Restoration ~ Continued

So two years ago, I rebuilt my engine. Last year, did a full stringer replacement, and my thread of incessant whining is searchable on here somewhere. That said, I eventually did get it done.

Before the season begins this year, I want to address the gelcoat.

I have removed all of the decals, and was beginning the process of making gelcoat repairs. Then I began to wonder if I should revive the gelcoat first ~ before I make the repairs ~ in hopes of a better match.....

One last thing ~ when the hull separated from the floor, I got a bunch of spider cracks in the gelcoat. I've attached a picture of one of the more prominate ones. When I re did the stringers, I re enforced all of these areas from the inside of the boat.

Just want to make sure that all I need to do *when the time comes* is Drimmel them out, and put the gelcoat back in there.



Best,
iplan

I know the P.O. wet sanded this boat at least once.....

Before I started wet sanding the aft (above the swim platform ~ which is removed), I noticed these little white random dashes in the finish.

I figured they were tiny surface scratches.... I'm not sure what they are, but I now know they are not scratches, because they do not go away.

Actually, they look almost like strands of fiberglass, and the more I sand, the more I see them ~~~ meaning that as I remove gelcoat I see more and more of them.

Does this mean that paint is in my future?

It's a 1985.

iplan wrote: Does this mean that paint is in my future?

Johnathan,
No, but a regel may be needed. I ended up having to gel the transom of my Tique since the ghosting from the PO naming (lettering) the boat never wet sanded out. I was hitting glass under the gel and the shadow was still there. Ir's a pretty easy area to gel since the color match doesn't need to be perfect with the "blend" line being at the corner of the hull side and transom. I used a standard rattle can color of gel. It's a very easy system to use. You inject the catalyst into the can with a special pump and then you have a couple hours to spray before the poly gel "kicks" so there's time for several coats.

The fact that they're showing up as you sand is somewhat concerning, but that is not what I would expect to see if you were sanding through the gel. That usually looks like dark spots, right Pete?

Those look like the familiar "bad gel" cracks. Some boats get them- the deck on my '67 is covered with them, and there are a handful on my '87 bfn in spots. 87 is known as a bad year for gel, hence my question. Ambient conditions were not well controlled at the old factory, mix ratios were often eyeballed by the workers according to temp and humidity levels back then- so gel quality certainly varied a bit from boat to boat- especially now that they've been exposed to 30 years of varying care and exposure. That's my guess as to what you're seeing.

8122pbrainard wrote: iplan wrote: Got a link to the rattle can re gel option? I'm not seeing anything in my West Marine or Jamestown Dist Catalogs. Here's the link . I would have done the link this morning but had to get to work. Tim, A glass fiber that hasn't been wetted out with resin may look light. Who knows on this one. Maybe it was something the wind blew in the door when they shot the red gel on the mold?

Called Mini-Craft. They don't make the pump that went with the rattle can aresol app anymore due to the rising cost of the pump.....

They do have a patch up kit that comes with a disposable touch up spray gun for $350 (see link).   
http://www.minicraft.com/retail/gcrepairkit.htm (the one I'm referring to is the second package down ~ which has the $125 disposable spray gun).

Thoughts/ Recommendations?

Here's the pump. In this picture, I was re purposing it to inject an aniline dye into a rattle can for a custom color.

Here's the boat as she looked tonight....

More sanding and priming tomorrow.

I have some history with Interlux, as I painted the inside of the boat (instead of going back with carpet) when I replaced the stringers last year, but I haven't tried any other paint to compare it to.... just sort of became an Interlux man by default I guess.

I'm going to try rolling and tipping... the great thing about paint is that it is easy to sand off....... No truer words about the 20 footer being a small boat until you began painting it, but I'm only painting to the chine, and leaving gel coat on the bottom..

One other question regarding the Ski Nautique replacement decals....

I think I've decided that I want to put this style back on.... instead of the style that went with my year....

Does anyone know where to get decals like this (except in maroon)?

I was thinking the whole thing was a sticker.... (Swooping N & Ski Nautique).

Who is the contact who could make a wrap? I'd like to get in touch with them.

Same thing for me but I just pretended like I always knew what it was LOL!

I love those graphics and the way they they put them into the gel. There is a white one here by me with a red swoosh that is almost as nice. The decals are so touchy,one of my N's has almost come completly off 2 times now

So I went with the 3rd coat. And rather than sand everything absolutely smooth like I did the first time, I just put a tooth over all of the surface and started painting Sunday after church and a family lunch......

I tried to get out of the lunch to "spend time with the boat" but the family would have none of it..

When I got to the boat, the temp in the shed was 88 degrees (6 degrees over my formula of 82 degrees and no thinner) and windy. What the heck.... "I'll close the front opening to keep the wind from blowing in, and it'll be fine."

Well, that was a mistake. I should have waited for calmer winds and cooler temperatures.

Like I said,,, should have waited, but I started at the closed bow on the starboard side (by the driver's side cup holder, and went to the stern). I immediately felt the tipping brush dragging, but kept going..... It wasn't flowing as smoothly as before, but it was laying down pretty well. I just had to move really fast (no 30 second delay between rolling my 4 square feet and tipping), and I was dipping my tipping brush in brushing solvent every 3 or 4 minutes..

As I painted it got hotter and hotter. When I got to the half way up the port side, all hades broke loose, and the paint started drying ~ literally on contact with the boat. I tried to thin on the fly..... changed tipping brushes... ran out of brushing liquid.... etc..

From that part forward the job was simply unsalvagable... but I kept at it for some reason..... Then at the end, I put my hand on the port side of the bow to see if the pain was dry to the touch, and could feel the heat resonating off the surface of the boat. I looked at the thermometer.... It read: "96 degrees."

Of course the 3rd coat came out as a total disaster. So instead of getting decals on Monday, it is now Thursday, and I've spent at least 8 hours sanding through all of the 3rd coat, and the imperfections in the second coat with 220 grit sand paper. I've still got over half the boat to go, and Memorial Day weekend is upon us. Once I get the boat squared away, I've got to go over it again with 320 grit before painting the final coat..

So a couple of lessons learned: Don't force the paint. You'll just have to sand it off later. Also if you paint, and a fly lands in the wet paint, or you have a run, or a brush stroke in the coat, you will not be able to paint over it. The blemish will simply be amplified on the next coat, so you must sand off all imperfections before you apply the next coat.

My plan going forward: Spend at least another 8 hours of sanding, and get my final coat surface 100% correct. Then wait for the IDEAL painting conditions (early morning, low humidity, 82 degrees, no wind), tape off logical sections of the boat and paint those sections one at a time (I had been painting them all at the same time) ~ changing rollers, and tipping brush after each section.

I will keep you posted.