Bad shape fiberglass restauration

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Gelcoat ages too, if a trailer has been parked for a while, one side is liable to be a different color than the opposite side.

Anyone that's ever painted knows there's a bazillion colors of "white" too

You are correct. I for one can't match gel coat colors very well, and I've tried. At least if you miss out on the exact shade of white it does not look bad and will probably look better than star cracks if you care to go to the trouble. The question with white is what color tint to use. one opton is to try small quantity batches with each tint and some combined tints with some note keeping to see what looks closest and try that. Worst case is you have to grind it off and try again. I move gel coat but often give up and use epoxy paint if I want a boat to look perfect. While reprinting seems like a big job, matching gel coat can take forever to make perfect. You will want to shoot yourself in frustration.

It is probably better to let it go and focus on the polishing which is much more straight forward and put up with a few star cracks.

[GMike A]

Originally Posted by Carol H

We had a fellow give us a workshop on fiberglass repair at one of our meets here in BC and he did show us/tell us how to get a good gel coat match but sorry I didnt take any notes as doing fiberglass work isnt something I would undertake. He worked for a company that does bathtub and shower repairs and showed examples that you could not see where he had patched. I would suggest giving a local tub repair company a call and see if they have anyone who can help you out with the colour match issue.

There is a YouTube video on matching gel coats that I might be able to dig up. Their patch kit comes with about 5 or 6 different little tubes of white and you just do a little dip of each one and let them dry on the original and see which one matches. I will look for it after I wake up.
Mike

[frank_a]

If you're into white, I highly recommend Interlux VC Performance, a two part epoxy coating intended for racing boat hulls. It takes a number of coats to cover well, but it can be wet sanded to 2000 grit or more, then polished, and gives a rock hard coating. It might not give the shine gel coat does, but it is very hard to tell that it is not gel coat when finished correctly. I have had it on the hull of our speedboat now for many years with no problems.

Frank

[GMike A]

Thanks Frank for the suggestion. I wrote that down on my white board to investigate as a solution for my egg.

[frank_a]

Glad to help Mike. If I had an older egg that had lots of cracks and spider webbing, I'd fix 'em, then coat with VC Performance. I did my classic speedboat hull completely with high quality foam brushes. I've used it other places because of it's rock hard qualities too, so any questions about prep, application, & finish, just ask.

Frank

[GMike A]

The Texas mosquitoes are known for denting cars and trucks whilst in motion so I need something that will withstand the impact. The VC sounds like the ticket after it cures.

[frank_a]

This is where I get mine. I just got a two quart kit from them.

Search: vc performance

I used a two gallon kit for the hull on my old speedboat, so would suggest at least the two gallon kit for an egg. It's a one-to-one mix, you let it sit for a 1/2 hour, then are not really limited in terms of application time. Anything left over can be frozen, and when opened will be at the same stage as when it froze. I've done that before plenty of times. It helps to get a couple clean quart cans from an automotive paint supplier if you're gonna store some in the freezer.

Those mosquitoes sound pretty heavy duty Mike. They're not that bad here, but with all the rain we've had lately, we have an unbelievable infestation of the darn things. I bought a mosquito head net last week just so I can work outside!

Frank

[GMike A]

For my money Minnesota still takes the cake for B52 mosquitoes-- dang they hurt. I will read the documentation as I am considering spray painting instead of tip and roll. This stuff sounds like its pretty thick. Did you ever hear back from John? I saw him in the 63 year book. You can PM me some time.
Thanks

[frank_a]

It can be spray painted Mike. In fact, it is the recommended application method. BTW, it is NOT thick.

John who? My older brother? If so, yes, we talk all da time.

Frank

[Youhauler]

Originally Posted by Carol H

We had a fellow give us a workshop on fiberglass repair at one of our meets here in BC and he did show us/tell us how to get a good gel coat match but sorry I didnt take any notes as doing fiberglass work isnt something I would undertake. He worked for a company that does bathtub and shower repairs and showed examples that you could not see where he had patched. I would suggest giving a local tub repair company a call and see if they have anyone who can help you out with the colour match issue.

I am not sure about this. Can I go to an specialist, ask him to match the color, buy a small quantity from him and mix the hardener when I am ready to do the job? Maby to nice to be true!!!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Youhauler

I am not sure about this. Can I go to an specialist, ask him to match the color, buy a small quantity from him and mix the hardener when I am ready to do the job? Maby to nice to be true!!!

You will never know if you dont ask

If you tell them its an old vintage trailer project you might find they are interested in helping out with such a project. They may have someone just like the fellow who put on the work shop at the rally for us who would be more than happy to help you out.

You never know the generosity of some folks. When I first acquired my trailer the brake wiring was messed up and it eventually stopped working. I wasn't thrilled at the idea of towing it to an RV shops due to having no brakes and to get to any I needed to go 30 miles on a high speed highway with a few *really* big hills to go down in between but figured that was going to be my only option. I called around to find a shop willing to take a look at/fix the problem. One of the real big major RV shops on hearing I had an older small fiberglass trailer, went off and called an employee who has done a lot of small fiberglass trailer rebuilds. That party ended up coming out to my house and fixing it all up for me for a *very* reasonable price..... never thought that would happen.