96 Bayliner 2050 - The Dirty Rotten Baystard

[Baylinerchuck]

That’s odd indeed. Perhaps it was thin in those spots?

 

[kcassells]

random question for the experts....

When I was cleaning the engine compartment last night, I was using some acetone to wipe off the old gelcoat and it worked really well for removing old dirt, however, when I wiped the area that I did on the transom, it almost looks like it removed the pigment or something. The areas i really scrubbed almost look like they are slightly translucent now. Any idea whats going on here?

I used US Composites standard "pure white gelcoat". it looked great initially, it just got a little dirty over the last few months.

Give US a call see if they have any insight. It is odd but I don't know enough about gelcoat to answer the issue.

 

[AShipShow]

Brilliant! lol..

I never think to call the source...

I just assume Woodonglass or ondarvr will be like "oh yea, you used exophlatixatic isopropropylcyanitic hexamethalane gel coat.. they tint that stuff with vanilla icing, which dissolved in acetone..."

 

[kcassells]

First three letters of ASS SUME.

 

[Woodonglass]

Properly mixed and applied gelcoat is impervious to Acetone. GelCoat is AirInhibited cured. If you didn't ad wax to the final coat or apply PVA then it won't cure properly and therefore could be adversely affected by solvents. That's my thinking, but everybody on here knows that I'm just and OLD DUMB OKIE!

 

[AShipShow]

I did put 2% surfacing wax in the 3rd and final coat... not sure whats going on... Just a little freaked out to cover my whole interior with it and find out theres something wrong with it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Hmmm, Thats' the correct ratio. What happens if you take a screwdriver and try and scratch it. Does it appear to be soft or hard?

 

[Baylinerchuck]

I had some gelcoat in lower areas of my boat that did not fully cure until I heated the area, even with wax. I’m not sure if it was due to air circulation or what, but adding some heat fixed it.

 

[AShipShow]

Been doing some trim pump maintenance while we are back to the standard weather (non stop rain). Glad I did it, found out both trim solenoids were very high resistance across the terminals when closed. I ordered two more to be safe but decided out of curiosity to take them apart... man they are a crappy design. I may be a bit biased since I design electrical connectors for a living lol.

there's absolutely no plating to prevent corrosion and no sacrificial contact for when it arcs and sparks when mating and unmaking. Which completely explains the black, pitted mess of contacts inside.

good news is, after breaking into its guts, they can be totally refurbed as long as the coil is still in good shape.

gonna make a video on the process.
the caveat to all that is, I would definately not recommend fixing these to reuse, however, I totally plan to keep them in my toolbox as backups for the trim and starter slave solenoid.

 

[mickyryan]

i have done this in the past with old fords when the store was closed and i had to get it going , usually the washer was all pitted id sand clean and reinstall and bam it would be running

 

[kcassells]

Props, ever get a fix on the gelcoat issue?

 

[AShipShow]

So, i actually forgot about it, so I literally just got off the phone with US Composites. We came to a conclusion that the only possible situation that could cause the situation is I didn't shake/stir if enough after sitting for an extended time and the gel coat I applied was a super sytrene rich coat with very little solids/pigment. (which I'm thinking might make sense cuz I was surprised that it was a little more transparent than I was expecting when applying.)


On a side note, posted a video today of finishing up the engine mounts, battery, and trim mounts.

Enjoy!

 

[chevymaher]

I like the way it was all in fast forward except for the last 2 pulls when the engine touched down.

 

[AShipShow]

I like the way it was all in fast forward except for the last 2 pulls when the engine touched down.

Thanks, I'll call that a win...
it's hard to make a video about fixing a boat exciting lol

 

[AShipShow]

Tonight I was makin shiny brass..
got all the electrical stuff cleaned and installed new pickup filters on the pump. Gonna replace the o rings on the reservoir and spray the outside down with degreaser once its all back together.

 

[mickyryan]

Flops ... proper engine pullin shoes in fla lol

 

[AShipShow]

Yup.. makes for a good story when you explain your missing toes on your right foot.

 

[mickyryan]

we got a guy who works for us goes by the name hoppy , he is missing some big toe

 

[AShipShow]

OK, so some good news and a question for the crew...

The gelcoat on the transom is actually fine... I have a new can of acetone and a fresh bag o' rags. I started wiping it again on Saturday and it came out clean.. My guess is either i was spreading around dirt last time which partially stained the gelcoat, or maybe it was pulling tint out of the rag I was using... Who knows, but it seems good now. The only weird thing is, it was also pulling up some white with it, which makes me think its still not fully cured even tho i put wax in the last coat....? Dunno..

Now for the question...

Does anyone have a good suggestion on how to clean old gelcoat with no elbow grease? lol... There are some spots on the hull back by the swim ladder and other small nooks that I cant really get my hands back to very easily to scrub the old gelcoat with acetone. I want to either get it clean enough to be okay with it, or clean it enough that I can re-gel over it...

I'm hoping theres something I can spray it with, let it set, and hose it off or something. I was able to clean most of the existing gel in the engine compartment, but theres just some stuff I can't get to.

 

[mickyryan]

zep purple degreaser just don't get it on aluminum or wiring