Paint or Re Gel Coat?

[imported_dreamer1q]

I am looking at buying a 241 Liberator that has side out exhaust. The original owner removed the mufflers, and I believe because of that, the gel coat around the exhuast outlet has cracked. I would say 1 foot square is the area size at best. But the cracks are deep and spidered. So I assume I will need to grind off the cracked area and repair it to keep the area from getting waterlogged.

Now I have heard you can paint OR gel coat. I am a total noob at this, hell I had to search what gel coat was to be honest. But I am no slouch at repairs, and I want to try this one on my own.

So question is, do I paint it or gel coat the area?

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: Paint or Re Gel Coat?

Gel coat is a really thick paint, and will fill the cracks. I think you can buy colors to add to the gel coat to match your boats color. I would gel coat.

 

[Kevin70]

Re: Paint or Re Gel Coat?

Gelcoat would do a better job at filing the cracks, but you will have to put alot more into getting a glossy finish. Sanding, compounding, polishing, waxing, etc. Start off with neutral colored gelcoat like [colour=red]this[/colour]. If you get white, it's much harder to get your color correct unless you have bright white gelcoat. Use the little tubes of pigment like http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?session_id=427905747&cart_id=563194790&category_id=246703&list_time=1153349564&view_id=38376][colour=red]this[/colour][/url] to adjust your color.

 

[imported_dreamer1q]

Re: Paint or Re Gel Coat?

Thanks guys, that will help.

The color is actually the same as dmark's boat. Its a teal color.

See I learned something, I had no idea I could work over the gel coat that is already there. I assumed it would have to be removed first. THANKS!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Paint or Re Gel Coat?

You won't want to just fill the cracks in. Gelcoat is not like paint. Gelcoat is basically pigmented resin. You'll want to grind the cracks down to the fiberglass underneath, kind of like making trenches, then fill the trenches with the gel. The gel cracked because gelcoat gets more brittle with age, and doesn't flex as well as the fiberglass underneath. If you just put more gel over the cracks without grinding and feathering out, the original cracks could spread beyond the repair. Its not hard, color matching is the hardest part. There are people here who have re-gelcoat the entire boat. It is a bunch of prepwork and finish work, but gelcoat is vastly superior to any paint as far as durablity goes. Good luck...

 

[imported_dreamer1q]

Re: Paint or Re Gel Coat?

Excellent. It appears we will be repainting it at the same time. So in effect, I should be able to grind down the gelcoat like Captian stated, fill it with a white gel coat, and then paint over all of it for a beautiful finish. Correct?