I'm new to sailing. I have a 1984 Catalina 22 that has some light surface rust on the keel. It's not in need of a removal and sandblasting, just some touch up in spots. The Catalina manual says to use zinc chromate paint which I'm familiar with, but I'm having a difficult time locating the right product. An internet search comes up with everything and more brands than I can count. I'm lost. Can anyone point me to a specific product name that will do the job and is affordable? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Catalina 22 Swing Keel Touch-up Paint Recommendations
- Thread starter dano2022
- Start date
I am almost afraid to post this but.…. Treat the rust spots with OSPHO, or other rust treatment, brush on or spray rustolium rusty metal primer. I like to brush it goes on it thicker. Then I topcoat with Bear Masonry Stucco paint below. It sticks well and does not rust after application. The cost is reasonable, it has worked well on my Cat 22 for the last three years. If the keel gets a scrape I recoat that part. My boat is used in salt water, and it gets out two times a month, stored on a trailer. I would not recommend this for a boat left in the water.
let the comments begin!
Dano
BEHR PREMIUM 1 gal. Elastomeric Masonry, Stucco and Brick Exterior Paint 06801 - The Home Depot
The BEHR PREMIUM Elastomeric Masonry, Stucco and Brick Paint is an exterior, flexible high-build coating designed to expand and contract, bridging hairline cracks on vertical masonry surfaces. The finish
www.homedepot.com
let the comments begin!
Dano
Sounds legit enough to me!
I just wipe a little waterproof grease on the rust spots, as needed. I use "Corrosion Block" brand. A thin film lasts several days and nights cruising in salt water. Works great.
Rustoleum cold galvanizing paint is zinc. This is different than rusty metal primers, this is zinc in a solvent. I found it at ACE Hardware, but not at Lowes.
That said, for small bits the above method is just fine. Clean off loose bits, brush on some rust converter (aka OSPHO), prime with rusty metal primer, topcoat with whatever. I use my normal antifoul.
That said, for small bits the above method is just fine. Clean off loose bits, brush on some rust converter (aka OSPHO), prime with rusty metal primer, topcoat with whatever. I use my normal antifoul.
I followed your advice (danooxnard), here is a picture of the result. I think it looks pretty good. Thank you!
Attachments
My keel is about 33% as rusty as dano's was when he started this thread. The shape is good. The white paint is not very thick and little rust spots are emerging.
Is there a way I can remove the paint and then OSPHO the whole keel? Citristrip, perhaps?
No intention of derailing the post and the sage advice-- as you proceed be cognizant of the materials. It's cast Iron -- it's rusting from the inside out regardless of what you do to it. Short of the full resto and sealing... you will be patching with some frequency. Stay on it-- perfectly viable strategy. My keel would be considered in excellent shape before I touched it.... you can see that regardless of a potentially clean exterior , complete rust magnet through and through.
Probably-- a lot of folks have done amazing things manually, but I have to admit the sandblasting routine was so worth the effort. I didn't have to grind for days on end I picked it up clean and doused it with epoxy. Even with all he extra effort I eventually put in to the keel, the sandblasting / sealing was very efficient all things considered.
I have read the OSPHO directions and it seems that the recommended prep for painted surfaces is to wire brush. I wonder whether Citristrip might just create a mess and not much added benefit as opposed to just priming over the paint.
So the procedure seems to be:
Thanks for sharing your experience @pclarksurf. I took another look at my keel yesterday and, unless viewed up close, the rust spots aren't very visible. I'd say I'm in the "just keep on top of it with a little OSPHO and paint" stage. Just curious, how long did the keel resto take you? I'm knee deep in little projects and I'm enjoying the process, learning a lot. The thought of doing the keel is beyond me at this point but it's very inspiring to learn about the process.
So the procedure seems to be:
- Wire Brush
- Vacuum dust
- OSPHO / let dry 24hrs
- Brush off residue
- Maybe OSPHO again
- Mineral Spirits
- Two coats of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer
- Two coats of paint
Thanks for sharing your experience @pclarksurf. I took another look at my keel yesterday and, unless viewed up close, the rust spots aren't very visible. I'd say I'm in the "just keep on top of it with a little OSPHO and paint" stage. Just curious, how long did the keel resto take you? I'm knee deep in little projects and I'm enjoying the process, learning a lot. The thought of doing the keel is beyond me at this point but it's very inspiring to learn about the process.
My resto was a bit of an epic played out over more time than necessary. Most focused folk could probably knock it out in two weekends worth of focused effort. I had multiple projects going at once and I kept setting it aside and coming back. The gory details here:
The Many Stages of Keel (a photo retrospective) Parts 1-3
Was dragging through the photos looking for goodness knows what and decided there's no value in having all that data floating around -- share it: In the hope that it's useful, interesting or just a insight into my own version of C22 madness, I leave you the many stages of Keel 1) Pull it (and...
forums.sailboatowners.com
i would stay away from the Behr paint in my earlier post. . It did not hold up well after a few years It was peeling off not much rust underneath so the ospho worked. . I don't have any suggestions at this time.
Dano
Dano