I am having boat sandblasted, and I need some assistance in what kind of protection to put on hull bottom. We have been told to use primecon and the interlux 2000 system, do I need to use both of these products or any other advice would be deeply appreciated the boat is a 1962 Roamer Riviera and moored in the Great Lakes. We have various pitting on the hull and some rust holes Thank you
I've been looking into the same thing. I have a 1966 Riv. I went to a conference attended by Interlux. I was told to have her blasted, immediately followed by Interlux 2000/2001 Epoxy system. They said about 3-4 coats. Then apply the bottom paint designed for your area. For us Great Lakes boaters, they suggest Micron CSC bottom paint. You can get a bunch of info from the Interlux website. Let us know how it goes. We'd love to see before and after pictures.
From Commish... I just had 5 to 7 coats of bottom paint sandblasted off... It showed the holes I knew I had and then the ones that the Audio Guage didn't find... SURPRISE!!! $3000 worth of welding.... overplating that is.... I'm preparing her for saltwater environment, so there is an epoxy primer with three coats of epoxy then two coats of bottom paint....$$$$ All in all the hull is still very sound, just particular spots... by all mean get under those batteries and fuel tanks!!!! I have found a needle scaler to be the best tool for removing rust and stuff... makes fast work and doesn't hurt the steel. I would post pictures, but haven't yet figured that out. If you want contact me through email commish01@att.net Robert
Now you've got me worried. How did you know you had holes? We don't seem to be taking on any water. I hope to h*ll we don't need plating. Any suggestions?
First, before I bought the boat, I was told that the water in the forward bilge was rain water.... I agreed to make the purchase contingent on hull testing called an Audio Guage. This was performed along with a survey. The results showed one area of particular concern, but the rest of the hull only had "minor" deviation from what was anticipated as original.... the hull soundings were done in a systematic pattern and the company gave me a chart of the boat. Problem with this is that specific areas, "not apparently leaking" could be passed over. In transporting the boat after the purchase, the hauler loaded her stern forward and removed the canvas top over the deck. Then the worst thing happened.... the weather was horrible and I mean RAIN!!! for over 200 miles the bilges filled with water.... What happened next was horriflying as well as welcome in that the boat had always been in a fresh water environment and I was converting her to saltwater... the second day in the yard, this water had penetrated the paint in the bilge and the rust below began to bloom... It was ugly to see this red water... red from rust.... for two weeks, I chipped, scraped and brushed rust... and removed all of the junk... then I found a Needle Scaler.... that cut the work down... Once this was complete I took OSPHO to the metal. It is great stuff. I am still waiting on the welding, but from here I will finish the cleaning and then prime and paint the entire engine room... If I were rich, I would remove the engines, tanks and eveything else and sandblast the entire compartment, but then I'm nowhere near rich enough for that... Basically the areas you need to really inspect are under the tanks, batteries or any other area that may have been basically untouched since she was built.... I know you hate the idea of plating, but think about it... it's Steel and you're probably not looking to race anyone... so a little extra metal, isn't really all that bad.... just make sure they seal it well. Sandblasting??? the only real way to know!!!
sandblasted and more rust found we had her sandblasted yesterday , and this process took 8 hours ,wow the sandblaster really had to earn his money, over at least 6 coats of paint with some sort of epoxy at the very last layer, rust found in bow section of boat next to keel,by port side rudder, under fuel tanks, under battery box starboard side,and even one very small spot under galley sink. some holes as big as a nickle,some as small as a tip of a ballpoint pen. I guess we will be trying to find a good welder now to put on patches, I already bought a sheet of steel 3/16ths of a inch, all this after having a GOOD SURVEY last year in august,before purchase.we are applying interlux primewash after sandblast then 3 coats of 2000/2001 followed by bottom paint(this is what we were told to do by Interlux),I was wondering if this boat should have any anodes on it , it already has the Capac system on it. if I could figure out how to post pictures I would.....
Money well spent on the sandblasting... especially if you intend to keep the boat for an extended period. Yes, it's painful to think of the extra plating, but it is the right thing. My welder is proposing to cut holes in the patch in order to access the hull so that the plates can be welded directly to the hull and not just along the perimeter... once this is done he will glue the plate on with West Systems 5200, in order to seal out air and water from the bilge, then weld to the hull through the holes and around the perimeter.. I believe it's a good plan... Two other things to consider... That Capac system should be well researched. I have been advised that these units can cause as much destruction as protection. I am lucky in that I live in an area with a Naval Labratory. Jim Preston is a retired engineer who lives here and is nicknamed "THE CORROSION GURU" for the Navy. He has a small firm and has viewed and measured the boat and is charting sizes and locations for placing Zincs on the boat. Once all work is done, they will splash the hull and let her sit for 48 to 72 hours. There is a technique for measuring corrosive activity at this point and once they take certain measurments, they will adjust accordingly. I will be happy to share his findings, but remember, for the most part, it is a bit of a WAG..Wild Ass Guess.... Another approach for me, being that the boat will be in saltwater is a fiberglass "Sandwich" to isolate the thru hull fittings. They are going to cut a hole in the hull just larger than the thru hull fitting and then sandwich several layers of fiberglass in order to keep the dissimilar metals from contacting. I think it's a novel approach... once again, this is a WAG approach, but does make sense... I am still much a novice in this, but not in upgrading and utilizing new technology to enhance our older beauties..... Finally, the only thing I can think of as far as posting pictures would be to post them on your own website and then providing a link here... take care
We have had the bottom blasted and need some plating (as expected). Do we have to use Interlux faring stuff or can we use some by say Color Flo etc? The Interlux stuff is very, very expensive. Should faring be put on before or after primer or epoxy? Does this depend on what Interlux says? What thickness of steel should we order? The Interlux people said after we have the bottom blasted, we do not need to acid wash. They said to vaccum the steel and put the primer right on. Then start the epoxy at the proper time intervals etc. Does this sound correct? Anybody have experience with this? Anybody know where in the Michigan/Ontario area we can have a new bottom put in her next fall/winter? Idea on cost maybe?
new bottom I too would like to find out the thickness of my hull steel.... As for bottom replacement, you could try contacting either Dry Harbour Marina, or Bergman Marine in Charlevoiv mich. I have talked to a guy that worked at one of those places that had replaced the bottoms on two Roamers in the area over the course of one winter while they were in storage. Also, if anyone is interested, those two boats were offered for sale through Bergman Marine last I knew (both owned by the same person) one soft top and one hard top of the same model and I believe the same year.
I know you didn't ask for anyone's opinion but since this is the internet someone is going to give you theirs anyway, so let me be the first. It sounds like you will have a very well protected exterior hull surface but you are setting yourself up for fairly rapid disintegration from the inside out if you put doubler patches on the lacey bits. It just isn't good practice to put a doubler over an area of corrosion so severe that it has penetrated the skin. What happens is that you have created an area between the original skin and the doubler where moisture will collect and never be able to dry. It will rapidly corrode and begin to bulge the wasted skin and hold even more moisture and corrode even faster. Especially when you get seawater in the bilges. Those areas really should be cropped back to good metal and an insert welded in place with full penetration beads. The welder has to go out to good metal anyway so there is no reason not to remove the damaged stuff. It is false economy to patch unless it's an emergency.
After blasting you should use what ever system a paint manufacturer suggests. DO NOT try to save money and use different fillers primers etc. If you have any problems with the paint system the only way the manufacturer will stand behind its product is if you followed their instructuions and used all of their products. Having said that, Interlux is one of the best systems out there, expensive yes , but well worth the money. There are alot of other systems out there, some cheaper than Interlux that will work but I think that you will find that they will all be close to the same price in the long run.
Quick reality check, you have a 40+ year old steel boat, if it hasn't had any plating work done yet, you're looking at some sometime in the near future. Plating work is not that difficult really, though I would not suggest just "overplating" over rotten metal. As for paint, I have been very impressed with the Jotun system that's been applied on this boat.
Just a point of interest, Transport Canada will not certify a passenger vessel with steel hull that has doubler plates welded on unless a certiied engineering Co. stamps and certifies the procedure and finished work.
The way I feel about it is that any time you strip down to bare metal and especially if you find ANY pitting, you should consider replating (not a patch). My figuring is that you've obviously put some time and money into this thing and even if you didn't and bought a previously restored boat and are just redoing some old bottom paint for the next season, you're putting your investment and possibly your life and that of your friends and family at risk due to saving a little money.NOT GOOD PRACTICE If you really feel the need to get out on the lake (in the mean time I have a 19 foot fiberglass deck boat that will calm the urge with some day cruising until my girl is properly ready to meet the water). She's a valuable piece of history and a beautiful one at that. If you don't care enough to give her your best then sell her to someone who does please. Just about anyone can pick up a mig welder and get it figured out in a relatively short time. They don't cost that much these days and neither do plasma cutters. Sandblasting.... if you want to learn with that new mig machine, get some scrap and build a table for smaller repairs, then get on e-bay and look up sandblaster plans. There's a guy on there offering plans with CAD drawings and about 76 pages i think, of instruction of how to build from old pressurized cylinders. That may not be for everyone but not all of us can afford to have it done for us (no harm intended to those of you that are better off financially than myself.)
