Ive got a 73 strahm bass boat that i am going to paint.

havent decided how much money i am going to spend doing it or how good of paint i am going to use. but that is something i will decide on my own

I would like some input on color/style

should i try to make it look new and up to todays style? or try to keep it with its age yet not so ugly as it is now?

my truck is white so i thought about painting part or all of it white to match

any ideas are welcome, colors designs to put on it etc

Aren't Strahms a fiberglass boat? I didn't know you could paint a fiberglass boat. If I could repaint my boat, I'd go with some grey/white/black/ olive urban camo type pattern. Then I'd install some loud, rude, casino type carpet. That should pretty much guarantee that no one would ever consider stealing my boat.

yes you can paint fiberglass, back in the day that is how a lot of the boats were done. most fancy racing boats are painted.

it can be done just takes lots of prep, and good paint (just like any paint job on any surface)

I think ill pass on the ugly color combos though. i dont think anyone wants to steal a 70's bass boat no matter how ugly or pretty it is.

I think ive decided to keep it simple and do white, with a black or grey stripe down the side. wish i could see it on my boat before ordering the paint though

Ive got a 73 strahm bass boat that i am going to paint.

havent decided how much money i am going to spend doing it or how good of paint i am going to use. but that is something i will decide on my own

I would like some input on color/style

should i try to make it look new and up to todays style? or try to keep it with its age yet not so ugly as it is now?

my truck is white so i thought about painting part or all of it white to match

any ideas are welcome, colors designs to put on it etc

First of all if you are going to think cheap you will end up with cheap.

There is a LOT of work just getting the boat ready for such a job, if you are going to paint your boat why not get the good stuff and take your time especially if you plan on keeping this boat, and if you do a good job on it the value will do nothing but increase.

As for colors I have seen some for people who like colors of their favorite football teams or NASCAR teams, that may help you with a choice, sounds like you have already chosen a base color of white so that is a great color to have as a canvas.

Aren't Strahms a fiberglass boat? I didn't know you could paint a fiberglass boat. If I could repaint my boat, I'd go with some grey/white/black/ olive urban camo type pattern. Then I'd install some loud, rude, casino type carpet. That should pretty much guarantee that no one would ever consider stealing my boat.

I wouldn't bring it around my neck of the woods then...I know a few that would be proud to own that boat !! lol.

I had to have a new transom put in an older ProCraft that I owned about 12 years ago. I spoke to a boat repair shop in my area and the owner asked about repainting the boat after the repair. I could not afford to have them repaint it because of the man hours involved in the sanding. We reached an agreement that he would paint the boat and afterward I would do the wet sanding , buffing etc and removal and installation of motor and accessories. He painted the boat and I took it home in two pieces(cap and hull) and did the sanding. After sanding they had to touch up some areas that I sanded through to the original color. They put the cap back on the hull and I with the help of my adult son, put the motor and all the trim pieces back on the boat. My green ProCraft was now solid white. They also repaired numerous holes that had been drilled over the years and repaired some scratches.

The boat looked very good but needed stripes or something to help the look. I took the boat to a shop that put window tinting on cars. I was told he could make multi color numbers for the registration numbers. While talking with the owner I found out he could make vinyl striping for the side of the boat in just about any color. He had a computer graphics machine to make graphics for cars. He made orange and grey pattern that was 10 inch in the back of the boat and tapered to a point in the front of the boat following the lines of the hull. It looked very good when done and matched the Mariner outboards colors. He charged me $60 to make and install the vinyl work. Much like wrapping the pros have on their boats but on a much smaller scale and not nearly as complex.

When all was complete I had invested about $1200 dollars, but a lot of work hours wet sanding and buffing. But remember I had to have a new transom installed also, so just the painting and cosmetic work would have been much cheaper.

The point I'm trying to make is if you can find the right repair shop you can save a lot of money doing some of the labor yourself and may be surprised at the results........................Al

i painted my old bass boat with rustoleum spray paint.. high gloss black... and people actually told me it looks great without me ever telling them how it was painted, they thought it was a professional job.. just make sure you buy tons of cans of clear coat... you can paint on the cheap you just have to spray the clear coat on very thick and it should look good for at least 3 or 4 years before it chips.... much longer if you don't abuse it by smacking shore and rocks and such