Severely cracked gel coat

[kevin500]

The hull of the boat is in great shape. But the top is terrible. There are chips, cracks, even flakes from the gel coat. This is not a full resto project, just replacing the floor and transom. Fish will learn to fear this boat. The condition of the top will probably lead to a coat of paint instead of restoring the gel coat. Here is an overview of the entire project:<br /> http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectThumbs,p,70,00.html <br />Here is a pic that is a sample of what I am facing with the gel coat. <br />

What is the best method of finishing off the top? Should I bevel all the cracks in the gel coat and fill them, then sand and paint? Or is there a better method? My wife has given me a budget that is limited to the amount of change that I can pull out from the couch and the bottom of her purse. Remember this is just a fishing scow, not to be confused with some of the other resto's I have seen here. Some fantastic resto's!!! I just want a safe, reliable piece of Flotsam.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Severely cracked gel coat

You could take a disk sander and sand right through the gel coat to the 'glass, then build it back up with epoxy or resin, sand smooth and paint. Trying to address each crack individually will drive you nuts. Just sand the whole area clean. Then the paint job won't get cracks telegraphing through. <br /><br />You did a lot of work on it. It should look respectable. Pick a color for the paint? Something like beige or bone would help hide some of the dirt it will get as a fishing boat. Then again, there is the camo paint jobs too. I saw a really nice camo paint job on a quad set up for deer hunting done by the owner. He painted the whole thing a light coffe color, then with 3 home made stencils of leaves and random shape, sprayed medium green and grey through the stensils. The neat part was he held the stensils an inch or two away to give soft edges to the shapes. Looked really professional from spray cans. The leaf and random shapes were about 6 to 8 inches in size.

 

[kevin500]

Re: Severely cracked gel coat

I am going with more of a bone off/white color. Might even play around a bit and spray some racing stripes on it. Body work is no problem, my garage is set up for it. Even has a filtered, small downdraft type filter system built with furnace fans, duct work, etc. that I used to paint my truck. Also my sanders have been adapted to the dust control system in the garage, keeps the dust away while sanding. Much cleaner that way.<br />I guess I will dig out the gel coat and refinish it. Seems the only way to smooth it out. Just wanted confirmation that there was no miracle product out there somewhere. This will be happening in the next few weeks, I will keep progress posted.

 

[Realgun]

Re: Severely cracked gel coat

I can't tell you how happy mine does not have those type of cracks!But I do'nt think they hurt structurally just cosmetically. Do fish really care what your boat looks like?<br /><br /> I would try sanding the gel down and you could redo the gelcoat if you wanted. You will be in for a lot of work though.