GEL COAT REPAIR PRODUCTS

[Legacy Posts]

Hello all-
You were all so fabulous in responding to my fiberglass cracks question. I am doing my homework and have visited http://www.westmarine.com and plan a trip to the local boat shop. But I was hoping to get more input from you guys after previewing some products.

First of all, to Ron, who sang of the wonders of Marine Tex, do you know they make a rapid set Marine Tex? It cures in one hour - in the details they say it is for emergency repairs ...do you think I should stick to regular marine tex?

Then I came across a product called "quick fix gelcoat" that comes in white, buff white, and clear - I have a 1984 scamp. I was hoping to brighten it up after I cleaned it - so how do you color match a dirty trailer? I have seen some pretty dramatic before and afters on your website and want to do a nice color match in anticipating my sparkling "new" trailer...what would you all recommend?

[Legacy Posts]

I missed the original thread about care and feeding of gel coat, so sorry if I'm covering old territory. You can put a shine back in gel coat with a light polishing compound. I like Mirror Glaze. Simonize-- which you may be able to get in automotive stores-- is kinda heavy duty. I've used the same bottle of Mirror Glaze for a couple of decades, because you just need a little, and then some steady muscle to polish up the area. You should be able to get a real light duty polishing compound in a serious boat supply store or a autosupply store that caters to

If I was doing a big area, though, say a whole door or such, I'd wet sand the whole thing and then use an automotive paint-- just one of those cans from the autoparts store. Without a compressor and I spray booth I can't get a get coat finish I can live with.

I have no loyalty to gel coat. Long ago and just down the road I apprenticed as a boatbuilder. Gel coat is wonderful only because it seperates easily from a mold. It's hard as chalk, but you can keep a polish on it, until you polish through to the glass underneath.

Kitty

[Legacy Posts]

What Kitty says bears a reminder; any product that says "polish" in its description contains a very fine grinding compound and actually removes part of the surface it is working on; do it enuf and you start to go right thru that surface (esp if you are polishing with an electric buffer; gets the job done quicker in both the short and long runs...:sad).

But if you must grind away, use a product that says "compound", as they are usually a coarser grinding material and can remove more surface in faster time.

It's better to use non-abrasive cleaning products and solvents first and polishes only for the really stubborn stuf.

Pete and Rats

PS Never tried it myself, but I believe the West materials recommend using something like slick food wrap (like Saran) on curing gelcoat to get a really smooth finish. The original gelcoat gets its smooth finish from clean and slick molds.

[Legacy Posts]

>>...but I believe the West materials recommend using something like slick food wrap (like Saran) on curing gelcoat to get a really smooth finish. The original gelcoat gets its smooth finish from clean and slick molds.

That might work on a small flat surface, but not on a larger or curved area. The kit comes with a small piece of plastic which would work quite well if the area was small enough.

The plastic wrap didn't work for me because of the area, but it might work for someone else. One thing I would do (that I didn't think of until afterwards), would be to securely tape one end of the plastic wrap so you could pull and stretch it over the area. This might help reduce the number of wrinkles.

[Bigfoot Mike]

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