1974 Laser - just purchased questions on deck paint restore

deeman

Member
I am pretty excited since I just got home with a new to me 1974 Laser. My 30 word story is I sailed a bit with my Dad on his laser when I was in high school (1983-ish) and thought it was kinda cool. 5 years after that, me and my brother took out my Dad's O'Day 14 and ripped up and down a lake in Traverse City. Whoa, the bug was set! Two weeks ago, I found a older Snark Sunflower 3.3 leaning on a tree with a sign....$30! I left the owner $30 and within 5 minutes of getting home was in 7th heaven and I'm still smiling from the 2 day experience. Not to be complacent, 9 days after buying and sailing the Snark, my Dad encouraged me to get a Laser and have a blast. Well, as you all know they are hard to find. There were about 6-8 listings in the Michigan/Ohio/Ill area and I kinda became obsessed with finding one. Well, I found one. The description on CL was POS boat with nice trailer, centerboard, tiller and 2 worn sails. Oh yea, it was $500. Hmmmm. I looked at it and got freaked out since it looks like HELL. The previous, previous owner (PPO) apparently had great intentions of re-doing the deck and went at it with a sander and did some "bondo" work and added 2 structural pieces with plywood. I just got it home and, again, I am a bit overwhelmed. The PO I got it from had it for about 5 years and didn't touch it. He was a fantastic guy with a ton of sailing history and rebuilding of wooden boats (Thistles) and was as helpful as he could have been.

Here is his suggestion - excuse the lack of sophistication of the terms, I am learning.

Step 1. Sand the roughed-up bondo sections and and the really bad spots on the sides of the cockpit (where you would sit) and the area aft of the cockpit where the traveler would go. Do the same to the bow of the boat.

Step 2. Prep the above sections for fiberglass by wiping down with acetone. Lay a single layer of 6oz glass on the boat, dry, to the areas mentioned above and squeegee in resin and work outwards towards the gunwale. Get all small bubbles out and let it set.

Step 3. Fill in the newly glassed areas with light farring compund and sand when dry to a nice smooth finish to give the entire glassed area a smooth finish.

Step 4. Make sure the rest of the boat is smooth, prepare the entire deck area for paint and paint it - add in some of the Behr traction sand to give the paint some bite.

Does this sound reasonable? I do not have experience with glassing, but I am a quick learner.
Does 60z seem the right weight for the glass?
What specific epoxy do you suggest for the glassing? West 105 Epoxy and 206 slow hardener?
What about the filler - how about West 410 Microlite filler?

I will not race this in an official race. I am a bit competitive and do have an interest but I know for a true, sanctioned race I would not be able to compete. Perhaps I'll find some friendly (lol) non-sanctioned races locally. But, aside from the extra weight, can I legally race?

Anyhow - I have learned a lot from this site by lurking and REALLY appreciate everyone's input and advice!!!

Here are some pics of the boat - I think there is some great potential.
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I'm assuming that you are in the Detroit area. I'd give serious consideration to a hull I saw advertised on Craigslist in Dexter for $100. Its a bare hull and is described as having a soft deck, but I'll bet its a lot better than the one you have. It might be usable as is without needing any work. You would still have only $600 invested.
 
I'm assuming that you are in the Detroit area. I'd give serious consideration to a hull I saw advertised on Craigslist in Dexter for $100. Its a bare hull and is described as having a soft deck, but I'll bet its a lot better than the one you have. It might be usable as is without needing any work. You would still have only $600 invested.

Thanks Rob - I have attempted to contact the guy and got no response. I will get the $100 hull if it's available and not too soft. Thanks!
 
Okay - finally some updated pics. Here are some of the hull.

I used Rustoleum's Marine topside paint for the hull. The boat is not stored in the water and the research I found indicated topside paint for the "bottom-side" is fine. It's a bright, but darker red. I don't recall the color name, but I was very happy with the results. I used a full size (10") foam roller and tipped it with a foam brush. It required two coats.

The first two pics with the orange gelcoat are the before pics and the following are the after pics.
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AND AFTER............

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I also finished the reinforcement of the deck in all the areas that needed attention - as seen in the before pics at the top of this thread. I added 6 layers of 6oz cloth to both sides of the cockpit and the two corners on the stern as well as the tip of the bow. I then used a lot of micro-spheres / epoxy to try and make the deck as smooth as possible. This was really a challenge and I appreciate the craftsman who can do this well.

The deck, overall, turned out pretty well. There are some areas where you can see the faint edges of the filler and as much as I tried I could not get it perfect. I spent 2 weeks trying to get it right and kind of gave up. On the upside, the hull is as solid as a rock. There is no flex and no soft spots anywhere and the corners of the stern and tip of the bow and very structurally sound and stiff.

I also used the Rustoleum Marine Topside paint for this. This was Oyster White - which is actually a light beige. I thought it would be less blinding that a gloss white.

The pics didn't turn out that well, but here they are:
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Last set of pics. I realized I had some pics of the glassing / filler process. In these pics, the stbd side is "done" and I working on the port side of the cockpit and the two stern corners.

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Very impressive. Given what you started out with, I think you have done a very fine job. Also, with the smooth deck versus the molded non-skid, you will be able to sail longer without experienceing the legendary phenomenon known as Laser A$$. I really like seeing old boats like this given a new lease on life. I also hadn't thought of resurfacing the whole deck like that with epoxy and filler. It makes a big difference in terms of deciding if a boat is salvagable or not. Thanks for sharing.

As a "rec-racer" I don't really sail in any "class sanctioned" events and if you do the same, then what you have done to your hull will not be an issue. I'm confident you'll be able to find some like minede (and equipped) individuals to run around the marks with. Be sure you put your sail number on your sail - every Laser-ite who sees the low number will be impressed.
 
Did you brush, spray or roll the hull paint on? Looks fantastic! Could you please post a close up pic of the non skid?
 
Deeman last logged in over a year ago, you may not get his answer, but typically those that have painted their boats are brushing or rolling/tipping with a brush - it matters most on what the paint manufacture recommends. Spraying only makes sense if you already have the equipment or plan to paint other items in the future, due to the cost.
 

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