Dashboard Gelcoat Cracked

[95yj]

My boat currently has the ugliest dashboard on the planet. Besides needing to repaint the control panel, the entire dash the width of the boat has hairline cracks. They look to be as deep as the gelcoat, but that's all. Also, the entire dash is faded really bad.

I heard there's a way to reactivate the gelcoat to get a new finish out of it and get rid of the cracks. Is this true and what does it take to accomplish this?

Here's a picture of the worst cracking. The gummy strips are where the last owner had no-slip strips glued down. Obviously I will have to remove that first.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dashboard Gelcoat Cracked

You could Polish out the Gelcoat,+ make it Shine,.....
But those Cracks aren't going Anywhere.....

Even is you Fill the Cracks,+ Paint everything,.....
The Cracks will Come Back in short order......

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Dashboard Gelcoat Cracked

The area most likely flexes a great deal and has little or no support, plus the glass may be thin and the gel coat too thick. That's a perfect enviroment for cracks.

To fix it, you would need to support the area better sand (grind) out each crack, fill it with glass and then refinish it, not an easy task. If the are still flexes or is under a great deal of stress they will return quickly.