I have a couple Mad River canoes with the almond color gel coat finish. I
need to repair some gouges/scratches etc. in the gel coat. In years past,
Mad River sold the gel coat repair material. Now that its been bought out
and down sized, the repair material seems to no longer be available from the
company. Ideas on alternate sources? Prices? Thanks.

On 19-Jul-2004, Jack Countryman wrote:

I have a couple Mad River canoes with the almond color gel coat finish. [...]
company. Ideas on alternate sources? Prices? Thanks.

Any decent marine supply shop should have gel coat. You'll also have to get
the tint and match it to the almond hull.

You'll have to decide whether you'll use gel coat with or without wax. Waxed
gel coat is not as strong but will cure in air. Unwaxed needs to be covered
with a sheet of plastic to keep the air off while it cures. Some folks use
Saran Wrap or other kitchen wrap, while others use good quality release film
from an auto body repair shop.

Mike

West Marine, Boat US and other suppliers sell white "finish" gelcoat,
which is what you want for repairs. It cures in air without having to be
covered. I've used it quite a bit and it works every bit as well as
"laminating" gelcoat, but without all the hassles.

You can pick up a tint kit at the same time. Almond color usually
requires a blend of brown and yellow tint. Use the tint's sparingly, as
a TINY amount goes a long way. To get a good color match:

1) Put more gelcoat than you think you'll need in a mixing container.

2) Add tints and mix until the color looks right. More than likely,
you'll add too much tint and have to add more gelcoat to lighten it.

3) Once you have a good color match, put some of the tinted gelcoat into
another container and add the catalyst. Mix well.

4) Apply it to the boat and allow it to cure.

5) Wet sand (400, then 800 grit) and polish the surface with polishing
compound to blend it into the original gelcoat.

6) If the color match is good, you're done. If the color match is not
good, sand off the new gelcoat and adjust the color on the gelcoat you
set aside. It's not unusual for gelcoat to change color slightly as it
cures. In my experience, it usually gets slightly darker, but that may
depend on the particular color.

7) Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5.

8) Once you have a good color match, put any extra tinted gelcoat in an
airtight container and store it in the freezer. The next time you need
to repair the same boat, you'll have pre-tinted gelcoat ready to apply.

The other reason to mix extra gelcoat is that it's not uncommon to fail
to apply enough gelcoat initially (the patch is too low to blend with
the original contour of the boat) or to find bubbles in the gelcoat when
sanding. The extra color matched gelcoat will match perfectly when
applied over the first layer. Trying to re-mix to match an existing
patch color is a real pain and rarely works.



Jack Countryman wrote:
I have a couple Mad River canoes with the almond color gel coat finish. I
need to repair some gouges/scratches etc. in the gel coat. In years past,
Mad River sold the gel coat repair material. Now that its been bought out
and down sized, the repair material seems to no longer be available from the
company. Ideas on alternate sources? Prices? Thanks.