Best Product to refinish or paint helm of 88 390EC?

[Powderpunk]

My 1988 390 EC has the original blue colored dash and instrument panel. Also the colored portion of the radar arch (that little triangular insert) is the same color.

I'm spending a lot of time and $$ updating and refurbishing the boat and I want to refinish or paint the dash area and radar arch insert. What should I use. An epoxy or polyurethane? Which product? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Captain Don]

My 1988 390 EC has the original blue colored dash and instrument panel. Also the colored portion of the radar arch (that little triangular insert) is the same color.

I'm spending a lot of time and $$ updating and refurbishing the boat and I want to refinish or paint the dash area and radar arch insert. What should I use. An epoxy or polyurethane? Which product? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I do not know what you can use, but I have a 34 1988 with the Blue also. I would love to find out what the color is, I can't seem to match it. I have a few spots I would like to touch up. Do you know what the color is and where to get it? For my touch ups it would have to be the origional color. I was also looking for the origional instrument panels (small blue check pattern). I could have new panels made but I rather keep it the same. Thanks

 

[boatmailster]

if it is just faded you can try this:
clean area with glass cleaner, rub-in some good quality clear silicone and wipe it dry.
it will give nice shine for next few years

 

[sprink56]

My 1988 390 EC has the original blue colored dash and instrument panel. Also the colored portion of the radar arch (that little triangular insert) is the same color.

I'm spending a lot of time and $$ updating and refurbishing the boat and I want to refinish or paint the dash area and radar arch insert. What should I use. An epoxy or polyurethane? Which product? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm thinking about a good product like Interlux Urethane or maybe even Imron or Awlgrip. Mine is green and I thought about rolling the large areas and using sash brushes to cut it in. Going to be a serious job to go all the way to the base of the windshield. I'm still thinking about how to set up to do that. I'm tempted to pull the windshield but that is more than I want to get into now.

 

[Captain Don]

if it is just faded you can try this:
clean area with glass cleaner, rub-in some good quality clear silicone and wipe it dry.
it will give nice shine for next few years

Actually its in pretty good shape, I always apply Armorall Protectant, I would really like to touch up a few white marks and scratches. I have tried some different blue color magic marker pens, also Blue/Black Ink, Can't get close. I will keep your idea in mind, your method may not have to be done as often. I coat it around once a month to maintain the shine. Thank you for your response.

 

[wileecoyote]

I thought there was a thread about this somewhere else. Someone bought a paint at the local hardware store, it may have been NorCal. I remember it because they said they bought it at someplace I had never heard of. It was a local franchise.
I was thinking about a nice mauve with some hot pink sponged over top, or buying a textured roller with a pastel pattern.
:smt043

 

[Ricochet]

Three years ago I painted the area on the radar arch with Interlux Briteside, it looks good and has held up well. On the dash I use Yachtbrite Serious Shine, it helps take away the fading and gives it a nice shine, it also makes it easy to clean.

 

[sbw1]

I had our yard redo our 1986 30 express after we tired of the orginal brown helm, brown canvas and stripes. We redid everything in black and white. The helm was painted black, stripes replaced with black, seats off white. It made the sand color gel coat look white and really changed the boat for the better. We added a custom aluminum arch too.

Painting the helm was not that big of a deal. While it's been too long ago to rember the exact product, I remember seeing Petit paint cans in the cockpit. The key first step was removal of the windshield. Then the surfaces were prepped per the instructions on the can. The paint was applied with a fine roller and looked terrific when everything was put back together. It also held up well. We used the boat for another three years and showed as new when we sold it.

Most full service yards would be able to do a similar project. They would also help you with paint product selection if you wanted to do it yourself.

 

[Powderpunk]

I ended up putting black carpet on the flat surfaces of the dash and painted the vertical surfaces black. It turned out great. I ended up using Interlux Perfection that I bought online. Its fairly easy to work with and I'm happy with the results. Good luck to all who are contemplating this. I'm glad I didnt attempt to paint all the way to the windshield. Removing it is more of a pain than it would be worth I believe. The black carpet turned out way better than expected and gives a very "warm" look to the cockpit.