Gelling,sanding and polishing

Been busting my butt trying to get this thing done so I can
at least try it out before I have to put it away for the
year. I had waited too late last year and had trouble with
the gel taking so long to set up when cool out,so I started
when it was good and HOT. Very nerve racking and was worried
that something would go wrong.Had in the past alot of trouble
with bugs liking the fresh gel and was prepared this time. I
think it turned out pretty good but need to see how it looks
when it's outside. A big thanks to Tim Morfoot for some tips
In the end everything went fine,I think I'm ready for
that theft recovery boat with the side cut out!

This is what I started with,a big hole where the control
mounted!



part way thru





done-

Wow...what is the secret. I have a few areas that will need to be touched up once I get it wet sanded. You cant even see where the hole was in yours...Great job!!

Gary,
Nice!

Graham,
Gary has the SS center console with the throttle and shift controls going in the boat.

Gary,
You're going to need some new aluminum "J" molding. McMaster has it as well as the countersunk head Pop rivets.

Very nice job! Well done!

Thanks for the encouragement guy's. I've missed alot of great
boating weather this year and knew I would,but I think it's
important to get this thing back together as intended.

The hardest part of the project,to me anyway,is color matching,
especially on a 43 year old! When I had started to repair chips,
and holes I had ordered a stock quart of an Ivory from Mini Craft.
It was not close enough so I cut out a piece out from behind
the back seat and sent it in for a color match. Still was not good
but by combining the two in a ratio I have figured out and writen
down so I would not forget,it works for me. If I look close and
because I know where to look,I can find them,but I'm not going to
let anyone get that close I call it my 20 ft Mustang .

The main key here and one that may not seem right,is you have
to make the area you are repairing bigger. Grinding a bevel
out from the damage solves that,it gives the mat and resin
something to bond to.If you don't do this and just try to butt
the new layers to the old,it will crack.It also in my case could
crack where those 90 degree cuts come together,so they needed
to be ground to a radius.After I did that I cut out a cardboard
template of the hole and used that to cut a piece of glass I
had to fit.I don't even know what it is called but it was a
layer of mat bonded to a layer of 1/4" woven cloth. I resined
it and let it set up and then ground to fit the bottom of the
repair.After bonding it in,I then cut a piece of mat big enough
to go over the whole backside of the hole plus about 1/2" over
the old glass after sanding and wiping clean with acetone.Then
on the outside just started adding layers of larger cutouts
of matt,each time going further out on the bevel I had ground
earlier. Here are a few more pictures I took.I also tried to
brush on the gel to get the build up I needed because I was
worried that I would run out of the matched gel I have. When
you spray it you waste more because the gun and cup are so
large. The final coat was sprayed ,I added Dura Tec clear to the
mix at half of what is recommended,because to me 50/50 makes
it too thin especially on a vertical surface.
After a day I started by hand sanding. I had found out during
they layup that the panel while looking flat is actually got
a compound curve to it and I had to be careful not to sand
thru.Had a small sag to remove so I started there with 600.
I had overlapped the repair with gel by about 9" and so
started sanding overall with 800 followed by 1000 and 2000
to blend it in. Finished up with 3M 05973 compound with
a white foam pad.
Pete thanks to you I always use McMaster Carr now even for sand
paper. Already got the rivits from them but for the aluminium
trim I went with original trim from my supplier
in Sterling Illinois who unselfishly helped me with a floor,
bucket seat with hardware and the trim from that Mustang he
parted. Thanks Steve! Here are some more pictures and one
tease of the trial fitting.

Marty,
Cutting holes non original??

Gary,
Did I miss something? Where did you get the glass sole pan?