Shattered gelcoat below water line..

[SouthernmanSC]

I bought a 1967 Evinrude sportsman 155 and it looks to been in the water for awhile and was stored afterwards for 2 years...Mech. it is in great shape,,,but the prob. I got is you can see where the water line was and below it the gelcoat is cracked all over...Nothing big,,but hair line cracks about .003 to .005 thous. of a inch all over...I wonder if it was caused by the person before leaving it in water for long time and freezing or what,,but never seen anything like this...I dont know where to start because I been reading like heck on here and cant really find anything to kinda help me tru this...I was wondering,,,should I take resin,or gluvit, or marine tex,, and just work it in like body filler and then epoxy paint over?? I been lookin at the interlux sight and wonder if I could just use like interlux vc-tar barrier coat instead and can anyone tell me if it would fill the cracks in and be smoothed without alot of sanding and re-coating.. Would like to do this the best way without breaking me up....Appreciate any help...This is too nice a boat to do a crappy job...Thanks....

 

[AndyL]

Re: Shattered gelcoat below water line..

I am a great believer in an International Paints product called "GelShield". It is essentially an anti Osmosis treatment and I reckon this would be the answer to your problem. You would have to key the area by abrading with a fairly coarse grit (80/100grit) wet and dry sandpaper then apply at least 3 preferably more coats of Gelshield with a fine roller. The finish would not be as good as the original gelcoat but it should "burn" nicely into all the fine crazing you have. If you then apply a couple of coats of antifoul/ bottom paint she should look as good as new. It is advisable to apply this final finish within 24 hours of the final gelshield coat to achieve an excellent paint bond. Gelshiled is an Epoxy 2 pack comes in green or grey. Goes on a treat. <br />Best of luck as the boating season draws close now.<br />Andy

 

[DJ]

Re: Shattered gelcoat below water line..

SouthernmanSC,<br /><br />I believe what you have is called "crazing". It's not that unusual for a boat of that age. It doesn't effect the seaworthiness of the craft, but it doesn't look that good.<br /><br />You can apply a barrier coat and paint.