2000 RX Millenium Paint & Graphics

[etemplet]

Well I am tired of callin the ski "Ugly." It doesn't deserve to be ugly so I'm gettin busy. That gray color sure is strange. I tried polishing with the high speed buffer and though it looked decent a couple of spots I am likely gonna go with new paint, metallic gray with some sparkles. Going for some Bling. I gotta paint the bottom too which will be basic "black." I talked to a few people that painted the bottom of the ski. I don't expect gelcoat durability.

I removed the stickers and mats. I'm gonna remove the rub rails and get this show on the road.

 

[etemplet]

Pictures lie. The exterior paint and condition doesn't look that good. Gettin R Did. Rub Rails removed just a few more items and I can begin sanding. Ugly is in the beauty parlor. LOL

 

[NCGator25]

Any progress on your ski? I have the same one, and have been debating on whether or not to repaint the whole thing, or just the hatch cover. The silver hasn't buffed out on mine, and removing the stickers left a brown haze in the paint that I catch get off, so I'm leaning towards painting the whole thing.

 

[etemplet]

I got it cleaned up and bought some paint for it, regular auto paint Base/Clear. I'll get the color. Now my cousin is telling me he uses Urethane so I want to find out about that before I paint. I'm just planning on sanding with 320 and deciding the paint. I don't mind sealing but I don't like priming. I'll post up what I decide. I got a few skis going right now so that is holding me up. Thanks for the nudge.

 

[NCGator25]

I've decided to wait until the end of this summer before I tackle mine. I'm also trying to decide which paint to use. I'm thinking of painting the top hatch first before I tackle the rest of the ski. I'll be looking forward to see what you come up with!

 

[etemplet]

I'm trying for the stock colors and I'm not painting the hood. I'm trying to get some graphics but the guy at pwcgraphics says he doesn't have them for the gray ski. You are motivating me. I'm gonna head over and look around. This is gonna be really easy because I don't have any damage. Just sand and paint. Yaya !!!

 

[etemplet]

Well, the RX has been sitting outside the shop waiting and today is the day I decided to bust a move. I pumped out the fuel and removed the oil tank and slipped the ski off the trailer into the grass. A little more disassembly (handle bars and steering removed and some rope.... when my wife came out to ask me if I was hungry I put her in the truck and we flipped ugly over on his back. Now I'll be able to do a proper job on the bottom and that will let me finish the top pretty quick so... here we go.



After draining the tanks slid the ski off the trailer in postion to flip.



I removed the handle bars slipped a rope under the center of the ski, made a slip knot and hooked the rope to the trailer hitch with a few wraps. My wife was at the wheel and did a great job. We blocked the mid section and the ski is ready to go. I put an engine hoist lifting the ski from the bow hook to take some weight off the blocks. It's not in the picture.

 

[etemplet]

A couple of pictures of the bottom. The bottom of this ski said..... "OUCH" Big time. Lumpy repair. Before I installed the engineI did a good job of repairing the repair on the inside. I'm gonna see what I can do with the bottom. I have a buddy that builds fiberglass boats and he'll probably want the bottom slick as owl shite.

 

[Grim]

So what kind of paint are you going to use on the bottom. What's durable? I cant find the paint for my 98 GTX LTD so I might repaint the entire think (including the bottom)....Aztec red is a B$$ch to find.

 

[etemplet]

So what kind of paint are you going to use on the bottom. What's durable? I cant find the paint for my 98 GTX LTD so I might repaint the entire think (including the bottom)....Aztec red is a B$$ch to find.

Even if you find the color it won't match. The Cameras can't match it perfectly either for a lot of reasons. For the top of the ski I'm going with Base/Clear. I'm undecided on the bottom. I know people that did base/clear on the bottom too.

At present I think I'm sanding through "shakey can" spary paint. It stuck pretty good. LOL I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Right now I'm at 180 grit on the DA sander on the ski bottom. I'm gonna make it slick. I'm hoping for 2mph more. Bottom is really messed up from a crap repair.

 

[etemplet]

The quest continues. Boy O Boy the closer it gets the more excited I get. I think I'll have the black paint on it by Friday weather permitting. Gonna prime tomorrow. I'm looking for some graphics that will match the ski. I can't find much on PWC Graphics. I've been trying to contact him for a month. He responded once but that was it. If anyone has a graphics resource post up.

 

[etemplet]

I don't know what happened to the bottom of this ski but... Day Yum !!! I guess they did a pretty good job on the repair to hold it together and not leak. LOL They just didn't finish the job. The previous owner told me there were a lot of rocks where they rode and said they'd bring a spare jet pump or replace the wear ring during the day. That's crazy. Anyway... I'm putting the final touches on the sanding. It's gonna be good but not showroom.

 

[Grim]

Do you plan on doing anything to the handle bar covers? Can they be painted? Mine are faded like crazy, looking for some way of refreshing them.

 

[etemplet]

Do you plan on doing anything to the handle bar covers? Can they be painted? Mine are faded like crazy, looking for some way of refreshing them.

Yes, I generally paint them. It's easier and quicker. Lots of times I just go with a black metallic I have or if I am painting the hood I'll paint it the same color. I used to use a flex additive for the paint but it isn't needed. You can also just paint the cover satin black in a spray can. That works well.

I use a black dye rub that I works well on my Avalanche. It isn't as permanent but it brings back the black. The milennium skis have all that black plastic and it makes the ski look a lot nicer.

Finally got the ski prepped and prime on. Today I sand and spray the black..

 

[NCGator25]

Looking good! What paint products did you end up using on the hull (primer and paint)? I've seen some others using the Interlux Brightside on the hull, but I haven't heard about the long term durability of it.

 

[etemplet]

Yea I'm not doing all the high $$ stuff. One said the hull has to be taken down to the fiberglass.
I bought Interlux Pre-Kote Primer. It is made for one part Urethane products. There is a two part primer that may be better.

For the black I'm using Petit Top-Side. I bought this last year when I was searching so I'm using it.
As I mentioned, I know people that are using Base Clear on the bottom section. My body shop owner/friend told me go with Urethane as it sticks to fiberglass really well. I don't think there is a perfect "paint" solution just pick something you can live with. That's all I did.

 

[Grim]

Yes, I generally paint them. It's easier and quicker. Lots of times I just go with a black metallic I have or if I am painting the hood I'll paint it the same color. I used to use a flex additive for the paint but it isn't needed. You can also just paint the cover satin black in a spray can. That works well.

I use a black dye rub that I works well on my Avalanche. It isn't as permanent but it brings back the black. The milennium skis have all that black plastic and it makes the ski look a lot nicer.

Finally got the ski prepped and prime on. Today I sand and spray the black..

View attachment 59209

That's looks really good... great job sanding.

 

[etemplet]

It's not really that good up close. You can imagine how beat up the hull is after 20 years of wear and tear. Lots of gouges and I fixed a number of them. It seems this primer needs a long time to dry fully. I'm used to painting and getting it done. I was going to spray the black today but the primer isn't fully hard. I'll probably tweak on it tomorrow since I have to wait to paint. I think grey or black primer would be a better choice.

 

[etemplet]

Check out my Hurricane Katrina 40X 40 tarp (2005 Blue Tarp the Gubment gave out for the storm recovery) I finally found some use for it. LOL I finally got the paint where I wanted it and with this weather I needed to protect it. It was so hot under the tarp I lifed it up today too cool it down. Ski has the FACT-O-BAKE paint finish now. LOL If you guys remember FACT-O-Bake. Weather was not cooperating this week but I had a good window on Wednesday. Paint dries slow and I'm painting outdoors which makes it more difficult. Got R Did though and I'm content with the outcome.

I read on the paint I'm using "Pettit Topside EasyPoxy 3801 Black" that it is acceptable bottom paint as long as the boat does not remain in the water for more than 2 days at a time. So that is perfect for me. I'm sure it can handle longer periods but you know they are being safe with the product.

The paint "3801 Black" dried to a semi-gloss or satin finish so no high gloss. I like it and I could probably lay some Urethane Clear over it and it would look bad azz for sure but... I'm happy with it and ready to move onto the Top Hull paint job. I'm gonna let it sit for about a week like it is then put it on the trailer.

 

[mikidymac]

Looking awesome!

 

[etemplet]

Looking awesome!

Thanks. I'm trying to transform "Ugly", my pet name for the ski, into something presentable. I had to do the bottom before the top so.... here we are. LOL

 

[brybo86]

Beautiful paint job! I hope it runs as good as it looks!
How many posts until a new member can create a new thread?

 

[etemplet]

Thanks, it came out pretty good in the end. What did happen is that the paint dried to a "SATIN/GLOSS" finish, not a glossy deep black. I'm satisfied. this is the final. I let it dry a week before I flipped it back and put it on the trailer.

I'm working on the Top Side now. That gray is difficult to match, strange paint for sure so it's gonna be a tad more silver. I don't plan on painting the hood so that's why I'm concerned about the color. I'm working with PWCGRAPHICS to develop the Graphics for the ski. My wife and i traced the graphics so he can match them. She is the embroidery guru so I just got out of the way. Ha ha.

 

[etemplet]

This is the weirdest finish. It isn't metallic but the paint I'm going to shoot is metallic. I'd like a decent match so the original look will be the same. We'll see how it comes out. I'll paint it this week if the weather cooperates then I'll get the parts out of the shop and the ski in the water.

 

[NCGator25]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the top side after it's finished.