Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My logs were manufactured in 1988 - and they were showing their age. Despite being that old they only had a few dings and scrapes, with a few dents in the nose cones. All in all in very good condition EXCEPT the aluminum surface was so corroded from exposure to hard water they could no longer be cleaned by conventional methods. I also had serious marine growth that had dried on them. I considered sand blasting, but was worried that it might take off too much and probably couldn't be done with detaching them from the boat. Steel wire wheels were considered but decided against since steel and aluminum do not get along well, not to mention they always shed wires - I think they're dangerous to work with at best. I ended up using coarse Nyalox wheels with a high speed industrial quality dril for $5 each from Amazon. Nyalox wheels are very stiff with Aluminum Oxide grit coating the "threads" that stick out. They don't shed or fall apart, just slowly wear down. I ordered 10 and went through 8 - not bad considering I had THREE 28' by 21" logs to clean. It was a LOT of tedious work over several days, but I finally had them stripped down to white metal. Shop goggles and a 3M protective dust mask was minimal protection.

I chose Aluthane paint for the coating for $100.00 a gallon.

http://www.epoxyproducts.com/aluminum.html

I ended up going through 1.5 gallons for two coats. Aluthane is known as a moisture cured urethane (MCU) and cures in the presence of moisture - opposite almost all other types of paints. It's nasty stuff - FULL of solvents - so you need to wear an approved respirator or have copious amounts of fresh air (as in a stiff breeze) to work with it. If you get it on your skin and it dries you will NOT get it off. I wore full protective clothing with latex gloves and a face shield. The most interesting component of the paint is 25% aluminum powder, so it's a true metallic paint that will chemically bond with metal. It was said to give a "galvanized" look on smooth materials, and I ended up with a satin "sheen" look that is somewhat reflective. I was shocked to see the first coat fill in and flow over the deep scratches inflicted by the Nyalox wheels. The second coat went on smoothly. I liked the look so much I decided to paint the rest of the corroded matching trim to complete the look. In the pictures it looks battleship gray but is much more aluminum colored.

While it isn't listed as a submersible paint it apparently handles it well with reports of being used on anchors and boats in the water for 3 weeks at a time with no visible issues. It has been also used on submerged dock pilings with good results. Basically it forms a thin film that encapsulates the metal and is highly abrasion resistant. I'm not sure if marine growth in salt water will adhere, but they stick to just about anything. My main use is in fresh - but very hard - water. The real test for the paint will be to see how it holds up for several years... I'm considering a top coat of anti-fouling paint but my understanding is that it just doesn't work that well since copper was removed as a component.

This was a big, time consuming project, but I'm really pleased with how it looks now. I was literally embarrassed before since the logs looked terrible.
It has quite bit more shine than appears here:

Very nice, I like that a lot!

Excellent!

Nice let's see the full boat! How much have you changed in the last 2 years?

I see that BMW emblem on the side. I think they only made pontoons for one year. lol.

You can't BELIEVE how many people take the bait. $2.00 each from China, but they fade in a couple of seasons so time to put some new ones on. On the back is another emblem with "750 il" in chrome letters under it.