C-Forum

just picked up a dagger rival with a ton of the outer vinyl worn off, exposing the royalex. thin coat of spray paint a good way to protect from UV? should I use a special kind of paint?

In the past I have used vinyl paint sold by Mad River and Dagger, however, I'm not really sure that it is better than any other kind of paint.

The paint is going to eventually wear off so use one that is more abrasion resistant than the others. I repair ABS Royalex canoes with ABS plates and have good success with Krylon Fusion spray paint. It does not wear off as fast as other spray paints. This paint is intended for use on plastic. Get a can of plastic prep and apply it to the hull before you paint it. The paint will adhere much better if the hull surface is prepped properly.

Look carefully at the exposed ABS and make sure no delaminations are starting in these spots. Covering up a delam with paint is like painting over rust. It's going to cause a problem sooner or later.

While we're on the subject of protection: Is Protectant 303 better than Armor All? Is it worth the extra expense? If so, why? I've been using Armor All on my Royalex. I just bought a PVC raft and I need to use one or the other on it. Does anyone have the "scoop" on the difference?

Terry

I think the scoop is that Armor All is oil (?) based and 303 Protectant is water based - the latter is supposed to be more environmentally friendly and the product of choice for preserving your latex gaskets on your dry top/suit. If you put Armor All on a boat, you leave a multicolor slick behind you...

According to Dick Conners, of Dagger/Midtown, Tennessee fame, paint protects the abs from harmful UV's. Therefore keep the green ABS painted and the boat out of the sun or your ABS will melt.

Chuck/Little River Fanatic/East Tennessee