I just purchased Hull# 161 and the only thing it needs is new mast paint and potentially the resin redone on the carbon fiber. I'm having a really hard time finding any shops around the Salt Lake City area who do this. Boat shops around here, unfortunately, only deal with surf boats.
My preference would be to have a professional shop do this, but it's looking like a DIY project at this point. What am I looking at as far as the type of paint, time, and how to do all this properly?
There's this write up:
Mast Painting with Brushed Awlgrip (https://forum.viper640.org/repairs-maintenance-and-upgrades/mast-painting-with-brushed-awlgrip/)
A friend at my club followed it successfully for his mast recently. I need to do it myself, but am putting it off.
I did mine using a product called Spraymax 2K - it's a two part urethane paint that comes in can that mixes internally. Seemed a lot simpler than the awl grip approach, though the prep is the same.
Came out really nice and now 5 seasons later there are starting to be few spots that need touch up.
https://repaintsupply.com/spraymax-3680212-2k-urethane-hot-rod-satin-black-paint-aerosol/
Took 3-4 cans IIRC.
Quote from: Zachary Kyritsis on June 05, 2025, 08:56:03 AMThere's this write up:
Mast Painting with Brushed Awlgrip (https://forum.viper640.org/repairs-maintenance-and-upgrades/mast-painting-with-brushed-awlgrip/)
A friend at my club followed it successfully for his mast recently. I need to do it myself, but am putting it off.
Zach are you able to post a new link to that write up? I'm getting an error each time I click on it.
I recently completed the mast painting process described in the link posted in this thread titled, "Mast painting with brushed AwlGrip". It was pretty straight forward and not too difficult. I have painted two small boats with these products before , so I had a little knowledge. The primer is the trickier part. It goes off so fast, you really do need the retarder for it to make it easier to use. The first primer coat I applied lacked the retarder and it was bad. Lots of sanding. I applied two coats of the top coat/paint. I roll-tipped it. Hardest part is getting everything covered. I used some small diameter line to hang the mast so I could turn it as I went. It is easy to lose track of spots you missed. I recommend a strong light and being very careful to revisit you last section looking for spots you missed. Our mast is a '30 foot" mast, meaning it looks good from 30 feet.
https://forum.viper640.org/repairs-maintenance-and-upgrades/mast-painting-with-brushed-awlgrip/
A good way to avoid having to paint your mast in the first place is to apply a good coat of wax atleast once per year. Something like Collinite 885 is preferable. Unfortunately most folks don't do this and the result is lot's of painted masts. If you're going to paint, go with a Matte finish and potentially even a light color to keep the heat exposure down.