Gelcoat Vs. Paint

Good question! I had that discussion with a real expert...this guy is an auto body painter and pin striper...does fiberglass repairs,gel work and builds boat hulls...even builds the molds!

His opinion is...sure if you want to restore closer to ogininal cond. ...go with spraying gel...but it is harder to work with and not a do it your self job unless you know what your doing.

He thinks that because auto paints are so good these days...that's the way for most to go!

In some cases , if the fade is not too bad and the hull looks good...clear coating can make the boat look darn good.

I have a 72 that I want to shoot just the under side to the chines...He tells me he can match the color and teach me how to do spray gelcoat! So that is the plan for me!

Let us know how it turns out and post the finished project...good luck!

Jared:

To your original post:

Item #1: I have been there and done that...see my '93 SN in the diaries section. Although I restored a badly damaged boat, it required extensive gelcoat work. I had never touched gelcoat prior to repairing the boat. I just research the heck out of it and (not trying to toot my own horn) and fairly talented in doing most hands on things, so I was not scared to try. I can tell you first hand that it is a hell of a lot of hard work. you will absolutely hate the sanding part. If you decide to go this route, I can give you advice so you do not have to learn the hard way like I did. There are issues wiht spraing gelcoat that can be overcome if you know what you are doing.

Item #2: Check a sign/graphics shop in your area. CC will have factory vinyl logos.

Item #3: Do not even think about it.

I purchased my 1970 Mustang eight years ago and the hull had been repainted the original red of that year. The paint was automotive with a clearcoat applied over it. WOW is all I can say about the hull. The finished has never faded or anything. It still looks like a new hull! I just wax it once a season.

The paint method might save a lot of time and $ while still giving your boat head turning looks.

I'll bite...
Whats wrong with the finish the way it is? It looks great! Fill voids, wetsand, buff heavy then light cut with a 9" var speed sander and wool pad and lean on it(not those silly car buffers), wax then ride! Perhaps add a blue vinyl stripe if you want RWB; but before you wax.

Regelling that boat in that good a condition is a no-value-added ordeal, and after the cost and stress when the boat nears a dock or someone steps on it will make you no fun to be around...its not a paragon. I suggest get it functional, safe and practical, then ski.

A large autobody shop in our town that does it all said that no matter what kind of paint used, it will eventually bubble at from the waterline down. He said gelcoat is the way to go even though its a pain! And I certainly agree with Tim D 110%! Rub up against a dock and the vinyl is gone.

The pharmacy called and your meds are ready.

I think there is a 70% chance of bubbles occuring within the first four years if you spray gel.

GottaSki wrote: I think there is a 70% chance of bubbles occuring within the first four years if you spray gel.

I do not believe this to be true. I had my '77 re-gelcoated (sprayed) in '89 and so far there has never been one bubble (maybe I am the 30%). The boat is trailered after each use. If sprayed properly, gelcoat will give excellent results and durability. With any surface treatment, proper surface preparation is the key to a long lasting finish.

My solution, as borrowed from professionals, is to grind out the cracks with a dremel tool to a width of no less than 1/8" and full depth of gelcoat to fiberglass. The "V" shaped trough is then patched with gelcoat and sanded smooth/flush with surrounding gelcoat (If properly color matched, then this is the final repair) prior to painting.

The crack will reappear IF:
1. The original crack is not ground out to fiberglass.
2. Wax and other contaminants are not removed, from the surface, prior to grinding.
3. The ground out crack is not cleaned with Acetone (or similiar) prior to infilling with gelcoat.
4. You do not have a clue

Yeh, I can understand your concerns. Unfortunately I do not think covering the cracks with bondo will work. Mainly because when you sand the Bondo to feather with the surrounding surface, you just removed most if not all the bondo. The spider cracks are weak spot in the surface of the finish and will eventually telegraph right on through whatever is covering them up.

In the construction industry, we use elastomeric crack fillers to bridge across cracks in plaster prior to painting. This works, but the technique is not suitable for boats.

When I restored my '93SN, the 1/4 of the port side of the boat was a solid mass of stress cracks due to the impact of the collision with the rock jetty. My solution was to grind ALL of the gelcoat off the hull down to bare fiberglass. I then brushed on thinned epoxy resin and immediately heated the resin with a heat gun to help the resin flow into the micro cracks within the fiberglass. My theory was that this would help close the stress cracks in the fiberglass. Since grinding is a imprecise operation, I then had to smooth the surface with bondo to eliminate the highs and low caused by grinding. Finally, I sprayed gelcoat to a thickness of about 1/32" to 1/16". Finishing required many hours of sanding by hand...not a fun process at all. If I were doing an entire boat, I would paint just to eliminate the sanding (or most of it). The end product so far has proven durable and not one single crack has appeared.

I am confused

Did you post to the wrong topic?

Actually, I have a lot of those spyder cracks too, and I've all ready begun removing the gelcoat to expose the glass that is cracked under it. I'm going to re-apply some glass over the bad stuff with cracks. After that, I'll resurface it and sand it down. Fill in any gaps with heavy filler. Then sand it smooth and level before spraying new gelcoat. This is the only way to prevent the cracks from re-appearing.

JJ,

Who is going to ride in your boat after your family leaves you? My vote is you take up a collection from them (hold the boat hostage)and pay to get it done. It's way cheaper than a lawyer. I had a job once that required I sand things. I quit.

I laugh more reading these posts than watching any tv show...keep um coming

Yeah, J_I_H I appreciate your humor and did laugh a bit my self. The flip side though is that my GF recently commented that I'm getting "buff" spending all this time working on the boat. Having said that, I wouldn't mind having done the work my self, and getting even MORE buff. Still yet another person (besides you Nate) recomended Awlgrip on the boat hull. I would do that if I had the lift for the boat all ready. Since I dont have it though, I have to assume I might not get one by next summer just in case. Fortunatly though, I dont think I need to hold the boat hostage to get the work done. I have a lot of help when the boat is ready for the "sanding party". We'll see though, I may still change my mind and go for Awl grip. I don't have to make that decision until I fix all the cracks in the glass though. Since it's now Dec, and aprox 16 degrees outside, I'm not working on the glass repair until I have a safe way to heat the garage while I address those cracks. That's my "big fish"
to fry at the moment. I don't care to run the wood burner while crossing my fingers as I pull the trigger on some catalized resin in my garage. I think that might be testing my luck a bit more than I'd like to, and I generally dont mind to test it. I'm probably going to rig up a duct to pipe in heat from a forced air heater on the other end of the garage behind a wall. That's a project in it self! :P

thanks for the awl grip idea again, btw does anyone know if you really need a full faced closed mask with that stuff? I was told by someone that you could not even use a resparator, it had to be a "closed air system".

Most of the less expensive run-abouts are painted and unless they are stored inside after use and kept out of the sun as much as possible they will begin to show their age after 3 or 4 years.
There is a reason why high quality boat manufactures use Gel-Kote it is durable, easy to maintain and over the long haul will maintain its appearance. I have witnessed a Ski Nautique that was painted, looked good at first but after the second year it looked terrible. The boat looked scruffy and the owner admitted it was a mistake to use paint. To summarize short term paint may work over the long term it will not.