complete re gel coat

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Trial and error, or more precisely, guess and hope.LOL. It came out really nice IMO, looks just like the top (orriginal). If memory serves right, I used about 2 oz in a 2-qt mix of gel/clear gloss additive. There are mix ammount advice on fibreglast's website.
Here, from fibreglast:
The glitterflake coat should be applied directly behind the cover coat. Normally,
glitterflake is added at 10% by weight , but this may be increased to up to 20%. In excess of 20% can cause curing problems including a distortion or ripple in the surface. Also, mixing the glitterflake with the gel coat should not be done more than one hour before it is to be applied.
Catalylze the glitterflake gel coat at the recommended level and apply a wet layer of up to 10-20 mils.
The glitterflake layer will not provide a total hide and some visible changes in the orientation of the flakes will be present. We recommend using a pigmented layer directly behind the glitterflake layer which will hide the reinforcement and offer an improved final appearance. Typically, a contrasting pigment

[martan]

I've done a lot of it and it is definitely not as easy as paint. I'm wondering what kind of clear you are using? I would much rather buff clear than gel. That being said I plan to gel the hull on my own boat in the next year or so. Gel coat has come a long way in the last 5 years.
I've seen several people mention they have re gelled entire bottoms, and I wonder do any of these boats get left in the water all season? I've seen a lot of boats that can sit in the water all season and never blister. Patch gel on the bottom doesn't usually do so good.
Some pictures of a brand new Mastercraft on there that I had to re gel this last month. www.bowkersfiberglass.com/class_war.htm

[SmokinLowriderSS]

The clear gel I used was the same clear gel, all the way through, color and glitterflake layers, from Fibreglast, part number 173 mixed 1:1 volume with p/n 1040 clear gloss additive. #71 styrene wax was mixed into final top layer to fully harden the entire stack.
http://www.fibreglast.com/showproduc...rdener-10.html
#173 is our highest quality gel coat. It is fully UV resistant so it may be used as a protective clear coat over other colors or glitterflake. Very true color reproduction can be achieved when mixing with all our color pigments. Blend with Hi-Gloss Additive when top coating. Requires 2% MEKP. (which comes with it)
#1040 can be mixed 1:1 with regular gel coat to reduce viscosity, porosity, and permit a complete open air cure. The reduction in viscosity allows gel coat to be sprayed controllably through siphon and HVLP equipment, reducing sanding and polishing time. Below the waterline repairs still need the addition of #71 Styrene Wax for maximum hardness.
Requires 2% MEKP.

[axkiker]

OMG im dizzy now. I thought auto paint was a pain. Jesus this is crazy. I have spent years trying to keep wax and oil out/off of my painted surfaces now they are saying you have to add in parifin wax to make it cure. WTF.
I just wanna cover up my ugly pink stripe. LOL

[Nucking futs]

Just make sure the gell coat is tacked before you add the pva or the gell will start to cure with the pva and you will see a fine haze or a inlaid orange peel that will not sand out and you will sand through and have to do a patch job. Ask me how I know.. lol.
Im getting ready to do my floor and the top side again, but im going sintech in place of the duratec. The sintech thins out better and is a way better gloss look with alot less work after your done spraying.

[martan]

Has anyone left a boat in the water for a season after spraying the bottom with gel coat?
www.bowkersfiberglass.com

[DaveA]

Has anyone left a boat in the water for a season after spraying the bottom with gel coat?
Neighbor did. Not a pretty sight, all the blistering that occurred. Boat shop told him to keep it on the trailer whenever possible, but his kids didn't listen.
Looks like you guys do nice work. I was interested in the Elite- was that the entire core that came out of that bottom in one piece?? Quite a job!
Question- how difficult is it to match 1970's era gelcoat (yellow, fer instance) that was formulated using cadmium and other components that are not allowed today? The original manufacturer of the gel said that once they weren't allowed to use those components, they chucked the formula and mixed up something else (that's similar but no match) to sell to the boat shops. Besides, they're a division of Valspar now, and all those old formulas were lost anyway. What do you think?
DaveA

[DUCKY]

It's a bitch to say the least. Utilizing neutral base and raw pigments I am able to do a quite reasonable job on the old boats, but it's time consuming. And yellow, is one of the toughest colors to blend to begin with. Just like automotive paint, there is no such thing as pouring gel out of the can and spraying it without tinting the color. Anyone that says they do is either a fool, or does poor quality work.

[DUCKY]

The clear gel I used was the same clear gel, all the way through, color and glitterflake layers, #71 styrene wax was mixed into final top layer to fully harden the entire stack.
Wow, you put wax in your clear? Good thing it's on the bottom, because if it were exposed to the sun your red metal flake would be little more than a milky haze in no time....

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Wow, you put wax in your clear? Good thing it's on the bottom, because if it were exposed to the sun your red metal flake would be little more than a milky haze in no time....
You're misunderstanding the substance DUCKY.
The styrene wax has to be in gel on an exterior repair. It separates from the gel, and surfaces, where it films, sealing air off of the gel surface, which promotes the final hard cure of the gel, otherwise, even catalyzed gel does not cure properly exposed to air.
It's not an issue in a mold, as the mold is the surface sealer, and the following layers of gel seal the previous ones, then the glass resin seals it all.
The final sanding takes the styrene off the surface. You can buy, pre-waxed gel, if the outside job in large enough. You can even wax each layer, to harden each one fully, BUT, the next layer wil not stick and the wax must be sanded off, this time between layers.
It was mixed on the sides too, and looks just fine, after a lot of sun-time last summer, it's not car wax.
From Fibreglast's website:
# 71 Styrene Wax is a 5% solution of paraffin dissolved in styrene that may be added to non waxed polyester resins and gel coats to prevent the prolonged tackiness associated with thin sections of polyesters. If the resin contains paraffins, the wax will rise to the surface and protect the curing resin from the inhibiting action of the air. However, if the resin is allowed to fully cure, the paraffins on the surface will prevent adhesion of further coats of resin and must be sanded off prior to additional applications. We recommend adding #71 at 5% for thin coatings. Use with #1040 Hi-Gloss Additive when performing repairs below the water line.