Gel repair on 1987 Four Winns Candia

[johnmogs]

1987 Four Winns Candia 200,
Hi, First time post for me, but have learned a lot on the engine side, I have no experience with fiberglass so I'm hopeful this is not that hard of a project.

Previous owner's dock had damaged front exterior of boat, he primed it white, unfortunately not prepped very well, so I'm not sure exactly how deep the damage is/was but it looks like the dock took out some 1/4 to 1/2 inch(both deep and roundish) chunks. I'd like to get it looking a bit more original to match the boat, and I think I need to prep and apply gel coat, but wanted to ask the experts here first. No leaks as this is above water line. I have no experience with fiberglass repair. Also curious what a pro would charge for this type of repair and if anyone in the Detroit area could recommend a guy.
I'm in Michigan, freshwater lake if that helps.
Thank you in advance!

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Gel repair on 1987 Four Winns Candia

Hello John and welcome to Iboats .

Welp..if you want Gelcoat back on there your going to have to sand all of that primer off ( unless its duratec ). But you probably dont know what primer is on there .

After you sand the primer off ( with 120 grit ) you then can see how and what he repaired it with. If its Bondo then I suggest you redo it.

Give some more info and pics after you explore your repair.

For a pro to do this .. Im thinking about ( assuming the repair is sound and fair ) 1hr to prep,1hr to spray 2 colors,1hr to sand and buff + materials. This is Me doing this with my tools.

But Im sure your local pro shop will charge ya 8 hrs+mat ( 1000 bucks ).

If you want I can get you the color names ( white is going to be "aztec surf white" if Im not mistaken ).

YD.

 

[johnmogs]

Re: Gel repair on 1987 Four Winns Candia

Thank you Yacht Dr.
Before I start, the boat's gelcoat has a lot of oxyidized, should this be buffed before or after I do this repair?
Thank you

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Gel repair on 1987 Four Winns Candia

Thank you Yacht Dr.
Before I start, the boat's gelcoat has a lot of oxyidized, should this be buffed before or after I do this repair?
Thank you

Wow..no comments from others..hmm..

Yes I would buff out before the repairs are done. Just in case you start burning through the gel ( Dont do this oversanding and/or over buffing to make it look like a mirror around your repairs leave it for the prep and final blend buffing ). Leave about 1' around your repair before you buff those spots out.

YD.

 

[Buff Wheeler]

Re: Gel repair on 1987 Four Winns Candia

Check out NAUTICARE. They do exceptional work and have sensible prices.