Gelcoat Keel Repair

it could be spotted in, if done correctly you would never see the repair

To me that looks more like damage done on the trailer than beaching. BKH

You'll have to sand the existing glass to get to something the new stuff will stick to. I filled the low spots with mil-fiber reinforced resin and then sanded that to where it needed to be(several steps). I then used mini-craft of florida for the gel. Your boat may be older than the color matches they have unless it's a color CC had been using for a while. It might be worth asking Pauley, Woody, or the Godfather if they recognize the color or already know what it was.



The darker ares here show the fill.




Edit-The area around the repair has the be wet sanded from probably 400 to 1000 to recover the original color. This isn't a bad job, but is one not to get in a hurry on!

Greg,
Thanks - I knew you had the great pictures for the visual!

Brian and Craig,
I agree that the gouges higher up on the stem look like trailer/bow stop damage but the lower gel erosion is classic beaching in sand/gravel damage.

Craig,
Mini Craft has a very unique product of gel. They package gel coat in a aerosol (rattle can). Then they have a pump you need to buy that screws onto the top of the can. (with the spray nozzle removed) This is used to reverse pump the hardener into the gel in the can. You will then have about 3 hours (pot life) in the can. Plenty of time to get at least 5 coats of gel on the repair. Spray - let the solvent (vehicle) flash off - spray again - repeat. They have about 5 colors of standard white in the aerosol so you should be able to get close.

mini craft

BKH, how far off line and how fast would the boat have to be?!!?

Thanks for calling me back Pete...I saw this but was in a hurry. I'm always glad to help!

Kristof wrote: Greg,Godfather or anybody... could someone tell me what the colour is of my boat? I would like to order from mini-craft also...

Your's is an '89? If so, I think they have it on file.

Oops, I'm on their site now, but I do not see my year range...

I just talked to Kristof and he thinks he has Ivory white but has a gray white interior. Anyway, I asked him to wait for Mini-craft to catch up with him because they had my '88 colors.

Kristof, either by buffing or wetsanding(or it may already be there), make sure of the color you have! And Great to talk with you!!!

When the economy settles down I'll be sure to drop by!   

From the 1983 brochure it lists "Gray" as a gel color, then in 1986 there is "Warm gray". Therefore I would assume 1982-1984= "Gray" with 1985-1989= "Warm Gray".

HW has my color...'warm gray'. It is ever so slightly lighter than my boat. It's so slight that it wouldn't be noticed on a small repair. I do hope to ask them later to make my next batch a touch darker.

K, what's up with the edits?!!?   

I also have a color matching problem. This thread inspired me to call Mini Craft to order a gel coat repair kit for my 1980 Nautique. They do not have a record of the color on file and said they would have to color match. All I am wanting to do is repair some "beach rash" on the bow (just like the photo above without the chips). The color is an off white but not an ivory. Can anyone help?
Found it!! The color is "Taffy Ivory" Guess they named it after a pole dancer in Orlando.

eric lavine wrote: Kris, i know your propane tanks are pink

Most of the guys here know that