Stripping gelcoat

[philtripp]

Hey all. Been a while! The Ventura is coming along great with the interior 95% complete. I’ll post some pics in another thread a little later.

My current question is about fiberglass/gelcoat. The roof of the camper is quite badly damaged and my plan is to strip the gelcoat off and add several new layers of glass. Sounds like a good idea...the only problem is that stripping the gelcoat off is proving to be a nightmare. Any tips for removal? Can I simply lay new fiberglass over the gelcoat?

Your help would be greatly appreciated! Oh and if you have some warmer weather feel free to send it my way, I’m currently sanding on the driveway in -16C!

[k0wtz]

phil you must want it off pretty bad! wow!


good luck


bob

[philtripp]

On a bit of a time crunch. Would like to get the repair done before I go for ACL surgery [emoji51]

[rbryan]

Generally, glass should be laid on glass unless you're talking about a small repair where the edges are still gelcoat. Put it on gelcoat and you'll probably be able to pry it up with a putty knife. Removing gelcoat is difficult to say the least. If you take a look around the fiberglass boat forums you'll find that the usual method involves very aggressive sanding (no finer than 40 grit) and a lot of time and patience. Once down to good glass, you'll have good adhesion for additional layers.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by philtripp

Can I simply lay new fiberglass over the gelcoat?

I don't know why not. That's exactly how repairs are done. I don't know of anyone that completely removed the gelcoat to do a repair. Yes it needs to be roughed up and completely wax free before the repair is started.

Good luck. Post pics!!

[John in Santa Cruz]

6" angle grinder with 40 grit disks, wear a breather mask as you'll be making a lot of nasty dust.

[mszabo]

Like John says!

[k0wtz]

oh to have you guys energy again!!

bob

[philtripp]

Thanks everyone. Angle grinder with sanding disks is working like a charm!

[philtripp]

Here are some pics of my shenanigans. About half done stripping the roof! Hopefully by weeks end I’ll have some warm enough temps to lay down a few new layers of glass.

[philtripp]

Originally Posted by JB Mitt

How is it damaged, like a tree fell on it, or like it is badly sunbeaten?

Mostly hail damage. And lots of pin holes. 5 or so bigger cracks from who knows what! I pulled it out of a farmers field so it’s anyone’s guess.