paint and gelcoat question....

Im in the process of restoring a 1978 Eldocraft 15' and at this point I have all hardware removed and in the process of peeling the gel coat of that is flaking everywhere...the boats color is a brown/dark gold with silver flake...My question is once I get everything sanded down can I spray the topside with a clear adhesion promotor then go to my first coat of paint? why im asking is, I had taken the rod holder storage lid off and did a little test with the medium color blue I want to spray and the silver flake was still showing through and thats what im trying to keep is the flake color through the blue paint....Or do I need to use a primer which will completely cover up the silver flake?