clear coat over gel coat?

[kfouryou]

hi guys pretty new to this ,I was just wandering if it's possible to spray a clearcoat over a gelcoat?. fixed some gouges and have the metal flake finish and saw some in a spray can in clear coat .Can I just sand down a bit and then spray the clear over top.Used marine tex for the gouges and the box says gel coat does not work well with it.

 

[ghamby]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

Gel coat exudes wax when curing. This makes it hard to adhere coatings to.
Marine Tex is epoxy, polyester resins don't adhere well to epoxy.
Consider a two part polyurethane clear coat. Prep the repaired area with
wet sanding and an acetone wipe down.
http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/ I have used their clear coat with good
results.
GH

 

[ondarvr]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

Gel coat does not exude wax when curing, wax can be added for the surface to cure tack free though. Sanding the surface removes the wax easily and most paints bond very well (excellent) to sanded gel coat.

What color is the boat right now and what do you want the clear to do?

 

[ghamby]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

http://www.hempel.com/Internet/inec...F487DFEA9D18E40C256C160010BBD8?OpenDocument&1
I used this info,among others, plus past experience when commenting about wax in gel coat.
I think we agree it's about the sanding and wipe down.
GH

 

[ondarvr]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

I only read the first couple of tips and they were wrong in the way they are stated, gel coat does ?contain? large amounts of wax or mold release agents. And while there may still be a trace on the surface of a new boat, they don?t last long in use and normal prep work easily removes them.

Now if the owner recently applied some kind of wax or silicone based product, then a little more care may need to be taken to clean the surface, but the paint will still bond great.

 

[kfouryou]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

my boat is a dark blue with a kind of silvery-purple flake over top . can't really see the blue too well though .The boats a 87 bayliner fish and ski, so it actually hard to see the true colour now. I don't think the guy before me waxed or polished it much .The surface in some spots have started to turn brown.

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: clear coat over gel coat?

I dont think a clearcoat will do much other than protect the existing finish(currently faded). You need to restore the finish before you do anything. To accomplish this you need to using polishing compound and a good buffer may consider wet sanding rough areas of the gelcoat.