Gelcoat Repair advice

There is one thing you need to know before you rent your Uhaul. Most of the people who perform these services are employees of the marinas, or work for service companies that service a product line. The Tiara dealer here has a company dedicated to serving Tiara and Pursuit owners. Other private contractors are not allowed. The technicians are paid pretty well, although I'm not sure they qualify as rich. One of the things I've noticed at the best marinas, however, is many of the technicians are boaters themselves. The marina that had the worst service before it went out of business had lots of guys that worked on their cars and motorcycles with little apparent interest in boats other than for a paycheck. :smt001
 
A friend has had similar done. Here is what he paid to the Searay dealer in Milwaukee for three chips of about same.
Break down was 36.00 for materials, 45.00 trip charge x 2 =$90.00 plus a min. 1 hour each trip at 75.00 per hour.The total was 276.00 before tax. I agree the boat yard is ripping you off at 600.00.

I think 276.00 is fair. I own a composites company and do work for Brunswick boat companies.

Mike
 
Wow - I am kinda liking Robf and FrankW's responses of estimated repair cost 100-125 :thumbsup:

SBW1 - You are right that I had little luck getting the marina glass guy to look at the boat. Unfortunately, our marina is technically challenged. They are excellent people, but there is a shortage of qualified mechanics so we don't even have a qualified Mercruiser guy there. I am thankful I am able to almost anything on my own boat (and for most of my dock neighbors). The glass guy is only renting space from the marina owners, but nonetheless, I was hoping he would fix my small nicks some afternoon before last season was over at a reasonable price.

Anyway - Rob - are you visiting CT anytime soon :lol: :grin: ?
 
When the headphone wearing, multi-tattooed, multiple body pierced, clueless youngster forklift operator nicked my boat with the forks, the damage was slightly more than yours and estimated by the marina glass shop at $250.00. Fortunately, I saw him do it, so denial was not an option.

I was able to talk them into writing me a check for that amount, then fixed the repair myself and put the $$$ into the gas tanks. :grin:
 
boatrboy said:
BTW - I went to the Spectrum website and there were several types of white called out for 1999, so how do I figure out which color I have?
Click to expand...

You need to call Spectrum (phone number is on the website). You give them your HIN and they know (somehow) the exact gel that Sea Ray used on your boat. I have used Spectrum white for minor repairs on both my 330DA and the 410 (both boats were different whites). I have also used the Spectrum tan to fill some screw holes in the dash when I changed out VHF radios. In my three different color expeiences, they have been a PERFECT match.

Spectrum's small gel paste kits are invaluable to have on the boat. The repairs referenced above in this post would be easily done using the Spectrum kit. I can't imagine buying the kit from West Marine/Boater's World with 8 different colors and trying to match by mixing colors.
 
Thanks Jeff for the input. Have you done this type of repair yourself?
 
No problem boatrboy. Yes, I have done minor gelcoat repairs - like yours. As mentioned earlier in this thread, use a sharp tool to remove any remaining loose gelcoat, then using a plastic spatula (from a marine supply or autobody store), fill in the void with Spectrum gelcoat paste (mixed with hardner per the instructions with your kit). It is important to build up the paste slightly higher than the surrounding gelcoat. I found that dabbing a little mold release solution (available at most marine supply stores) over the gelcoat helps it cure faster and more evenly. Then sand with progessivly finer papers, moving to wet sand 600, 800, rubbing compound, polish, then wax. You'll be gratified with the work you did and the money you saved. It's a lot like filling holes in drywall and sanding before you paint.

Good luck, but you probably won't need it. Those scars should be real easy to repair.
 
Probably not crooks- just not competant and really don't want the work.
 
very little chance of that spectrum matching your 1999 boat, it will be close and if doing it yourself you might not mind.

if you were paying someone to do it they would have to custom mix it to match your boat perfectly.
 
RobF300 said:
very little chance of that spectrum matching your 1999 boat, it will be close and if doing it yourself you might not mind.

if you were paying someone to do it they would have to custom mix it to match your boat perfectly.
Click to expand...
For $600 you will never see it. You get what you pay for.
 
I just used Spectrum's Patch Kit on a 1997 330 DA, and it matched very well. The problem is the oxidized layer on the surface is discolored. During wet sanding and compounding this will disappear in the repair area and can be feathered into the surrounding so that it is essentially unnoticeable. For those small dings Spectrum's Patch Kit is ideal - it is thickened gel coat that can spread and filled like body filler, then sanded and compounded to match the gelcoat. It's cheap too.

When you call them have your model number and serial number (ie.,, 330DA 1516). They match to the specific plant spec for that year.

As far as cost goes, when I had mine in for a bottom job I had the painter do about 5 of these kinds of minor dings. He charged me $75 per repair.
 
boatrboy...

Your more than welcome in a few weeks to swing by my house in Bridgeport. I'll be the guinea pig, I have a few spots to fix myself.
 
H2ONUT said:
Your more than welcome in a few weeks to swing by my house in Bridgeport. I'll be the guinea pig, I have a few spots to fix myself.
Click to expand...
Tempting..... is the beer cold? We may have to have Robf300 visit from Long Island to fix my handywork :grin:
 
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