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#1
posted to rec.boats.building
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kayak hull repair
I am looking for some tips for refinishing the hull on my older Valley
fiberglass kayak. The gelcoat is heavily scratched as well as cracked in many places. I talked to someone a while back who did a lot of fiberglass and epoxy work who recommended using epoxy instead of gelcoat to re-coat the bottom of my boat. Does anyone have experience doing this? I am planning on sanding down the gelcoat to get a smooth base. Any thoughts on the how well the epoxy will bond and work with a gelcoat base? How about a good application method to get a smooth and even finish? |
#2
posted to rec.boats.building
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kayak hull repair
MGC wrote:
I am looking for some tips for refinishing the hull on my older Valley fiberglass kayak. The gelcoat is heavily scratched as well as cracked in many places. I talked to someone a while back who did a lot of fiberglass and epoxy work who recommended using epoxy instead of gelcoat to re-coat the bottom of my boat. Does anyone have experience doing this? I am planning on sanding down the gelcoat to get a smooth base. Any thoughts on the how well the epoxy will bond and work with a gelcoat base? How about a good application method to get a smooth and even finish? Sand the existing gel coat. Repair any holes, dings, etc with epoxy putty (epoxy & micro-balloons). Apply high build epoxy primer with a roller. Sand out as required between coats. Apply 2 part L/P with a roller, tipping with a brush as required. My guess is that by the time you are done, you could buy a new kayak, scrap this one out, and be ahead of the game. Lew |
#3
posted to rec.boats.building
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kayak hull repair
MGC wrote:
I am looking for some tips for refinishing the hull on my older Valley fiberglass kayak. The gelcoat is heavily scratched as well as cracked in many places. I talked to someone a while back who did a lot of fiberglass and epoxy work who recommended using epoxy instead of gelcoat to re-coat the bottom of my boat. Does anyone have experience doing this? I am planning on sanding down the gelcoat to get a smooth base. Any thoughts on the how well the epoxy will bond and work with a gelcoat base? How about a good application method to get a smooth and even finish? I have pics and instructions for fiberglass and gelcoat repair on Webshots (Gelcoat Repair & Restoration the #1 album in the kayaking category) at: http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg While I strongly recommend using epoxy for fiberglass repairs, you're better off to use gelcoat for gelcoat repairs, as the color of epoxy - even when it's tinted white - won't match very well. OTOH, gelcoat is much more noxious to work with. When buying gelcoat, be sure to get "finish" gelcoat, as the standard "laminating" gelcoat will not cure completely in the presence of air. You can get finish gelcoat tinted white or in a neutral color if you anticipate needing to tint it to match other colors perhaps on your deck. West Marine sells gelcoat pints in liquid and paste form. The paste works really well for areas that need to be built up significantly, like on the keel and around the skeg box on VCP boats like yours. Store it in the fridge and it will last nearly indefinitely. BTW, spider cracking is common on these boats and is largely caused by the thick gelcoat not being as flexible as the underlying layup. Repairing spider cracks is largely futile, as they will soon re-appear in the same places. On my own boats, I repair fiberglass damage and deep gelcoat dings and gouges, but I don't sweat the small stuff. It's simply way too much effort to try to keep the bottom of a kayak pristine. One advantage of the thick gelcoat on VCP boats is that faded decks can be brought back to like-new color and shine by wet sanding and buffing them out. I did it on one boat just for the experience. It's a fair amount of work, but the results can be worth the effort, as you'll see in my pics. |
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