to etch the metal with sno-bol (Hydrogen chloride ) just prior to primer

I just sprayed my mailbox and front gate with Rustoleum and I was impressed how well it turned out (obviously not due to the skill of the operator).

I suspect they've made the paint formulation as idiot-proof as they could... Spread nice, no orange peel or drips, spray can nozzle didn't clog, pretty even pattern...

How fast does your mailbox sail?
Does it Plane?

I presume that your beams are from anodized aluminium. With the result that the upper layer of the aluminium is harderned (try it to manufacture with a lathe and you will find out how hard it has become)

I remember me once having painted a alu H14 mast with DD paint (2 comp PU),simply after having the mastsurface lightly sanded. No primer. It lasted for ever.

Ofcourse very carefull degreasing with aceton is a must.

My Horror story,

I had to redress and paint my dagger boards as a result of chips and dings on the trailing edges along with assorted molding issues. I took Jake's advice as to using epoxy and hotel door keys for filling. The repairs came out great. I went to Lowes and decided on Rustoleum knowing of the fish oil base and exposure to water. I prepped both boards with thorough sanding and masking. 4 lite coats of primer went on great. The first three coats of Rustoleum High Gloss went on great. However, on the fourth and fifth coats everything went south. It was like pouring acetone on the paint. It curled and peeled the prior coats and primer right up. Mind you the first couple went on great and no issues. Both boards were a disaster. So I figured that maybe there was something on the boards. I stripped and started with an acetone wash and sanded again. Same process and on the 3-4 coats of gloss they peeled again. Not a happy camper. I went back to Lowes and saw their High Gloss paint for plastic deducting that maybe the glass or gel coat was the problem. Went through the whole process again. Again they peeled up and blistered the first coats of primer and high gloss. I called Valspar and spoke to the technical people straight up and they were lost as to the issues. I gave them batch and lot numbers. They called back several days later with no explanation as to the cause. We discussed time periods between applications. At first they ranged from a hour between application of coats to days. Neither made a difference. Then they said because I was shooting in the sun. So I shot them inside....same results.
Finally with many apologies, they sent me a case of primer and finish paint. Valspar also owns PlastiKote. The primer is Premium Primer T-38 white. I applied this as stated on the instructions. The paint they sent was PlastiKote Chassis & Grille Guard paint. ( they call it an Epoxy Formula High-Durability Paint Scratch & Moisture resistant) I applied as they describe with great results and no issues of blisters, peeling and or orange peel.

Hope this works, and wish you the best of luck

Forrest

Wow Forrest, that is crazy!

thanks for the info. that is crazy. thanks for sharing

Rustoleum and the other brand (can't remember their name) changed their formulation about 5 years ago and you can no longer layer paint on dried or semi-dried paint. I used to use it for sailboat models and would layer paint for complex paint schemes. I went through this same experience right when they changed the formula. It worked fine on one boat and then crinkled up on the next (which sucked after all that time building). You just can't layer those common rattle can paints anymore. The layers need to get tacky and then put another layer down and repeat...don't try to recoat once it's mostly dry.

So can you grill on your daggarboard now Forrest? You got the paint on there, right? sweet.

Kind of like how Lunch Tray got his name

You should talk with Mike. He has painted my castings, tiller, and Merc lower unit in the past.

Thanks Jim, I have at length, several times, and also with Brian F from JSI (now called Isalnd Nautical). He has painted many spars in his day.

I was just fishing for some additional info from these guys as they have some wild experiences (i.e. Forrest's results) Thanks and hope to see ya on the water soon (this coming weekend looks nice)

What epoxy did you use for the repairs?

The West Product that everyone talks about with micro balloons for filler. I think its 101 or 104. I mixed the white gel while batching. I used Jake's directions with the cards to fair out the edges and then dry sand once set.

I ended up using Rust-oleum Automotive Enamel

The directions say "surface can be recaoted within 2 hours or after 48 repeating "prep" steps and light wet sand with 600 is recommended"

I had had no issues