Couple of Gel Coat Repair Questions

[320Bob]

I have 3 pencil sized holes in my gelcoat, one of which is pictured below. Can I simply fill the holes with the gelcoat paste without anything else underneath? Second, one of the holes is in the non-skid walkway. I thought I read somewhere here that you can use silly putty to get the non-skid pattern impression and then tranfers it to the gel coat paste before it sets up?

 

[firecadet613]

Bob,
Where on the boat is that pictured hole? Is it fiberglass directly beneath it, as in you'll be applying the gel directly to the fiberglass?

 

[320Bob]

The hole shown is right under the rub rail towards the bow.

 

[Quint4]

I have had great results with www.spectrumcolor,com

 

[firecadet613]

Got it. Go with spectrum. I've used both their patch paste kits and the gel you have to spray on.

Stay away from Minicraft.

 

[320Bob]

I have had great results with www.spectrumcolor,com

I'm one step ahead of you since I placed an order for some two days ago. Another way to ask the question is will the Spectrum gel coat paste provide enough bonding to seal the holes and structural strength to keep them sealed?

 

[Henry Boyd]

If the spot is properly prepared, yes. That would mean knocking the chips off and getting down to solid material.

I can't tell from the photo, but if there is any depth of damage into the fiberglass, you might want to fill that first with a dab of epoxy. In this case use the regular set material (not five minute). Mix it and let it sit until it starts to thicken into paste. You want it thick enough so it won't dribble down the side of the boat. Now putty that into any deep spots. Not too much because you still want enough room for a good gelcoat. Five minute epoxy may go from the paste state to solid too fast to work with.

Henry

 

[320Bob]

If the spot is properly prepared, yes. That would mean knocking the chips off and getting down to solid material.

I can't tell from the photo, but if there is any depth of damage into the fiberglass, you might want to fill that first with a dab of epoxy. In this case use the regular set material (not five minute). Mix it and let it sit until it starts to thicken into paste. You want it thick enough so it won't dribble down the side of the boat. Now putty that into any deep spots. Not too much because you still want enough room for a good gelcoat. Five minute epoxy may go from the paste state to solid too fast to work with.

Henry

Henry, I had assumed the marine would fill these holes with epoxy first then gel coat since they will have to epoxy my bottom as part of the bottom painting. They said they would only use gelcoat which didn't seem right to me since the holes are down to or even through the fiberglass. Since these holes could allow water intrusion I want them fixed the right way which is why I posted this. I've never worked with gelcoat before so I don't know whether it provides enough bonding to fill a hole not just fill in a gouge.

 

[sbw1]

Looking at your pix I see a lot of porous surface with what look like pin holes. Is this finished gel coat. Is the pic an accurate representation? It does not look like polished gel.

 

[Quint4]

The spectrum product mixes up to the consistancy of peanut butter and will hold in place fine. You probably need Artic White. Dremel out the gouge to remove any loose pieces and feather the edges. Slightly overfill the hole and cover area with a section of clear plastic held in place with tape (cut up a zip lock baggie). Use your fingers to "mold" the approximate shape of the repair under the baggie. Leave baggie in place until dry (24hrs). Peel off baggie,wet sand , compound, buff, polish...done.

 

[320Bob]

Looking at your pix I see a lot of porous surface with what look like pin holes. Is this finished gel coat. Is the pic an accurate representation? It does not look like polished gel.

It's an iPhone picture that I cropped to reduce the size. It is definitely polished gel coat on the surface.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Henry, I had assumed the marine would fill these holes with epoxy first then gel coat since they will have to epoxy my bottom as part of the bottom painting. They said they would only use gelcoat which didn't seem right to me since the holes are down to or even through the fiberglass. Since these holes could allow water intrusion I want them fixed the right way which is why I posted this. I've never worked with gelcoat before so I don't know whether it provides enough bonding to fill a hole not just fill in a gouge.

Are you saying the hull has been holed, or are you just concerned about water intrusion into the fiberglass?

Henry

 

[320Bob]

Are you saying the hull has been holed, or are you just concerned about water intrusion into the fiberglass?

Henry

Water intrusion into the fiberglass.

 

[skolbe]

Sferg...

I thought maybe Sea Ray used your boat for the Swimsuit issue and that was from high heels...

 

[320Bob]

How were these holes formed? If they are voids, especially in the non-skid, you may have luck in getting SR to fix them under the 5 year warranty on the hull. I had a void in my upper doghouse that SR warrantied for me last winter.

If you haven't done so yet, check with your Sea Ray Dealer about the possibility of these being covered.

Here's what mine looked like before SR covered it under warranty...

I would have never thought of this but it makes sense that the hole in the non-skid would most likely due to a void rather than mechanical damage. May have a tougher time with the ones under the rub rail but certainly worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion!:thumbsup:

 

[AKBASSKING]

Any results?:huh:

 

[320Bob]

Any results?:huh:

I left several messages with my dealer's service department and never got any return call. I could have emailed Sea Ray customer service directly but it wasn't worth the time and effort. I just put the Spectrum Gel Coat repair paste matched to my factory color on all four holes/chips this afternoon. I'll let it harden for a couple of days and come back and sand it.

 

[320Bob]

Here's a picture of my repair which proved to be much trickier than the videos let one believe. The problem was the chip was on a rounded surface as my initial photo shows. I had to redo it several times because everytime I would sand or compouind the rounded edge, the gel coat would come off revealing the darker fiberglass underneath. You can see it in the photo but it's not too bad. Anyone got any suggestions on how I can elminate this or just quit while I'm somewhat ahead.

 

[dc380]

A rounded corner is tough, if it's your first gelcoat repair.

I use a small wooden block to get the gelcoat level. I tailor the block such that it spans the area to be repaired, but is as small and manuverable as possible.

Then once the gelcoat is close to level with the rest of the area, I fold up some 600 grit and do the rest by hand. This is done mostly by feel, and lots of cleaning the area, and sighting down the side, and repeat sanding until it's close to perfect.

So if your current repair doesn't catch your eye, I would leave it until you have done more repairs. The great thing about gelcoat is you can always go back and redo it.

Dave

 

[Don Sr]

As your finding out Gelcoating is more of an art than a science thats why shops get away with the prices they charge for repair work. The trick is to feather the boat gelcoat back from the area you are trying to repair. DRy gelcoat film should be above the level of the adjacent surface. Use a sanding block available from any auto paint store. Sanding blocks come in any size or shape based on the contour your trying to repair. See the step by step repair instruction available from the West System website.

FYI - Don't start with a repair this size !