Need some advise from the gel coat wizards!

[kpetry]

Having bought our new boat in Jan., it's finally time to rename her. I removed the rear compartment hatch and brought it home. After removing the old letters, it was very easy to still read the old name. The uncovered gel coat appears to have eroded away slightly due to the effects of weathering, while the gel coat covered by the letter vinyl was actually raised - you could feel it by running your hand over it. No big deal, I planned on sanding with 1500, then 2500, then compound and polish.

The problem is, the surface is now smooth as a baby's butt, but the uncovered gel coat is still slightly DARKER than the gel coat previously under the letters. You can still read the previous name. I've sanded about as far as I dare, as I'm afraid of going too deep and penetrating the gel coat. If I put the new lettering on now, there will still be areas where the dissimilar colors will show.

Is my only option to have it re-gel coated? I'm a little leary of that, as we live in Indiana, and this is not a state where we have lots of gel coat experts, at least in our area. I've read the horror stories of poorly matched gel coat. Is there some other option I'm not thinking of here? What about bleaching, or this "lemon ammonia" I've read about? :huh:

 

[H2ONUT]

Wet sand with 600, then 800, then 1000 and then 1500. It will disappear. Worked for mine.

 

[Carver370]

You may have to let the sun bleach it a little bit, wax around the area and make sure to leave wax off the previously unexposed area.