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Painting an aluminum spar

8K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  jarcher 
#1 ·
I am considering buying a new mast that has a lot of peeling white paint. Its aluminum, and i have never painted anything aluminum before, so I'm soliciting opinions. What is the proper way to prep this? What paint should be used?

Thanks...
 
#2 · (Edited)




Come up with a creative way to hold it that wont jack up the nmast or your work



make it naked



DON'T sand to aggressively there is not a whole lot of extra metal




Put on a coat of over priced yellow stuff




Put on some over priced primer in less than 24 hours OR do the yellow again





Try and find some way to get all the stuff back on without dinging the paint which takes 14 days to full cure :eek:

Perfection or Awlgrip is Like Ford and Chevy ;)





Do a bunch of sailing and enjoy it



Than spend a bunch more money because all the other stuff looks shabby compared to the mast
 
#5 · (Edited)
Thanks Tommays!

A few questions if you don't mind.

When sanding, do I just use sand paper? If so what grit? Can I use a mechanical sander or is that too aggressive?

About the comparison to Ford & Chevy, do you mean they are both equally bad/good, or did you mean one is better than the other?

How do I apply the paint? Spray or brush?

I can actually wait the 14 days. This spar will replace an existing, much heavier spar. So I have a mast in the mean time...
 
#6 · (Edited)
I sprayed it But I have the stuff and know how to drive it and had a room with a explosion proof fume hood

I am roll & tipping the cal 29 hull As it's just To big to spray safely in my driveway :eek: Even with the tent

I went with perfection because of the yellow Vin-wash as the Awlgrip version of it requires putting on some otherstuff and then washing it down with a hose which was out of the question in the indoor place I was painting in

I am using Awlgrip on the Cal 29 hull due It being made in the color we want :D

I striped it really careful and then did a light sanding with my random orbit sander to skuff it up good

The Perfection and Awlgrip are and equal PITA to apply correctly :)


Both the paints are and equal PITA to put on right :)

There is no sanding between the yellow and the primer but the primer has to be wet sanded a bit as will the coats of the paint after they dry 24 hours

It will take two or three coats of color

When you here prices of 100 dollars a foot to paint a mast there NOT over charging as it's a lot of hours to do a good job
 
#7 ·
While I have no doubt that Tommays did things the 'proper' way we had success painting a mast with Awlgrip on one of our last boats. We sanded to bare metal, did a vinegar wash (read mild acid) and then applied Awlgrip's 584(?) primer and a topcoat. We were advised to coat the mast as thinly as would provide coverage since it was a fairly flexible rig and a thick coat of paint might tend to crack. We sprayed with a borrowed HVLP setup with a pressurepot gun (similar to what bathtub refinishers use)

I saw the boat last year, more than 10 years after the job and the mast still looked pretty good.
 
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#9 ·
Wow, I didn't realize it would be quite a big project. The mast is currently painted white, I have no idea what kind of paint is on it. There is actually only one section where the paint is peeling, and that is around a splice that was made.

Is it possible to just sand and paint the peeling portion?

Also, thanks for pointing out that a more flexible mast needs thinner coats of paint. This mast is pretty whippy.
 
#10 ·
Tommays

That looks like your J24 mast - a Hall spar if I remember correctly. I am repainting the spreaders only on my J/27 this week. Since I happen to have Brightsides, Pre-Kote and 333 thinner already on hand I will be using that.

What method did you use to remove old paint and oxidization? Sanding only? Random Orbital Sander? What grit?

My mast is also Hall Spars so should be same process.

(Roll and tip for me since I don't live in a bomb shelter)

Thanks

Mike
Nut Case
J27 #150
 
#12 ·
Tommays did exactly what I did to my mast, with excellent results for both of us. The only difference is that I sand blasted my mast instead of stripping and sanding. I got a very uniform surface, but it was a lot of work to clean all the sand out of the mast. I also used a flattening agent in my paint. I used a flattening agent on the deck paint to give it a semi gloss look and wanted the mast to match. This also allowed me to skip sanding the primer.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is all the rivets to reattach the hardware. I used 316 stainless rivets, which are very hard to pull in. You have to use a large two handed rivet gun, and when the rivet "pops" it will give you enough of a jolt that you'll be lucky to not chip your new paint job.
 
#14 ·
What happens if you skip the 353-wash step? I have the same products (primekote and perfection) but am having some difficulty tracking down the wash in the time that I need it. Are there any other alternatives?

Faster: You wiped it down with vinegar...like regular have-it-in-my-kitchen vinegar?
 
#16 ·
....Faster: You wiped it down with vinegar...like regular have-it-in-my-kitchen vinegar?
Yes it was.. this was recommended to us by a locally well regarded boat painter. Aside from two small (1" square) areas around the gooseneck that bubbled a bit, the mast turned out pretty good. Those patches were probably areas missed in the prep or wash.

Another advantage is avoiding the nasty fumes of the various washes.. but you need the masks and filters for the paint anyway.
 
#17 ·
Jarcher,
Pilot Supplies, Avionics, and Homebuilt Aircraft Parts from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. sells the materials needed for stopping corrosion and prepping aluminum for painting. Their materials are of the nature of those used to preserve aircraft in a salt water environment, such as on an aircraft carrier. Their website is useful.

When I repainted my mast and boom, I used their alumiprep #33 and alodine #1201, buying a quart of each, and had excess after prepping my 34 foot mast and 11 foot boom. Instructions for use come with the order. They are very easy to use.

I didn't take all the paint off my mast and boom. I removed fittings and sanded until I got all the loose paint and corrosion off. Paint that was well-adhered stayed on the mast. I painted both mast and boom with a brush and put on two coast of Interlux Brightsides. I had a couple of minor runs on the mast, but I thought it looked great for a thirty three year old boat.

It still looks pretty good after a year of use including stepping and unstepping the tabernacled mast myself using the boom as a lever, and hauling the boat on my trailer with the mast laid across padded pulpits and center support.
 
#18 ·
Thanks everyone, this is great info! Hopefully I'll get the spar this week and with some luck, it will be stepped by July 4th. So many tasks, so little time. :( My instruments are still not back after the bulked repairs, and I just learned my line clutches for the genoa halyards are slipping in all but the lightest air. Always a challenge!

I'll post pics!
 
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