I found a guy in Oceanside who supposed to finish doing my boat in 3 weeks.  New Gel on the bottom and painting the top. I heavily prepped it and he is doing the rest for $1350.  I'll give you his number after I see how it turns out if you want.  You cant be in a hurry though, he only works on it when he feels like it and has had my boat for 2 months already.

I was talking to a guy out at Martinez who does gel coat and I think he was talking about multi-colored gel coats for around $3500. I saw a boat that he did years ago and it still looks awesome. I can probably get his number if your interested.

I have gone in and talked to the guys over at Ultra Custom Boats and they are more then helpful with any questions and their shop foreman was going to re do some stuff for a friend of mine and he said that it was the cheapest he found anywere. And since it is Ultra you no they aren't gonna screw it up!   They are located in Alpine ,CA or it might show up as Lakeside.

If you're looking to go low buck on it, you should prime it yourself and have it painted. I'm in the middle of a 1973 Sleekcraft Rebel project that looks alot like yours. Gold blingin bassboat big flake on it with the same clear coat peeling off. The best part of the boat was the wood grain laminate on the deck. The first thought on it was to sand off the deck and cut into the flake gel to get rid of all of it. 80 grit on the DA and 12 hours of sanding later, i'm giving up on that idea. The next plan is to sand off all the clear top coat (I have to flip the hull to do the bottom) and lay primer on top. I just finished my neighbors hull with polyester primer and i'm going to do the same with this. The poly lays on super thick and bonds with anything. Just make sure you repair any cracks, crazing, etc.. before shooting the primer. You can shoot the primer out of a $25 HVLP gun from harbor freight. Just prime it, block it, and send it out for paint and call it a day. Also, I got the primer from a wholesale place in SD for $65 a gallon shipped. If you go this route, let me know and i'll steer you in the right direction for materials.

Thanks for the ideas.....

Now for the real question....whats the pro's/con's of painting vs gel coating a boat?

I'm sure Salvador was probably recommended to you by the same guy that turned me onto him.  A buddy of mine used him for his tournament boat (stored outside with no cover and need the red in the gel re-shot)  Sal is one of the ONLY guys that deliveres a quote in writing, and sticks to it.  Both in terms of cost and timeframe.  Kenny and BK in Bellflower would be the other recommendation if you need some glasswork done too. 

Something to think about, you may or may not have heard stories from Rich about how Sal used to get sent out on a plane with a spray gun, bags of metal flake, and do repairs for Tahiti.  He was/is good with flake. 

You'll learn quick in this hobby, that gel is one place you don't accept the low bid.  My brother did that with a F'ing A'Hole outta Havasu and the guy ended up doing far more harm than good to the overall strength of the boat.

Save the coin to do the job right, go with Sal, enjoy your boat.

Chris

If you're going to shoot it yourselves, get ahold of the guys at Sherfab Unlimited on Carmenita at the 5fwy.  They will be able to point you in the right direction and carry everything you need at good prices.  There are some additives etc that can save you considerable time on the final sanding.

Chris