Hull Repair Questions

[wingless]

The 1994 dinghy I just purchased has some gell coat damage and minor hull damage that needs repair.

What are my best choices to fix these problems?

[JPA Cate]

If you search on the Sticky: Nauticat 52 refit posted by minaret, you will be able to see pictures of what can be done. If it is only a dinghy that's going to have a hard life, you may not feel it necessary to take it to the level of perfection minaret attained.

Ann

[minaret]

Originally Posted by wingless

The 1994 dinghy I just purchased has some gell coat damage and minor hull damage that needs repair.

What are my best choices to fix these problems?

Hire a pro, unless you are just interested in learning to do your own glass work. If the latter, do a bit of research here and then ask away. The scrapes are no big deal, the glass repair is a bit more involved. In the end, the question is "can you color match"?

[wingless]

Originally Posted by minaret

Hire a pro, unless you are just interested in learning to do your own glass work. If the latter, do a bit of research here and then ask away. The scrapes are no big deal, the glass repair is a bit more involved. In the end, the question is "can you color match"?

Thanks for all the helpful information.

The gouges and the cracks were both repaired using the West Marine Rx Epoxy Repair Kit. The results are outstanding! I would not hesitate to recommend this product.

The entire hull was sanded using my Festool ETS 150/3 Fine Finish Sander w/ my Festool CT22 HEPA Dust Extractor to remove the surface blemishes. The Festool Titan 2 abrasives followed by the Festool Platin 2 abrasives removed all the scratches. This is an incredible tool that does an outstanding job! I highly recommend their products. (The wife was thrilled to have me sanding the new boat in the dining room last night. At least there is almost no mess w/ the vacuum system.)

The plan had been to spot touch up the gelcoat , but now I'm just going to do the whole dinghy, so that the color will be uniform. I am still going to match the existing color first. I am using Yellow and Brown Resin Coloring Agent to match the color.

The remaining bits of hardware and the teak keel have been removed to aid in the recoating. Good thing, I found the bolts retaining the drain plug flange had deteriorated.

There will be several layers of West Marine non-Waxed Laminating Gelcoat applied first.

The West Marine non-Laminating Finish Gelcoat will be applied as the top coat.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by wingless

Thanks for all the helpful information.

The gouges and the cracks were both repaired using the West Marine Rx Epoxy Repair Kit. The results are outstanding! I would not hesitate to recommend this product.

The entire hull was sanded using my Festool ETS 150/3 Fine Finish Sander w/ my Festool CT22 HEPA Dust Extractor to remove the surface blemishes. The Festool Titan 2 abrasives followed by the Festool Platin 2 abrasives removed all the scratches. This is an incredible tool that does an outstanding job! I highly recommend their products. (The wife was thrilled to have me sanding the new boat in the dining room last night. At least there is almost no mess w/ the vacuum system.)

The plan had been to spot touch up the gelcoat , but now I'm just going to do the whole dinghy, so that the color will be uniform. I am still going to match the existing color first. I am using Yellow and Brown Resin Coloring Agent to match the color.

The remaining bits of hardware and the teak keel have been removed to aid in the recoating. Good thing, I found the bolts retaining the drain plug flange had deteriorated.

There will be several layers of West Marine non-Waxed Laminating Gelcoat applied first.

The West Marine non-Laminating Finish Gelcoat will be applied as the top coat.

Hmm. Why not just paint it? Polishing the whole hull is a ton of work for no good reason. Either do a normal repair, or shoot it. Much less work. Unless you are just trying to work on your gel coating skills...

[wingless]

Originally Posted by minaret

Hmm. Why not just paint it? Polishing the whole hull is a ton of work for no good reason. Either do a normal repair, or shoot it. Much less work. Unless you are just trying to work on your gel coating skills...

What am I missing?

It looks like application of the linked gelcoat products is similar to application of paint. How is this more difficult than painting?

The 11' hull is already sanded smooth, w/ all the nicks and gouges filled.

Doesn't the gelcoat provide the opportunity to repair future damage, like scratches, by sanding / polishing?

The desired final outcome is smooth, blemish-free, with uniform color. At this time the hull looks great, except for the scattered white marks from gouge and nick repair.

West Marine Gelcoat Video

[minaret]

Originally Posted by wingless

What am I missing?

It looks like application of the linked gelcoat products is similar to application of paint. How is this more difficult than painting?

The 11' hull is already sanded smooth, w/ all the nicks and gouges filled.

Doesn't the gelcoat provide the opportunity to repair future damage, like scratches, by sanding / polishing?

The desired final outcome is smooth, blemish-free, with uniform color. At this time the hull looks great, except for the scattered white marks from gouge and nick repair.

Gelcoat is almost impossible to spray a finish with-it's a gel. You must wet sand and polish it to a finish. Lots of work. It's designed to be sprayed in a mold. The mold provides the finish. If you've never done any gel work, I wouldn't recommend starting with shooting a whole dinghy. Of all the people who might recommend using gel for the reasons you mention, I'm at the top of the list. Just know what you're getting into. If you can get a good color match, you can gel just your repairs. Search the forum, I've made a number of posts on color matching at this point. It would save you a lot of needless work. Also, at 9.8 lbs per gallon, your boat already has plent of gel thickness, or should. Shooting the whole thing will add a not totally insubstantial amount of weight, as gel must be sprayed thick and in multiple coats. Your RO 150 would certainly speed the process, as would dry guide coat. But still a lot of unnecessary work.

[sparrowhawk1]

I've had good luck just painting gel coat on. I would use a little bit less hardener so that it gives the gelcoat more time to settle ( letting brush lines disappear) before it kicks. Sorry I don't remember the exact amount of drops per ounce. Maybe someone can answer that because it's crucial . and also needs to be adjusted for temperature and humidity. It's been a long time since I've done it but I remember putting wax in the gel coat too I think it's for sanding