Any experienced fiberglass techs?

Question

Hi, i am a marine technition who just purchased a 1979 skeeter bass boat as a project for me and my son.I am very farmilliar with all boat side as well as engine side systems just not glasswork too deeply, I just loved the shape of the hull and transom. Anyway i just split the cap and hull and what i found was someone has already done some glass work on the rear stringers and 3/4 up the transom. what i need to know is where to and not to use mat or roven. the cap is matalic blue flake and looks dull. I sure would like to be able to see it glossy again or can i spray gelcoat to make it look white and shiney or do i just wet out the entire deck with resin and sand then spray??? please any detailed information would surley save me headaches and money with my first project boat.

Answer 1

Glass is no big deal but just make sue that where ever you do the work you spend the time making sure that there is no wax or grease. For deep dings dig them out with a light grinding and fill them with chopped glass and resin mix, products like "Tiger Hair". For any actual holes, build them up with layers of glass cloth and mixed resin making sure that you force out all the air pockets and bubbles. It works best if you force out extra resin leaving just enough to soak the cloth and not leave air. If you have dull areas in the coating make sure they are stripped of any wax and grease with a de-waxing agent and then you can put a coating of resin mix over it to bring out the luster. Go smooth and light and it will lay down nicely before hardening but too heavy and verticle surfaces might run a bit or sag. If you try to change the color with white gel coat you may see some of the old color show threw so stay with clear resin mix or a colored opaque mix. That or be prepared to use more than one coat. It may not be good money to try to get a new boat look. It is expensive and the time spent takes you from using your boat. Also, a boat that is used may not be served well by trying to look new, it never happens and the time waste is for just a look that rapidly fades with use. Even for resale, it just isn't worth it. To just get out and get the boat "wet", you may just want to paint after you fill up imperfections and sand. First boat? Go have fun or you'll spend so much time working on it the fun will just go away. I'm use to my work boats on Cape Cod, and most of us that have or need boats don't want to fight the ravages of nature and some wear and tear. We paint and we go. Have someone in your neighborhood check it out though to make sure it has been fixed properly. Safety is most important as God didn't hand out gills to people but gave the fishes some, and an appetite for dead things. Hint Hint.

As a PS, West System is a nice product with great and easy to follow directions for use and mixing. What most products have in them though is a wax and the problem is that for mutiple layers you need to build them up before the last layer hardens completely. This keeps the wax moving up threw the matrix you lay down and not stay between layers where it will weaken. They don't tell you that. So build up layers while they are still a bit soft then when the whole thing is hard you can sand. If a spot gets hardened like if you stop over night, give a light sanding to roughen it up for adhesion and remove the wax. For a nice finish after sanding you can paint a light coating of resin mix over the sanded areas to seal it up well. Send an email if you want.

Answer 2

I use the fiberglass matting nearly everywhere. I have found that the woven or thick cloth seem to cause poor adhesion.  

i would try buffing the cap first to try to bring the gloss back.  If that doesn't work, and you want to keep the metalflake, I would sand it with 800 grit wetsand paper and spray it with 3 coats of a good quality automotive clearcoat.

It is extremely difficult to get a good quality finish spraying gelcoat, especially on a large area.  i only spray gelcoat on repair areas & it takes a good bit of sanding and buffing to produce a nice finish.