Imron Paint Question

[rajhnsn]

I have tracked down the previous owner of my Oday 35 and found that the boat was painted with automotive Imron two part polyurethane paint. He was kind enough to send me the mix numbers and I was able to match them at a local auto Imron paint supplier. The supplier has never heard of anyone using a roll and tip method using Imron paint (as would be expected for a supplier of automotive paint) but my yard will not allow spray painting. I want to touch up two small areas this year in order to put off painting the entire boat for a year or two. (daughter needs a car and starting college in a year) Does anyone know if it is possible to roll and tip Imron paint? If it is being rolled do I need a reducer?

 

[tommays]

I did not think they sold for roll and tip BUT i looked and

Imron® Industrial Strength
Ultra Low VOC Polyurethane High Gloss Topcoat

Reduction
Normally 5-15% reduction with Imron® 9M01™ or 9M02™ Reducer is adequate for spray application, pressure
pot and airless, depending upon conditions and equipment. To help maximize pot life, up to 25% may be
added. For maximum appearance, up to 25% Imron® 9M01™ or 9M02™ may be added. For brush applications,
add 5-10% 9M01™ or 9M02™ Thinner. For rolling applications, add 1 oz of Imron® 9M05™ Rolling Additive per
activated gallon and 5-10% 9M01™ or 9M02™ Reducer. After addition of 9M05™ Rolling Additive, allow 5
minutes induction before application. If faster recoat and handling are required, add up to 2 oz. VG-805™


If your going to test i would try it with the high temp one as it will dry much slower not sure how good its gonna look

 

[Alex Dare]

Imron

As far as I know Imron was never formulated to be rolled and tipped. I had a friend try it a number of years ago on an old C&C 35 and the results were not very good. Could it be done if everything was perfect? Possibly but....
If you just have a couple small spots, you could probably get away with using a couple Prevail sprayers. They work great for paint and gelcoat touch-up. I'd ask first, but I'm guessing that your marina would probably be ok with that so long as you were careful, didn't do it on a windy day and maybe tented the area somewhat.
Be aware that Imron and most of the two part polys are very toxic until they kick so wear a respiratior.

 

[Rob19574]

I think it really depends on how much of an area (s) you need to touch-up. Is it an entire section or just some nicks / scratches? I painted a powerboat on mine years back and was able to retouch with small amounts. You can also rub-out imron with rubbing compounds to fix imperfections.

 

[KD3PC]

If you think you are going to "rub out" imron like you do an automotive paint, you are in for a surprise. It is like polishing granite countertop with 2000 grit wet paper...it can be done, but you better be up for a workout, especially once it cures. IF you do it too soon, you will mess up what paint you have applied. Use of the machine is good, if you know how to use the machine...

As to roll and tip, again good luck, it will not "look" like you want...us painters would call it the 20' paint job...looks good at 20'....and if it is a dark color even worse.

To strip is going to be even worse. Blasting of some sort is the only way.

Check out or google helicopter/airplane AND imron to get some ideas from people who have been using it for years.

 

[JVB]

Whatever you do don't put clearcoat over Imron as a commercial painter did on my previous airplane without asking. In just a couple of years the clearcoat began flaking off. A dull Imron surface (sanded for adhesion I presume) was left behind.

 

[Tim R.]

You can buff Imron. I did mine a few years ago using 3M super duty, a 3M foam buffing pad on a Makita 9227 buffer. Finished up with Presta and a vlue polishing pad. It worked beautifully. Many years worth of scratches were eliminated and made the paint look like new again.

Imron does accept a clear coat finish if properly applied.

 

[redhead78]

25 yrs ago I painted the hull of a tanzer 22 with Imron paint, a roller and what they call tipping after. I rolled and area and used a brush with a very light touch to finish, always into the painted area, gently lifting the brush. The color was Giant Blue, with a 2" red boot stripe. I had to use reduced to keep it from getting sticky. It actually looked pretty nice. Red

 

[rajhnsn]

Thank you to everyone. What did people do without the internet? I was not able to get this information from Dupont because I could not get access to the web site. The supplier did not have it either. I'm going to check with the yard to see if they will allow the use of a prevail sprayer. The 2 chips on the port topside are about the size of a quarter and there are areas of crazing also. There is a problem with the substrate also. There was a large (approximately 3' x 3') epoxy repair in this area. I suspect that there were a few air bubbles in the epoxy causing it to chip away from under the paint. This rules out buffing out the area. I will need to remove the paint, fill, fair and prime the area before the finish paint. Thanks again for all of the information. I'll try to put it to good use.