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Line-X hull?


commodore

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Tried to search for this to no avail, maybe there's a good reason for that...

I have a 00 wakesetter VLX that was seriously neglected by it's previous owner. Mechanically, it's in great shape, but the boat was left in the river for 6+ months at a time. I cleaned the holy Sh*t out of it, no gelcoat bubbles or blisters, just scratched up, bare in a few spots etc. Not unexpected on a 13 year old boat.

That being said, it bothers the neat freak in me. I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with re-gelcoating / painting / or even Line-x'ing their hull. Sounds a little crazy, but I think it would be sick.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

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Recent discussion on another site for some interesting opinions (second post down):http://mastercraft.com/teamtalk/showthread.php?t=7074&page=706

I would re-gel coat only. I personally wouldn't buy a boat with bottom paint or anything else on the hull. Might be different if it were a saltwater cruiser in a coastal marina, but not a freshwater wake boat.

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While Line-X would look cool, the rough surface would increase the boat's drag through the water since the water flowing past the hull would become more turbulent. There is a reason why hulls are smooth.

Get the gelcoat fixed, or if you are a DIYer, check out MarineTex. Since it is on the bottom of the boat, it isn't as important if you can't get the color matched exactly.

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Back in 1990 i restored a 89 model boat that was neglected. We painted the bottom with single stage auto body paint and painted from the water line to the rubrail with 2 stage paint then clear for a more glossy look. Came out great and looked good 2 years later when i sold it. Prep was not much diff from.preping a car for painting or getting ready for a gel coat repair.

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Depending on how bad it is, your best option might be painting. A lot of the old hotboats were painted and looked really good. If you can find someone who professionally paints fiberglass boats, I think it would come out great.

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I've seen entire trucks line-x'd and they looked cool...not sure how a boat would look. Very military-ish I would guess.

I painted my old jet ski and it held up well. Prep work is everything.

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The thing about Linex is that they can spray it in a variety of colors & textures. I've had the swimstep on my boat Linexed with no grit whatsoever & it is smooth like paint...... more like paint with a slight orange peel to it. Most people have no clue it's truck bedliner. And it holds up well. But it's not rubbing on trailer bunks or docks, or even gliding across the water's surface at 40 mph. So I don't have any idea how well it would hold up.

One thing is almost for sure though. You will limit who will buy the boat from you if it's Linexed. It may look great, but it will be very utilitarian, and this crowd is into luxury!

Get in touch with a local dealer & find someone in your area who can re-spray the gelcoat on it. Should be fairly reasonable this time of year (maybe $1000 - $2000 ?) if he's not busy yet & your just spraying the same color as the boat is now. Come springtime, he will be swamped though & that price will double.

Another guy with a swimstep that has been sprayed.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I Line-x ed my wedge a few years back. Looked great but,, Any spot water can start to get under the surface will cause it to peel right off. I suspect that is what would happen on the hull of a boat. My wedge peeled off do to the water starting to get under the skin at the screw holes. Did not last 1 day.

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Good, Line x would look weird on power wedge IMO.

My old wedge was badly pitted. That was the reason for trying Line-X. After the failure, I just repainted it yearly. Now it has been replaced by a nice shinny Stainless Floater!

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Obviously it depends on the prep, but so you see any issues with the linex sticking and staying on the boat? The transom on my boat is pretty scuffed up from wakeboards by pervious owners. Was thinking about spraying the transom with linex. Thoughts?

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From the looks of what I have seen I would not line-x a boat. Have it wet sanded and buffed you will be amazed how much better it will look, if not gel coat on a transom would be around the same cost as line-x. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to remove line-x from a hull if you didn't like the look!

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Obviously it depends on the prep, but so you see any issues with the linex sticking and staying on the boat? The transom on my boat is pretty scuffed up from wakeboards by pervious owners. Was thinking about spraying the transom with linex. Thoughts?

Seems like some kind of peel & stick option would be better...... like some Hydroturf? http://www.hydroturf.com/

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