vinyl and royalex

Advice
#1

I have an old mohawk canoe I’m thinking of restoring.It is royalex covered with vinyl. About 1/4th of the vinyl has been stripped off the hull. Should I just strip off the rest of the vinyl and paint it? Should the vinyl be replaced? Does royalex have be covered with vinyl? Thanks for your help.

#2

Vinyl is relatively resistant to UV
damage. The structural layers in Royalex, the inner and outer ABS layers, are very sensitive to UV damage. When the vinyl gets scraped off, something needs to be put over the ABS to protect it.



Unfortunately, as far as I know, there is no way to put the vinyl back. As far as removing all the rest of the vinyl, this is difficult. It would be better to smooth the hull as well as you can, and then paint it.



We don’t usually think in terms of “restoring” Royalex hulls. Rather we try to repair and protect the hull, repair the gunwales and hardware, and bring the boat back to the point where it is fully functional.

#3

Thanks for the advice.




I’ll let you know how it turns out.

#4

another question
what type of paint would be good to apply directly to the part of the hull where the vinyl is gone?

#5

Krylon Fusion spray paint
One form of Krylon paint, Krylon Fusion, is made to be used on plastic. Somewhat hard to find and a bit more expensive-about $5 per can and you will need a few cans. The up side is when you scratch some off you can touch it up with just a re spray over the scratches.



As pointed out above, it’s important to protect the ABD core of your canoe from sunlight.



Dave

#6

link may work

– Last Updated: Apr-09-10 7:48 PM EST –

http://www.npmb.com/cms2/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?97767

Yeah, it does. links in the link, you'll be an expert in the 4 hours it takes to read this.

I've done more repair since this (mattm)and I'm pretty happy with the abs mix. Some are mixing lego blocks and getting colors which is neat. Got some delamination to work on next...but pricing new Esquifs makes repair work easy to take, especially given my affinity for granite.

#7

Thanks again
I think I can see some light at the end of this tunnel

#8

krylon fusion
just a experience of mine. I have used red and green fusion. the red clogs quickly, thus my red boats started turning green :wink: Now I just go black abs, 'cuz that’s the new hot color. My canoes are a fashion statement.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2823316920094366337OPdMcj

#9

Lego’s
dissolved in acetone - apply several thin layers with a foam brush - works great.



Before

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2303377910075003331OGAahz



After

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2497148640075003331yWPhJZ



It doesn’t wear anywhere near as well as the original vinyl, so depending how tough you are on the boat, you may have to reapply frequently.

#10

just wondering …

– Last Updated: Apr-10-10 10:30 AM EST –

....... if a vinyl film sheet (or similar flexable sheet product) could be adhered directly to the exterior of a hull ??

If so it could be adhesive tacked along the keel line (or maybe the gunnel line first ??) with the rest hanging free , then stretched around while adhereing , maybe use a little heat to help fit contours and aid in getting it to lay flat all over ??

If it would work , I see a seam along the keel line no matter where you start first . Would probably be asking too much not to do it in two halves .

The thought is re-skinning an intire hull ??