Gelcoat Repair & Gouges

[Ocean Girl]

Our Bimini broke loose and beat the hell out of Rain Dog. I would like to repair it myself, though it is a lot of area. First off, I used to own a yacht maintenance company, and I was good at it. But that was years ago, and recently recovering from a big time illness, I might of lost a bit of my mojo when it comes to instinct...if that makes any sense. I've done fiberglass repair, above and below waterline. I've repaired gelcoat crazing and screw holes, but always the easy stuff, I would get my gelcoat guy to do the hard stuff. I've never repaired deep gouges and on leading edges. Some gouges are down to glass, but no further. Even though my memory is a bit shot, it seems a straightforward repair.

I was planning on using a vinyl ester filler, then spay a couple layers of gelcoat. I know the pros say white is easiest, but I always found it the hardest, there are a million "whites". Our Crealock is a hard white, no cream, I think it is called oyster, so it might not be as hard as the dang Off whites.

I will dewax and compound the area to get the best color match.

Is 3M vinyl ester filler ok ( 46005, premium filler)?
what Gelcoat is best for using the prevail?
How much time have you found you can get out of one prevail can when working with gelcoat?

I've never taped off my gel coat jobs, I found it easier to blend that way. Our gelcoat is beautiful thick, so I'll have some leeway. I've read of a "rolled tape" technique. In my younger days, I hung out with a lot of gel coat guys, trying to learn, but never heard of this rolled tape before.

My list of supplies
Tools: variable speed orbital with soft pad, hand sander, block sander
Filler with catalyst
Array of spreaders and couple of mixing boards
Acetone
Gelcoat ( will try to get it from Pacific Seacraft)
Styrene
Prevail sprays
Sand paper, wet/dry ( 400-1000?)
initial sanding with Dry 380..?

Additional photos coming, I seem to be able to only load one per post

[Ocean Girl]

More pics

[Ocean Girl]

More pics

[Cotemar]

Cotemar’s Gelcoat small chip & hole DIY repair
It works on holes, corners and flat areas and takes about 5 minutes for each small repair.

Items you would need
1) Acetone to clean areas and white paper towels to apply it with
2) Unwaxed Gelcoat and catalyst
3) Scotch clear tape 1 or 1-1/2 inch wide
4) 3M Scotch Brite hand pads
5) Piece of cardboard and a mixing stick
6) Disposable gloves to protect your hands
7) Plastic Bondo spreader
8) Plastic epoxy syringe for deep holes

Gelcoat chip & small hole repair process
1) Put on your disposable gloves
2) Rough up the repair surfaces with 3M Scotch Brite hand pads to remove any dirt and residue
3) Clean repair area’s with Acetone and clean white paper towels
4) Mix ½ teaspoon and 2 drops of catalyst thoroughly on the cardboard with a mixing stick
5) Put mixed Gelcoat into a small repair, cover all the chipped area. Just guestimate as you fill the chip with gelcoat. You will get close by eye. I tend to go a tad over, so it’s done in one shot.
6) Apply the Scotch clear tape to one side of the wet Gelcoated area, sticking it to old Gelcoat and making sure it is smooth with no wrinkles.
7) With a plastic spreader on top of the Scotch clear tape, you smooth the tape over the mixed Gelcoat and stick the loose end of the clear tape to the old Gelcoat on the other side of the repair, making sure to remove any air.The trick is to get and airtight smooth squeeze.
8) The clear tape should stick to the old Gelcoat all around the wet Gelcoat like a blister
9) You can see everything through the Scotch clear tape, so if you do not like what you see, then remove the clear tape and start over. It just takes a minute to redo.
10) Leave the Scotch clear tape on for a few hours until the Gelcoat repair is hard.
11) Remove the tape from the repair area and you’re done.Go sailing the same day

Note: Unwaxed Gelcoat is designed to be a laminate which will remain tacky unless air is inhibited from coming in contact with curing gelcoat. This is why we cover all around the wet gelcoat with Scotch clear tape and remove any air bubbles.

Have used this method many times and it work’s great for the DIYer. As you get better, you will not be able to see the repair from the surrounding surface.

A Gelcoat Pro will bill you 2 hours for a chip repair.
At $100 usd per hour you can save yourself $200 per chip repair.

[Ocean Girl]

Holy smokes!!! Could it be that simple?
I could hug you!

[Ocean Girl]

Uh not to sound too thick but you are talking about regular old scotch tape? I thought it was some kinda of Mylar tape. How will that work for the corners.

Make a tool that replicates the radius when I smooth tape down?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Uh not to sound too thick but you are talking about regular old scotch tape? I thought it was some kinda of Mylar tape. How will that work for the corners.

Make a tool that replicates the radius when I smooth tape down?

Yes, just regular clear scotch tape.
This process works great around corners also.

You can see it all happen through the tape, just make sure you leave no air.

[Ocean Girl]

thanks

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Yes, just regular clear scotch tape.
This process works great around corners also.

You can see it all happen through the tape, just make sure you leave no air.

Have we not had this conversation before?


http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-101800-2.html

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Our Bimini broke loose and beat the hell out of Rain Dog. I would like to repair it myself, though it is a lot of area. First off, I used to own a yacht maintenance company, and I was good at it. But that was years ago, and recently recovering from a big time illness, I might of lost a bit of my mojo when it comes to instinct...if that makes any sense. I've done fiberglass repair, above and below waterline. I've repaired gelcoat crazing and screw holes, but always the easy stuff, I would get my gelcoat guy to do the hard stuff. I've never repaired deep gouges and on leading edges. Some gouges are down to glass, but no further. Even though my memory is a bit shot, it seems a straightforward repair.

I was planning on using a vinyl ester filler, then spay a couple layers of gelcoat. I know the pros say white is easiest, but I always found it the hardest, there are a million "whites". Our Crealock is a hard white, no cream, I think it is called oyster, so it might not be as hard as the dang Off whites.

I will dewax and compound the area to get the best color match.

Is 3M vinyl ester filler ok ( 46005, premium filler)?
what Gelcoat is best for using the prevail?
How much time have you found you can get out of one prevail can when working with gelcoat?

I've never taped off my gel coat jobs, I found it easier to blend that way. Our gelcoat is beautiful thick, so I'll have some leeway. I've read of a "rolled tape" technique. In my younger days, I hung out with a lot of gel coat guys, trying to learn, but never heard of this rolled tape before.

My list of supplies
Tools: variable speed orbital with soft pad, hand sander, block sander
Filler with catalyst
Array of spreaders and couple of mixing boards
Acetone
Gelcoat ( will try to get it from Pacific Seacraft)
Styrene
Prevail sprays
Sand paper, wet/dry ( 400-1000?)
initial sanding with Dry 380..?

Additional photos coming, I seem to be able to only load one per post

I think your original plan is on track. I'd use Rage instead of Premium Filler though, PF dries hard as nails and is difficult to fair with relatively speaking.

I'd die grind for prep, tape off tight around each chip double thick with 2", fill extra high with Rage, then use a very small hard block with 60 or 80 grit on it to sand out each chip. When the block hits the tape you stop and pull tape, then hard block with 180 the very thin layer left over. Then prep sand 400 and blow on your matched gel, three coats minimum with surface seal in the last coat only. Wet sand 800, then 1000, then 1500, then polish 3M Super Duty on a wool pad, 3M Imperial Compound on a wool pad, Finesse-It II on a foam pad, Perfect-It on a foam pad, 3M Imperial Hand Glaze for corners, two coats of Awlcare hand bufffed with microfiber cloths. Then you'll have to polish the rest of your boat too to make it look as nice as the repair area. Don't forget to wet sand your match zone thoroughly before compounding, just compounding isn't enough to bring back the original color for a match. If it's actually Oyster, it's a PITA to match. Needs a hint of green, which is very easy to overdo. Condolences on the illness, but if you've ever had "the eye", you can't lose it. You should do fine.

[Cotemar]

minaret an I have been through this before.
Yes, minaret's method will get you their.

Try my Cotemar gelcoat repair method on your smallest repair. What is nice is if you do not like what you see under the tape you simply pull it up and wipe the wet gelcoat off with acetone and do it over in just one minute.

My method removes the pucker factor of the long drawn out process and it looks great in the end.

Just did two repairs this past weekend on a one year old cat with a few chips like yours. The owner was happy as a clam and was amazed he could not find the chipped areas later in the day.

[minaret]

Indeed, by all means try it. My methods tend to be overkill for most. But when you give a ten year warranty...


Perhaps you should read the recent gelcoat matching thread, if you haven't already.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

minaret an I have been through this before.
Yes, minaret's method will get you their.

Try my Cotemar gelcoat repair method on your smallest repair. What is nice is if you do not like what you see under the tape you simply pull it up and wipe the wet gelcoat off with acetone and do it over in just one minute.

My method removes the pucker factor of the long drawn out process and it looks great in the end.

Just did two repairs this past weekend on a one year old cat with a few chips like yours. The owner was happy as a clam and was amazed he could not find the chipped areas later in the day.

Ever tried to put on the tape first and then inject thinned gel through a syringe with needle to get the perfect fill amount, then immediately slap on another piece of tape as soon as the needle is withdrawn? Prevents the not enough gel dimple or too much gel hump. Still a less than perfect repair though.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by minaret

Ever tried to put on the tape first and then inject thinned gel through a syringe with needle to get the perfect fill amount, then immediately slap on another piece of tape as soon as the needle is withdrawn? Prevents the not enough gel dimple or too much gel hump. Still a less than perfect repair though.

Yes, I did try that method. The Gelcoat had to be really thin and Gelcoat sets up faster in the Syringe with no air.

minaret, I am not a pro such as yourself.
I just stumbled on this simple gelcoat repair as I do most of my repairs as DIY and usually on the anchor in some harbor on some other island every week.

Your Gelcoat Color matching is great and hats off to you.
Here it is for anyone that may have missed it.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1324519

[Ocean Girl]

Yes, I've read as much as the search pulls up, but I did not see Cotemar's technique.
My big concern is to not make things worse. Say my repair looks ok, but in 5 years we want the pros to take a crack at it. Sometimes, owner repairs makes life hard for the pro.

I feel very comfortable fairing with rage, great stuff, I think I can make it look better the old fashion way, but, I cannot resist trying Cotemar's simple solution. Cotemar's technique reminds me of void repair once you pop a boat out of a mold.

I really appreciate the input!
Thank you