The July / August issue of Family Handyman magazine had an interesting project in which they refurbished a 50 year old aluminum camper. At first they tried to restore the aluminum but then decided to paint with an oil-based alkyd farm and implement paint with a added catalyst / hardener. I was surprised to see how nice it looks. Might be an option for tubes some day. It took them 6 hours to paint two coats.
Interesting - Painting Tubes with Roller
- Thread starter Pbakk
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jhill
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That looks surprisingly good. Aluminum is difficult to adhere to but looks like the correct paint will last. There are special primers for aluminum also. If someone doesn't want a bold color could always match the silver gray of natural aluminum. I have been thinking of possibility of using quality auto type of vinyls like carbon graphite look and precut into a pattern similar to alternating floor tile look maybe of 2 sizes so that as bumpers scuff them up just damaged ones could be replaced to always look good. The sharkhyde coating seems to get scuffed away after a while with bumper use and makes pontoons look splotchy and inconsistant finish. Maybe the right paint is the answer
David G
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The hard water will wear that paint off in 1 summer.
Unless all of the alum boat manufacturers are using a different paint, I would be surprised if hard water would wear the paint off. My alum sport fish boat was exposed to the sun and hard water for 20 years without significant issues. The paint actually seemed to help protect the alum from oxidation, pitting, etc, but I am not a paint expert.
jhill
Well-Known Member
just thinking about this ...... could run a test by trying a coating on inside of pontoon so if it didn't last it isn't a problem to remove.