Need advice on fixing chipped gelcoat

[Begester]

I've got a small chip in the gelcoat on the swim platform of my Sea Ray Express Cruiser and I'd like to get a better understanding of how to fix it before I start the job.

1. The chip size is about the diameter of a quarter
2. The only thing "compromised" is the white gelcoat, the fiberglass below is intact and doesnt appear to have water or other damage
3. The texture of my swim platform is semi-rough...not the smooth gelcoat along the side. Basically, its a standard bowrider/cruiser swim platform.

I'm fairly mechanically inclined but I've never done a repair job like this. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Need advice on fixing chipped gelcoat

As an amateur repair, you would need a gelcoat patch kit (Evercoat makes one with color matching supplies, etc)

Based on your description, I assume it is the non-skid area that is chipped and not the side area ?

You will need to clean and prep the area as per the glecoat kit instructions

You will need to do a little bit of color mixing and matching. Hopefully the area is close to white.

The trick may be to reproduce the non-skid surface. Is it a random surface or a pattern?

 

[fixnfly]

Re: Need advice on fixing chipped gelcoat

Youtube has some videos on "how to", I recently did some repairs and they turned out great.

As far as a "rough" surface, try letting it "tack up" then place a small piece of wet sand paper over it. Depending on surface roughness will depend on what grit sandpaper you choose. Light pressure and remove. If you use dry sandpaper the gel coat will stick to the paper and mess it up.

 

[Begester]

Re: Need advice on fixing chipped gelcoat

Thanks for the responses. Its the non-skid portion and its a random pattern. Anything in the Evercoat packages that can help that?