14' Larivee restore

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

If you Gel then The Pot Gun from HF will work with the tip it comes from. You'll need a 60 gallon 3-5 hp compressor as a minimum. You thin it with Styrene and you can get it all from USComposites. 20 Mils thickness is what you're aiming for and that usually take about 4 coats. On a 14 ft boat that equates to about 3/4 gallon per coat so 3 gallons of gel would be needed. USComposites sells white gelcoat for $45 bucks a gallon. After you get it on thats when the work starts. LOTS and LOTS of Long Board sanding. You then finish with lots of buffing and polishing. All of this is from Research and Study NOT from experience. I PAINT cuz I'm to Lazy to GEL!!!

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Howdy back, bear...thank you for the kind words. Welcome aboard. Got a late start sanding today. Golf cart had a flat tire this morning. Had to fix that up before the boat work began. So I started sanding the bottom, starting at the stern. Managed to get almost 4' forward done. There are a couple of spots that I will have to throw down a spot of csm or faring (microballoons), no more than a couple inches, but gonna continue sanding for now. Work gets back in the way tomorrow, but later in the week, more sanding. So, you know how I've been revisiting the whole "paint/gelcoat" topic again, right? I think back on post #20 or so of this thread, I asked about my options & I specifically asked if anybody knew of a product called Mothane. So weird things happening at my house today. First, I get up to my oldest cooking breakfast(actually not so weird), but when I joined him at the table, he was looking thru a golf cart parts magazine. He found the tires that are on ours. About carped his pants when he noticed they were about $70. About an hour later, I went out back to get organized & noticed....I had a flat rear tire on the cart. Weird! So back to the boat weirdness....So my neighbor has a huge Star Craft open fishing machine...I notice him taping it off & later smell product. Guess what he's using?.....Mothane(the primer today), but soon, Mothane. Over the next couple wks I will get to see right next door, one of the products I'm considering. Sweet!!

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

...oh, & woody...I like to think there's a fine line between lazy & smart...I believe you fall into the latter category. I think I have a t-shirt that says something to that effect. Have to see if I can find it.

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Good morning all...no thaw here in S. Florida, but 2 days of rain...80's return this wknd. So a little update & one question. I have been a sanding fool this wk. Got the entire bottom sanded(with exception of the keel repair). Work today, but off next 2, so short term goal is to get that keel sanded & fared. I also did a little sanding/faring on the transom. Not completely ready, but closer than it was last wk. I also hope to have the sides(mostly the blue part) done by Sunday. I am trying to adopt woody's advice on not being too picky about each & every sq. in. of it. He's right...fish aren't gonna notice a little wobble here or there. So here are a couple pics of a question. These 2 pics are of the first strake up from the bottom. They are about an 8" area where there are about 6-8 "spider" cracks in the gel. There are numerous spots like this on each side & I was wondering, just how far do I have to sand these? There was 2 or 3 on the actual bottom that I had to sand back almost to bare glass to remove. Is that the standard idea before re-gel? Alright fellas...work today at 1, so....time for a little more sanding!!! Enjoy you day!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Two methods that I know of, 1.) sand em out completely or 2.) dremel out each web line using a v-bevel tool down to the glass then wash with acetone and fill with Gel paste or filler prior to shooting final. This will allow the gel to have a "Bite" to fill the crack. Your Call. Personally, I'd do the latter.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Could you V-groove then fill with pb pulled tight ?

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

I'm with you woody & sp....counted them before I went to work today. There are 17 of them, none of which are bigger than a silver dollar. So as the 3rd rainy day in a row is predicted tomorrow, I will sit on a stool & dremel, then fill. Thanks as always for superb advice.

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Well, I got the spider cracks taken care of a few days ago. I ended up using the dremel & basically tracing over them, making them a bit deeper & wider. Filled them with microballoons & sanded & done. I have also been making slow, oh so slow work of sanding the keel repair. Did I mention how slow this part is going? Sand the mat, fill with microballoons, sand some more, find any low spots, fill some more, sand some more. Reminds me of that old 3 Stooges episode: "slowly she sands; grit by grit, all by hand....NIAGRA FALLS!!" My shoulder feels like it's gonna fall off & my thumb is feeling the old injury. I do have a question; I am familiar from our previous restore, with pinholes. My son & I ran into those when we ground ALL the gel off to bare glass(I try not to do that anymore unless absolutely necessary). I've noticed that these are showing up on occasion when sanding the microballoons. What's causing these in the microballoons? Too much/not enough hardner, to high or low grit on the paper, ????, I'm stumped. Anybody else seen this happen with MB?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Those pinholes are actually microscopic air bubbles and if you use a thinner/runnier mix and push harder and from multiple directions you can POP most of them.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Also, if you are going to paint, before you apply the first coat of primer, use a high build type primer, apply it to the affected areas [pinhole population] and use a bondo spreader in multiple directions, as woody suggested, then force the primer into them. Then just sand and continue...
A lot of times those micro bubbles are a product of the heat created when the resins start to cook off...kind of like boiling water, except this "water" turns into a solid instead of steam and traps them...

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

wow, that all makes sense....I had a feeling it had something to do with heat, gus. Thanks to you both. Happy day before Fri-der-day!!

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Time for an informal hump-day poll....so, let's say someone was contemplating 2 colors on one's boat...let's further say that white might be one of the colors(the color of the bottom) & "another" color might be on the sides of the outer hull. What color do you do the transom? The white or the "other" color?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Yes!!!!

 

[sphelps]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Yes!!!!

+1. :laugh:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

IMO, it sort of depends on the other color.............

as long as the transom ends up white

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

+4

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

whew...that's what I was thinking, but just wanted to see what ya'll thought..sorry to be so clearly, ambiguous. I was hoping to keep it all a secret & surprise you, but I'm terrible at secrets. So, thinking I'm doing bottom & transom in white, including up sides one lapstrake(about 3"). Then, up the rest of the sides to center of rubrail area.....drumroll........gray!(I have unofficially named the boat "Gray Light(or Lite)), because my all time favorite time to get out on the ocean is at about 5 a.m., by myself. I turn the engine off & sit in the dark enjoy my peaceful time. And then, as "gray light" begins, the lines go in the water, &with some of my best fishing moments have happened before 7a.m. Well, I feel so clean now...spilling my guts!!

 

[friderday]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

I got one word fer ya'll.....and I'm so gosh-darn tired, I'm gonna abbreviate it, go to bed, go to work tomorrow, & catch up with the details tomorrow night...ready?.............................GEL!!!!!

 

[sphelps]

Re: 14' Larivee restore

Gal Engineered Larivee ? or
Gell Encased Larivee ?

Btw , I like the name Gray Light or how about Gray Dawn