buffler razz
Well-known member
Decided it was time to give the boat a face lift. It was a bit surface worn when I bought it late summer ’17. Worst places were where it rubbed on the trailer roller and a spot on the bow.
I read so much about gel coat repair vs epoxy that my head hurt. Decided to go the gel coat route. I also spoke with a tech support guy from the place I ordered the gel coat from, he was very helpful. Since I do not intend to make this an adv for anyone or any product I will leave that info out. Feel free to PM me if you want that info.
I stripped the boat of seats, oar locks, etc to lighten the load. With the help of some friends we flipped it over and set onto some sturdy saw horses I built for the job. Sanded it down with 60 grit paper and my orbital sander. WEAR A DUST MASK!!! I made sure to feather out the edges of any chips in the gel coat, same for any areas where the wear went thru the layer(s) of the gel coat and into the glass mat.
Cleaning consisted of vacuuming it down, using an air hose from my compressor and a couple of wipe downs with clean rags and acetone. BE SURE TO WEAR A PROPER RESPIRATOR when working with the acetone and gel coat. NOT a dust mask, but a respirator with the proper organic vapor cartridges.
As for order of which color / areas to recite first, I decided the black striping first, the green next and then the white bottom. This meant taping off the edges and areas where I did not want overspray. I used good quality 3M painters tape and an exacto knife to trim at borders and curves. NOTE, the wide tape I bought was the exterior use variety while the narrow tape was their edge lock. The narrower tape did offer better edge control, I had a few very small areas where the edge of the exterior type tape puckered when I was applying the gel coat. While it was not a big issue, I would avoid it if I ever did this again.
A few places along the bottom edges, one spot at the bow and where the trailer roller wore into the original surface needed some repair. I used a gel coat putty the tech recommended. It too is mixed with the MEKP hardener. I spread it on, leveled it out and feathered it with a semi flexible plastic scraper. I let it harden overnight and then sanded it to smoothen it out and feather the edges with 60 grit paper.
My plan was to spray on the gel coat. I have an HVLP spray gun with a 2.3mm tip. I bought a few extra plastic paint cups that hold 20 ounces. The tech from the gel coat supplier gave me some very helpful tips on what ratio of gel to hardener to use for the colored gel vs the white gel.
At first the application of the black went well, but my compressor just did not have enough capacity to keep up and given the quick working time before it begins to set up, it was a bit problematic. I did spray on the first coat, using just gel and hardener and let it set for about 90 minutes. For the second coat I added the required wax to my mixture, this seals the surface so the gel coat hardens properly. Given the fact that my compressor did not have the capacity needed and the short working time I decided to roll on the other areas of the boat.
I used a 3/16” nap roller as my reading recommended to not use a foam roller. The applications for both the teal blue and the white went very well. Both colors received 2 coats; first the Montana Teal and then the White. In both instances I waited about 90 minutes between coats and added the wax to the final coat mixture. I peeled tape about an hour after final coats were applied and the surface seemed tack free. I peeled carefully and used my exacto knife in a few spots to keep the tape from pulling at the gelcoat edge.
Continued...
I read so much about gel coat repair vs epoxy that my head hurt. Decided to go the gel coat route. I also spoke with a tech support guy from the place I ordered the gel coat from, he was very helpful. Since I do not intend to make this an adv for anyone or any product I will leave that info out. Feel free to PM me if you want that info.
I stripped the boat of seats, oar locks, etc to lighten the load. With the help of some friends we flipped it over and set onto some sturdy saw horses I built for the job. Sanded it down with 60 grit paper and my orbital sander. WEAR A DUST MASK!!! I made sure to feather out the edges of any chips in the gel coat, same for any areas where the wear went thru the layer(s) of the gel coat and into the glass mat.
Cleaning consisted of vacuuming it down, using an air hose from my compressor and a couple of wipe downs with clean rags and acetone. BE SURE TO WEAR A PROPER RESPIRATOR when working with the acetone and gel coat. NOT a dust mask, but a respirator with the proper organic vapor cartridges.
As for order of which color / areas to recite first, I decided the black striping first, the green next and then the white bottom. This meant taping off the edges and areas where I did not want overspray. I used good quality 3M painters tape and an exacto knife to trim at borders and curves. NOTE, the wide tape I bought was the exterior use variety while the narrow tape was their edge lock. The narrower tape did offer better edge control, I had a few very small areas where the edge of the exterior type tape puckered when I was applying the gel coat. While it was not a big issue, I would avoid it if I ever did this again.
A few places along the bottom edges, one spot at the bow and where the trailer roller wore into the original surface needed some repair. I used a gel coat putty the tech recommended. It too is mixed with the MEKP hardener. I spread it on, leveled it out and feathered it with a semi flexible plastic scraper. I let it harden overnight and then sanded it to smoothen it out and feather the edges with 60 grit paper.
My plan was to spray on the gel coat. I have an HVLP spray gun with a 2.3mm tip. I bought a few extra plastic paint cups that hold 20 ounces. The tech from the gel coat supplier gave me some very helpful tips on what ratio of gel to hardener to use for the colored gel vs the white gel.
At first the application of the black went well, but my compressor just did not have enough capacity to keep up and given the quick working time before it begins to set up, it was a bit problematic. I did spray on the first coat, using just gel and hardener and let it set for about 90 minutes. For the second coat I added the required wax to my mixture, this seals the surface so the gel coat hardens properly. Given the fact that my compressor did not have the capacity needed and the short working time I decided to roll on the other areas of the boat.
I used a 3/16” nap roller as my reading recommended to not use a foam roller. The applications for both the teal blue and the white went very well. Both colors received 2 coats; first the Montana Teal and then the White. In both instances I waited about 90 minutes between coats and added the wax to the final coat mixture. I peeled tape about an hour after final coats were applied and the surface seemed tack free. I peeled carefully and used my exacto knife in a few spots to keep the tape from pulling at the gelcoat edge.
Continued...
Last edited:
