Chipped paint in front: how much repair before I paint?

[Uncle Cereal]

I'm about to paint my Boler. There are those little holes in the front, probably from rocks on the road. Should I paint over them? Should I try to fill them all? How my preparation is enough? Curious to see what you think...

[LyleB]

No personal experience, but have heard of folks using bondo for cosmetic repairs prior to painting.

[Bullington]

Use a razor blade to squeegee filler into them, block sand, prime and paint.

[Captleemo]

I would look for a product called glazing and spot putty. Robot Check It works real good on paint chips etc. It comes in a tube so there is no need to mix it with any hardener, just apply it with a razor blade or small scraper and then a little wet sanding to blend it in if needed and then paint.

[Jack L]

If you don't do something to prevent future chipping, you'll have the same problem again. Mud flaps, a protective coating. or metal panels would prevent this. There are some really great truck bed liner type plastic coatings that can be color matched to the color of your trailer and applied with a roller. I did the cover on the battery-propane tanks on my Bigfoot last year and will do the lower front of the trailer soon .

[Dan Meyer]

How bad is it, and what do you want it to look like when the job is finished?

--Dan Meyer

[Uncle Cereal]

Originally Posted by Dan Meyer

How bad is it, and what do you want it to look like when the job is finished?

Dan, let's say that if it was skin, the diagnosis would be "cellulitis"... I think I would like it to be smooth but wonder if it's reasonable.

[BillE]

I would use the glazing putty and fill and wet sand prior to painting. I just took off the Slinky hose as I didn't want a "Yellow" PVC on the front of my new camper. I fiberglass 'd the holes ..and now will gel coat, wet sand, and buff to a factory finish.

I am going to have some 3M film applied to the front to keep it from getting cellulose skin

[Kai in Seattle]

Paul the fiberglassing fool would grind each and every one down with his tiny Harbor Freight grinder to get back to fresh fiberglass, then he'd Bondo-Hair each and every one, then he'd sand and re-bondo if it needed it, then he'd wipe it down with Acetone, then he'd wash it with dish detergent/soap, then he'd re-acetome it, then he'd primer it with white Rustoleum marine wood and fiberglass primer, then he'd roller paint it very thoroughly with two very thin coats of Rustoleum marine wood and fiberglass paint, with a 1000 grit sanding in between.

It would then be perfect, have a muted sheen, be just slightly off-white, and would be lovely! And I would have eaten my fingernails down to the quick waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting!

Bondo-hair. And look for marine repairs on youtube...there's a series of very good fairly short videos about fixing up your boat. (Fiberglass craft).


BEST with it! It's always so satisfying to me to paint something. In fact...I think I'll go paint the dogs.

Kai

[Uncle Cereal]

I think I won't emulate Paul... I'm leaning for glazing putty. I keep coming across "wet sanding". What's that?

[Bullington]

When it is just a chip in the gel-cote (not a hollow area under the chip that is larger than the opening), there is no need for any kitty hair, in the filler or applied separately. Hair is to make things strong, we are only talking about the very top cosmetic surface. It is easier to completely fill a chip without kitty hair. Just use a good quality, polyester filler. Any filler, polyester, vinylester or epoxy can be used, but you cannot use polyester back over epoxy or vinylester repairs. Apply with a razor blade. Sand the repaired area down to 220 grit. Spray gel-cote from a Pre Val sprayer, mixing mek and wax into the container (gel-cote will not dry with air present, wax comes to the surface and seals the air from it). Now wet sand to 400 or so and compound and buff to a shine.

[Bullington]

Oh, "wet sanding" is when you buy "wet/dry" paper not garnet. Then fold your paper in quarters and dip it in a bowl of water as you sand, just keep the area wet as you sand. Then rinse off with clean water. The only time you need to wash repairs with soapy water is when there is an amine blush, which happens after using most epoxy products.

[Kai in Seattle]

Right...most of our repairs are epoxy; might as well be safe rather than sorry.

And, of course, I was just slightly kidding in that Paul, having finally gotten started fiberglassing, has raised it to an obsession. I'm not complaining! I read him my post
and he thought it was funny--at least he pretended to.

He really does do a totally thorough job, as you say, beyond what's "really" necessary.

But that's OK! It seems to be a work of much love.

[Uncle Cereal]

The glazing putty is awesome! I also discovered the joy of wet sanding... Very neat! Thanks for the different options and for letting me discover that great product!