Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

If yes, how ?

Once a gelcoated hull is e.g. Awlgripped, what is the cost, economically
& otherwise, to return to a gelcoat hull ?

If Awlgripped, what other coatings will adhere without problems, e.g.
1-part polyurethane ?

Appreciatively,

Courtney

Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Not the hull, but had the entire cockpit professionally re-gelcoated
about 8 years ago. It was expensive, about a grand, and took several
days. Major dings and cracks were filled, then the gelcoat was sprayed
on, sanded, compounded and buffed down, more spraying the thin spots,
repeat, etc.; ended up looking like new. Maintenance since then has
been the same old thing, buff and wax.

Awlgripping, painting and the like is less expensive, looks great
initially, less maintenance as it oxidizes more slowly, but is very
hard, prone to chipping, and difficult to repair. As far as I know,
it's a one way street, once painted, only aggressive sanding is gonna
return the surface back to fiberglass for re-gelcoating, an
unbelievable task. That being said, some top end boats come from the
factory painted.

Re-gelcoating is becoming rare (around here) these days, primarily
because of environmental regulations concerning the solvents.
Re-gelcoating a hull would involve some major equipment, money and a
moon suit.

) writes:
Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Not the hull, but had the entire cockpit professionally re-gelcoated
about 8 years ago. It was expensive, about a grand, and took several
days. Major dings and cracks were filled, then the gelcoat was sprayed
on, sanded, compounded and buffed down, more spraying the thin spots,
repeat, etc.; ended up looking like new. Maintenance since then has
been the same old thing, buff and wax.

Boats should come with white rubber or vinyl cockpit liners.
Replace every 5 years or so depending on level of use.
Wipe down with damp sponge otherwise.

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William R. Watt wrote:
) writes:

Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Not the hull, but had the entire cockpit professionally re-gelcoated
about 8 years ago. It was expensive, about a grand, and took several
days. Major dings and cracks were filled, then the gelcoat was sprayed
on, sanded, compounded and buffed down, more spraying the thin spots,
repeat, etc.; ended up looking like new. Maintenance since then has
been the same old thing, buff and wax.


Boats should come with white rubber or vinyl cockpit liners.
Replace every 5 years or so depending on level of use.
Wipe down with damp sponge otherwise.

--
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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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With a little care, an original fiberglass surface will last almost
indefinitely. With no care, it will be absolutely usable for a
lifetime, but may not look great.

There are a lot of 30 year old boats around that have not have any care
for quite a while, and most look pretty acceptable.

For those who need to see high gloss, you need to get a grip on what's
really important.

People that do things like fish wrecks with homemade wreck anchors (usually
several on board) and what not could use some sole protection. If someone
like that put a vinyl liner in the boat, then it would make sense. I'd take
it out in between uses so the boat could properly dry out though.

Brian D



"Jim" wrote in message
k.net...


William R. Watt wrote:
) writes:

Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Not the hull, but had the entire cockpit professionally re-gelcoated
about 8 years ago. It was expensive, about a grand, and took several
days. Major dings and cracks were filled, then the gelcoat was sprayed
on, sanded, compounded and buffed down, more spraying the thin spots,
repeat, etc.; ended up looking like new. Maintenance since then has
been the same old thing, buff and wax.


Boats should come with white rubber or vinyl cockpit liners.
Replace every 5 years or so depending on level of use.
Wipe down with damp sponge otherwise.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community
network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have
"notspam" in subject or it's returned

With a little care, an original fiberglass surface will last almost
indefinitely. With no care, it will be absolutely usable for a lifetime,
but may not look great.

There are a lot of 30 year old boats around that have not have any care
for quite a while, and most look pretty acceptable.

For those who need to see high gloss, you need to get a grip on what's
really important.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 14:02:51 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

If yes, how ?

Once a gelcoated hull is e.g. Awlgripped, what is the cost, economically
& otherwise, to return to a gelcoat hull ?

If Awlgripped, what other coatings will adhere without problems, e.g.
1-part polyurethane ?

Appreciatively,

Courtney


I'm no pro but I have successfully regelcoated portions of my boat any
number of times. First you need to be certain all contaminants have
been removed from the surface, i.e., wax and especially silicone. You
can do this with a product like DuPont's Prep Sol and, less
efficiently, with acetone or other strong solvent. Wipe or scrub it
on the all gel coat you intend to refinish. Have lots of clean dry
rags on hand and immediately wipe each application with a clean cloth.
Do not keep using the same cloths or you will spread the
contamination. Once you are sure that the surface is free of all
foreign matter you can begin filling and defects, followed by sanding.
I recommend 100 grit to give the new gel coat a good tooth. Make sure
y ou give the surface a solvent wipedown once you have finished
sanding and be sure the solvent has totally evaporated before you
begin spraying or you coluld end up with solvent pop (defects that
appear when underlying solvent finds itself trapped under the
gelcoat.) You will need to apply several coats so do not use a gel
coat containing wax. Use a wax free gelcoat right up to the last
application whereupon you may either use a gel coat containing wax or
you may spray on a coat of PVA. Both the wax and the PVA act as
sealers as the gel coat will not harden properly unless it is sealed
from the air.

Thin the gel coat as required to work with your gun. Do not use your
best Binks or DeVilbiss as should you accidentally put in too much
hardener the gel coat might kick in your gun and render it useless.
Buy a cheap--real cheap gun from some place like Harbor Freight. As a
matter of fact buy a couple of them as they are sometimes as low as
$15 each. These guns are perfectly adequate for spraying gel coat and
don't let anyone tell you they are not--I've seen too many glass shops
use them to believe otherwise.

Once you have about 30 mils (I think this is the recommended thickness
but you better do a web search to be cretain) and once your gel coat
is hard the real work begins--sanding out the inevitable orange peel
(a descriptive name for the surface you usually end up with when
spraying gel coat). Begin with 100 or 150 and work your way up to 800
or 1000 or even finer if you like. Once the gelcoat is absolutely
level you can use polishing compound followed by one of the automotive
swirl removers.

You should end up with a gel coat as glossy as anything that ever came
from a factory. It's just a lot of work. It's not something that
required a great deal of skill other than knowing the basics of using
a spray gun---keep the gun perpendicular to the object being sprayed;
do not swing the gun back and forth. This permits the coat to go on
evenly.

Oh, yes. I almost forgot. YOu will not need a giant compressor but
you will need one with sufficient CFM to match the gun you are using.
I have done most of my gel coat spraying with a 4HP Sears roll-around
compressor.

Good luck.

Joe

Courtney Thomas wrote:
Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Yes, many times.

If yes, how ?

You need to prep the hull with a DA 220 grit.
Use a gravity feed spray gun.
In a cup add your gelcoat and thin out a little with acetone, add your MEK.
Spray the hull
Clean your gun!!!!
After it kicks sand again with 220
Then wet sand the hull, 600 grit
With a high speed buffer apply 3M Super Heavy Duty Compound this will shine it up.
Then wax.


Chris