starting the jel coat job!

Refresh our memory Steve.Are you doing a large area as opposed to a repair? The way I understand it gel is much like paint it can be too thick which can lead to cracking. Interesting link

i have googled and searched on here ALOT,    keywords were gel coat prep, gel coat repair prep, a bunch of others and i am getting nothing back.

While not on the same scale this is some of what I did.
Changing colors was hard,and the armrest was the most
I had to grind down because of the edge damage.



Finished -



These parts I just sanded very good



Start of project,these were also painted-



Final job-

i found jeffs 88 bfn rebuild where he hired a guy with a planer... sure wish i could find someone with one of those close to me.
so basically pete, all the old gel needs to come off??   whats the second best way to get gel coat off ??

gary- i have gelcoat from us composites = wax not in it. third coat i'll put it in. thanks for all the links!

guess i'll go back to sanding :( you'd think savannah would have someone that could peel this gel off!!!! im still looking

$850 and you can make it all disapear!
Bet you could sell it for $500-600 when your done. 250 200 hundred bucks to get rid of the gel!

Gary S wrote: Pete didn't Gary "Farmer" make a gel coat remover? I could not find the old post. He hasn't been around since January either.

Yes he did. He started with a 4" angle grinder and made the head.

I went looking for that old thread and couldn't find it ether!

so im done for today. I made it almost all the way down the starboard side, i think it will be fine. i sure would like to have one of those gelcoat peelers, but i think all the time it would take me to wait and find one, I could be done if i just quit the whining!!!

i was afraid i would loose my "stripe lines" but the way these boats are made in the mold, they are still there perfectly!! nice! i AM NOT looking forward to doing the hull bottom, thinking maybe have about 10 friends over to flip the boat. if i don't go that road, i'll be on a roller and have some strong shoulders...

No such thing as "poly epoxy" it's ether one or the other. If the crack is deep, I'd go with epoxy. The problem with it is gel (polyester) won't stick to epoxy so a conversion is needed. Over the epoxy you can put a coat of vinyl ester resin. It will stick to the epoxy and the gel will stick to it.

What are you using to get the gel ground down? From the pictures the hull doesn't look very fair to me.

pete, ok- i'll do that layup- thanks.

I used a 4" angle grinder with a 80 grit flap disc (like a sandpaper wheel) which will probably make some cringe or shake their head, but it was effective and MUCH faster than using the DA with 40 grit. (how i was doing it to begin). then after i got the bulk off with the grinder i switched to the da with 40 grit and went over it to smooth it out.   

you have to be careful with the grinder no matter what, i found the 'flatter' i could hold it the less it gouged and the better it worked. It would take off about 1.5" every pass, and when i went smoothly it would require less action with the da to get it nice and smooth. on corners and such I use the da, it cuts good, but not too fast. the grinder is too aggresive for the edges/corners and such.

i know it doesn't look that straight/smooth in the second picture, but it is. the wavy look is where i ground down into the cracks i had. the rest is actually nice, the da with 40 cleans up good after the grinder, is decently fast at it, and leaves it almost perfectly smooth- i will probably go over it with 80- then about 150-180ish before i call it good.

Fair before gel. US composites has the fairing compound. I suggest a inline pneumatic sander.

tom- we have the same disconnect!! i have only done cars to this point, but i am sure i can do the boat, just need a little help.
pete- yes i am going to use an inline pneumatic sander - usually i have just blocked the cars by hand, but it will be SO much faster if I use a pneumatic
fairing it brings up the question again, which resin should I use with the fairing compound??- sorry! but i have to ask! - i want to do it once, and do it correct

got a bit more done today, tomorrow i should be complete with the sides and top, looking forward to the hull... (NOT)
i had a 6 STRONG friends over last friday, I/we seriously underestimated the weight of the boat. i figure i'd need 9-11 people to move it out. flipping it wouldn't require AS many, but still, it was a failure. it still sits like the pictures above show it. o well

i went with vinyl ester resin for the cracks i sanded down on the outside. it should be here tomorrow and i'll let you guys know how it works.

sams 85 wrote: man does an inline sander do miracles!!! i am glad i got one, if you are going to do a boat, GET ONE! you will thank yourself- and the guy that told you to get one

As long as you have the compressed air supply!! Besides a RA sander or even worse a blast cabinet, The inlines do chew up the air!

sams 85 wrote: i am not good enough to lay carbon fiber after the gel job, so i am doing it early and then i'll mask it off when i go to paint. tomorrow i'll do the port side. i'm still fairing it currently. it had serious spider cracks and i ground a hole in one spot... im an idiot. whatever. i'll fix that and finish fairing it. after that i just have the hull bottom to do... if you cant tell i have been putting it off.

Steve,
You are laying carbon fiber on the hull??? Why? The spider cracking? Who told you to go this route? It may not be a bad idea but I need to ask! What are you wetting it out with??? Epoxy?

sams 85 wrote: this is purely aesthetics, i am using a clear polyester resin for wetting, similar 249. . what are your thoughts?

Aesthetics as in the carbon fiber look? Hmm, if so, not original is it!!