Gelcoat Repairs

[bbwhitejr]

This weekend, was my first attempt at making gelcoat repairs. When I bought my boat, just above the chine on the starboard side, there was about a 3 foot section of white gelcoat that looked like the boat had rubbed up against something. I purchased the Spectrum Gelcoat Paste in my color, read everything on here I could read, and went to work. About 80% of the scratches sanded out. The other 20%(maybe 8 small places) would not sand out. Got the dremel out, taped them off, and filled with gelcoat. Let it set up, sanded, and came out, for the most part, beautiful. I was impressed with my work.

Now for my question...I have the pewter gelcoated hull. I have some very, very minor tiny dings and scratches. The first thing I will try is some compound and my buffer. I feel really comfortable sanding them out if I have to. I am worried that if I sand them out, I will have pewter gelcoat that looks "splotchy." The gelcoat is in really good shape with no oxidation.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Bennetty

 

[BillK2632]

I would think it would come out just as well as the section you just repaired. Gelcoat is very easy to repair - I used the spectrum kit on my 15yr old boat and was very pleased how well it came out. I also found the smaller scratches came out by just sanding. My rule on touch up type repairs - car or boat, make the repair, walk away from it. If it is not noticeable from 5 feet away then leave it alone. Too often the repair ends up worse than the damage.

 

[BryanOnTheBay]

This weekend, was my first attempt at making gelcoat repairs. When I bought my boat, just above the chine on the starboard side, there was about a 3 foot section of white gelcoat that looked like the boat had rubbed up against something. I purchased the Spectrum Gelcoat Paste in my color, read everything on here I could read, and went to work. About 80% of the scratches sanded out. The other 20%(maybe 8 small places) would not sand out. Got the dremel out, taped them off, and filled with gelcoat. Let it set up, sanded, and came out, for the most part, beautiful. I was impressed with my work.

Now for my question...I have the pewter gelcoated hull. I have some very, very minor tiny dings and scratches. The first thing I will try is some compound and my buffer. I feel really comfortable sanding them out if I have to. I am worried that if I sand them out, I will have pewter gelcoat that looks "splotchy." The gelcoat is in really good shape with no oxidation.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Bennetty

Bennett,

See this article and video: http://boatworkstoday.com/archives/1508

Bryan

 

[bbwhitejr]

Thanks guys! Bryan-thanks also for the video. Fortunately, all of these "spots" are shallow enough to sand out-no filler needed. Just nervous about things not blending after sanding. Thanks again!

Bennett

 

[SAshton]

I have some spider cracks on my ladder cover i gouged with a dremel and I hope the 2 oz kit is enough to fill them. There were about 12 so the area is sorta large but small gouges. Hope it comes out good after i trowel or putty knife the gel coat in the gouges.

 

[bbwhitejr]

I have some spider cracks on my ladder cover i gouged with a dremel and I hope the 2 oz kit is enough to fill them. There were about 12 so the area is sorta large but small gouges. Hope it comes out good after i trowel or putty knife the gel coat in the gouges.

You should have enough. It seems like it goes a long way. I only mixed up about 1/3 to start with and then another 1/3 later on. I still have 1/3 of the jar in the refrigerator that is likely no good. Make sure you overfill the cracks-leave the gel coat slightly "humped up" as it will shrink as it dries.

Bennett

 

[mquiet]

Good advise on leaving it a little high. It also makes it easier to sand level and compound smooth.


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[Sous]

I would think it would come out just as well as the section you just repaired. Gelcoat is very easy to repair - I used the spectrum kit on my 15yr old boat and was very pleased how well it came out. I also found the smaller scratches came out by just sanding. My rule on touch up type repairs - car or boat, make the repair, walk away from it. If it is not noticeable from 5 feet away then leave it alone. Too often the repair ends up worse than the damage.

Perfect advice and my philosophy exactly. The admiral helped me with the spring buff/polish/wax this year and she was all up in arms how "bad" it looked. I told her that even a brand new boat from 6 inches away has waves and such. Once were were in the water and the sun was reflecting the water and such she though it looked amazing.

 

[fwebster]

Be very careful messing with pewter gelcoat. It is tricky and is very thin on some boats. If you can buff it out, then that is about all I would do, but I wouldn't touch pewter with sandpaper. Sea Ray used several different formulations of the pewter gel, so if you go that route, you need to order it by your HIN number from a Sea Ray dealer. Even then getting a perfect match is much harder with pewter than with any other color........unless it is blue that has already turned purple.

 

[HUMPH]

M

This weekend, was my first attempt at making gelcoat repairs. When I bought my boat, just above the chine on the starboard side, there was about a 3 foot section of white gelcoat that looked like the boat had rubbed up against something. I purchased the Spectrum Gelcoat Paste in my color, read everything on here I could read, and went to work. About 80% of the scratches sanded out. The other 20%(maybe 8 small places) would not sand out. Got the dremel out, taped them off, and filled with gelcoat. Let it set up, sanded, and came out, for the most part, beautiful. I was impressed with my work.

Now for my question...I have the pewter gelcoated hull. I have some very, very minor tiny dings and scratches. The first thing I will try is some compound and my buffer. I feel really comfortable sanding them out if I have to. I am worried that if I sand them out, I will have pewter gelcoat that looks "splotchy." The gelcoat is in really good shape with no oxidation.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Bennetty

Purchase some Supercut Compound from Presta Products. No sandpaper needed as it will take out minor scratches. As Frank mentioned, be careful to not take off too much of the colored gelcoat.

 

[bbwhitejr]

Be very careful messing with pewter gelcoat. It is tricky and is very thin on some boats. If you can buff it out, then that is about all I would do, but I wouldn't touch pewter with sandpaper. Sea Ray used several different formulations of the pewter gel, so if you go that route, you need to order it by your HIN number from a Sea Ray dealer. Even then getting a perfect match is much harder with pewter than with any other color........unless it is blue that has already turned purple.

I was able to get them all out without needing any gelcoat paste. My initial approach was to buff and that got out 80% of them. The rest took some wet sanding and elbow grease. I started with 800 grit and ended with 3000 grit and some more buffing, polish, and wax. Obviously there was zero oxidation because after polish and wax, you could not tell where I removed the scratches. Thanks for all of the advice.

Bennett