How to refinish a a Kevlar canoe

How to refinish a Souris River Epoxy Kevlar canoe

Our Process:

Materials:

1. "Flock foam" disposable foam roller. (for the epoxy) http://www.padco.com/default.cfm?PID=1.1.6
2. 4" or 3" disposable foam brush, for the "Tipping" "a good one"
3. "WEST SYSTEM" marine 105 resin: http://www.noahsmarine.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=105A $42.10
   "WEST SYSTEM" 207 special hardener (clear coat): http://www.noahsmarine.com/itemMatrix.asp?ic=207SA&MatrixType=2 $41.50
   Mix 3:1: the kit will do 3 - 4 coats for about a $100.00 total - one is great: http://www.noahsmarine.com/mmNM/Images/105207-technical-data.pdf
4. Good quality "Lacquer thinner" for surface prep/clean. MAKE THE CANOE AS CLEAN AS POSSIBLE! after sanding, No greasy finger prints left behind!
5. Use plain white paper towels for cleaning, do not use rags that have soap residue, or ink designs on the paper towels.
6. A few pairs of Disposable Latex Gloves.

What to do:

1. Give your canoe a great bath, hot soapy water, get rid of all the suntan lotion, oils, wax and bug dope. A good rinse - pressure wash if you can.
2. A light sanding, 220 grit or sometimes 120 grit, smooth out any deep scars, a light sanding!!! (an orbital sander works great.)
3. Get rid of the dust, we use a pressure washer at close range with max pressure.
4. Let the canoe fully dry. (heat gun or hair dryer if in a hurry)
5. Tape off the gunnels with painters tape.
6. Clean well with the Lacquer Thinner, liberal amounts on the paper towels, there should be "0" evidence of grim on the towels when you finished. DO NOT DO THIS INSIDE - LAQUER THINNER HAS A VERY POWERFUL SMELL - BE WELL VENTILATED!! - USE GLOVES!!!!
7. Do not saturate the Souris River Logo’s and stickers with the Lacquer Thinner, it will dissolve the stickers glue and ruin them.
8. Mix the epoxy, room temp!!! in a very clean container. Mix and mix....USE DISPOSABLE GLOVES!!!!
   Mix 2 small batches of epoxy, you have about 15 - 20 minutes of working time, the epoxy over laps very well.
9. In a room temp - dust free environment, apply with the flocked foam roller, liberally on the bottom of the hull, easy on the sides (the epoxy on the side of the canoe if too thick, will cascade (drip), practise long even strokes. USE DISPOSABLE GLOVES!!!!
10. Tip the epoxy: with a epoxy saturated foam brush (if too dry the brush will streak and/or washboard the epoxy) drag the brush with its own weight/pressure in long even stokes across the wet epoxy, this will make a smooth glass finish and eliminate any bubbles. The epoxy self-levels too. Let dry 24 hours – 48 is even better. USE DISPOSABLE GLOVES!!!!
11. If you mess it up, don’t worry … after 24 hours, just sand smooth the drips, clean again and re-apply epoxy using the foam brush on small areas or a roller etc. if needed. The epoxy is very forgiving.
12. PS, it took us some time to make this work. The key is surface preparation, if you don't get the hull clean, "fish eye craters" appear in the epoxy finish.