Meta Fog Reprise

I removed most of the mast hardware and am repainting the mast before rebedding the hardware with ECK!, a galvanic corrosion & electrolysis preventer.

First, I'm sanding down to clean, fresh aluminum. This has to be done directly before the first coat.

Then, I'm putting on a few interlux epoxy primer coats. Though these are typically used for under-the-water protection of fiberglass, it also works to protect aluminum below or above the surface.

Next, interlux primer, a few coats.

Finally, 3 or 4 coats of single part interlux poly. I probably should have used two part, but chose single part, primarily for ease of application.

I considered it, but the mast was just too darn big, and most of its paint in too good of condition, to repaint all of it. I only repainted under the hardware - most of it did need a paint job.

The boom was a different story. I was able to take it home to my garage where I had enough time to refinish the whole thing. Looking back however, I think this was a mistake. If I were to do this again, I would have only repainted the boom under the hardware. Oh well. The boom also got a few hundred dollars in new parts for reffing cams and gooseneck components that were badly worn or had welds that were starting to give. I removed the bird's nest ( real and figurative) and replaced outhaul and internally run reefing lines with Sta-Set and Sta-Set X respectively before rebedding all the hardware with ECK!.

Overall the paint is not as abrasion resistant as 2-part, but it's held up all right and it sure was easy to do. The hardest part is getting the first coat on quickly enough.