Gel Coat Rock Chip repair suggestions

T

Tanner03

New Member
Oct 5, 2006
79
River
Boat Info
boatless and happy
Engines
boatless
Just ordered a Gelcoat repair kit for my boat as well.

Sure was nice to be able to call Sea Ray and get the correct colors before calling Spectrum. Those guys rock!

Some may remember I have a few rock chips in the hull from road debris. They are small (size of a dull pencil head) but bother me none the less. Any suggestion on how to go about this when I get the kits later this week? Can I just touch it up like auto paint since the area is so small. I was thinking maybe using a toothpick and then buffing?

I just dont want to offend the area around it if I can help it.

Thanks!
 
I've used the patch kits from Spectrum and you can't even tell where the gelcoat repair was. They come with instructions but it basically involves a gelcoat paste and then wet sanding, compounding, Finesse, polish and then some wax.
 
West Marine carries it... as does any good hardware store. 400/600/800/1200 grit for wet sanding is pretty common.
 
Tanner03 said:
Just ordered a Gelcoat repair kit for my boat as well.

Sure was nice to be able to call Sea Ray and get the correct colors before calling Spectrum. Those guys rock!

Some may remember I have a few rock chips in the hull from road debris. They are small (size of a dull pencil head) but bother me none the less. Any suggestion on how to go about this when I get the kits later this week? Can I just touch it up like auto paint since the area is so small. I was thinking maybe using a toothpick and then buffing?

I just dont want to offend the area around it if I can help it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

easiest way:
clean damaged area with acetone - not other cleaners
mask around damage with masking tape, use white tape because some color tapes like to bleed color, you can use white shrink-wrap tape (from 3M, Doctor wrap etc those work the best)
lightly sand damaged area and wipe with acetone one more time
now gel coat patch:
I like to use business cards for that
put some gel coat paste on card, add couple drops of hardener and using second card mix them together (using spreading like motion)
paste should look like butter with no air bubbles inside
now carefully spread paste(using fresh card) over masked area, try not to get much ticker than masking tape or you will have sand more
let this cure completely
sanding:
don't remove masking tape at first
start sanding with 400 grit, using plenty water (you can start with 320 when you get some experience), use sand paper wrapped around some kind of flat block to assure that sanding going to be nice and flat
once you start sanding masking tape itself you can remove it (now you are close to original gel coat)
when you are really close to desired "flatness" switch sand paper to 600 after that to 800 and 1000 grit don't skip grit or you will not remove sand marks completely
if you willing to put more work or you want to really nice finish use 1200, 1500 and 2000 grits
now buff it with polishing compound and put some wax to protect area
 
I like the business card idea I just picked up my new ones and have 500 old one's left over from the last batch.

I might need a few cold ones to get the courage up for this job.
 
I forgot to report back...I finally got the nerve up to give this a shot. It was much easier then what I had imangined it to be. However the black Gelcoat has been left alone not sure I could get that to match as well.

If I was to just wet sand these spots since they are smaller what grit should I start with?

800?
600?
400?
1000?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Tanner03 said:
I forgot to report back...I finally got the nerve up to give this a shot. It was much easier then what I had imangined it to be. However the black Gelcoat has been left alone not sure I could get that to match as well.

If I was to just wet sand these spots since they are smaller what grit should I start with?

800?
600?
400?
1000?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

if they are not to deep you can start with 600
with deeper scratches you may want to start with 400 or even 320
 
Once Paste has been put into the Chip you should cover it with Wax Paper and smooth it out with your finger. Overlapping the edges is important. If you stay with it as it cures you can take a single edge razor blade and shave it flush. Try it, it works. Al W.
 
wickeral said:
Once Paste has been put into the Chip you should cover it with Wax Paper and smooth it out with your finger. Overlapping the edges is important. If you stay with it as it cures you can take a single edge razor blade and shave it flush. Try it, it works. Al W.
Click to expand...


problem with that method is that it will shrink more after is completely cured and it will be no longer flush with surface around repair
 
Could you give me the contact information for Spectrum. I have a nasty little chip on the port side of my new sea ray. This was done by a careless dock hand the second time I took the boat out. I am good with auto body repair and would like to fix this myself.

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,193
Messages
1,428,287
Members
61,104
Latest member
Three Amigos
Back
Top