repairing spider cracks in gel coat

[jere1972]

Hope to get some insight from the more savy then I group, aquired a 96 20' KeyWest WAC, Hull was very oxidized, after two weekends with a polisher and a half gallon of 3M heavyduty rubbing compound got a great shine back, but it also revealed a few areas about 4-8" long of hair line grouped spidering cracks in the gel coat near the rub-rail, Being the kinda guy who wants to tackle this on his own (call it male pride or I can fix anything syndrome) I needs some insight on how to start this process, I have found a supplier for the Gel coat I was told to use a no wax gel coat (what ever that means), and the gel coat comes white, my boat is ivory I guess in color, they carry tinting pigments, and I was told that gelcoat color will stay consistant before and after curing even after the Catylist has been added, so my question is what is the best way to start how do I need to prep the surface the cracks are hairline so there is no way the gelcoat will get into them, should I sand the whole areadown to the glass and build it back up with gel coat, and how should I apply was told I could use a small brush, I am concerned about blending it into my original gel coat, someone mention to me that after the gelcoat was applied to put a light clear plastic material over it like a visquine then smooth out with a large putty knife and leave in place till cured,
I have had some automotive experience with blending clearcoat with moderate success, but I'm not sure on what tools to use for this or what grits to use when sanding, any help or advise would greatly be welcome!

 

[zopperman]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

Courtesy of YD

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=320724

 

[oops!]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

hi....welcome to iboats !

the way you are describing the gellcoat matching, you are in for a world of hurt.

matching gellcoat colors is a dark art. and some colors , even after 250 tries....i still dont have it.

but tan is one of the easier colors and since you shave some matching experience. you might be ok.......but bear in mind.....if you call a proper tinting company, you will get a match. its spendy.....but its the closest color that you could get.

as for the prep.....i dont have time right now to go into the full detailes......if the other pros dont chime in.....when i get back from the two jet skis im doing right now. ill help.

but in the mean time, use the search feature...there are thousands of threads here.
click the link in my sig and use the index for "a simple gellcoat repair"

look for posts from bwt and yd just to name a few !

read here....study.....and you will be fine....

 

[oops!]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

lol zop

 

[charles hudson]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

I have worked on many boats with spider cracks, the best method i have used is a dremel tool to gouge the cracks and fill them with a gelcoat paste made with gelcoat and glass bubbles works wonders, as for sand paper- you will have to change grits as you sand and fill. What i do is start with 150 grit on the first fill then switch to 220 then fill then 400 and so on so on it is a time consuming process but if done properly the out come is well worth it good luck with your project i hope my post helps you out

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

If it was my boat.. I would leave them alone until I Needed to do a Repair.

It sounds like only cracks in the gel from poorly drilled out holes for the Rub-rail.

Fix those simple cracks when you NEED to do another repair on the same colored hull. No reason ( IMO ) to buy and/or Match gel when your only going to need like 4 ozs' of gel right now.

Those cracks Might get slightly larger .. but its minimal when you get out a die grinder/sandpaper/masking..etc. for a small repair such as your suggesting.

Pics would really help though.

I will try to find the "color code" of your gel in then next day or so..

YD.

 

[BWT]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

Pics would really help though. YD.

^^^ I guess I would like to have a better idea of the severity of the cracks.. If it's what I am thinking might be best to leave them alone for now, but can't really give an opinion without seeing first..

~BWT

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

I know that Spectrum color provides the SeaRay colors and a variety of other boats. try there www.spectrumcolor.com

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

I will try to find the "color code" of your gel in then next day or so..

YD.

Okies..well we/I have a problem here ..

Spectrum does have the color code .. however because your hull is 96' it kinda complicates things..

1992-1996 is "Bone" .. Gallon only ( special mix ). Spectrum # 800305
1996-1997 is "Gel White" .. Gallon only mix again .. Spectrum # 2905
1997 is "Bone Ferro" .. Gallon only .. spectrum # 800306

I just got off the phone with Key West ( 843-832-3999 ) ..

Suggestion was to go for "Bone Ferro" for your gelcoat.

"Minicraft" is what they suggested .. Spectrum color will ask you for a dealer code ..

You dont need 1 gal .. try MiniCraft ( I think its out of FL ) .. they have all of the codes for your boat ( from what I am told directly ).

Good luck.

YD.

 

[jere1972]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

thanks, for all the input, the cracks are not severe, hairline at most , from a distance of 3 feet they cannot be seen easily, however like every thing else they are visable and me being me, I am drawn to them every time I walk by now, so I was gonna try a small section and see if I could fix them, Charles mentioned rimming them out with a dremel, and using gel paste with glass bubble????, is gel paste different, and what is glass bubble, what type of dremel tip should be used?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

Okies..well we/I have a problem here ..

Spectrum does have the color code .. however because your hull is 96' it kinda complicates things..

1992-1996 is "Bone" .. Gallon only ( special mix ). Spectrum # 800305
1996-1997 is "Gel White" .. Gallon only mix again .. Spectrum # 2905
1997 is "Bone Ferro" .. Gallon only .. spectrum # 800306

I just got off the phone with Key West ( 843-832-3999 ) ..

Suggestion was to go for "Bone Ferro" for your gelcoat.

"Minicraft" is what they suggested .. Spectrum color will ask you for a dealer code ..

You dont need 1 gal .. try MiniCraft ( I think its out of FL ) .. they have all of the codes for your boat ( from what I am told directly ).

Good luck.

YD.

Spectrum color didnt ask me for a dealer code, just sent me a half-pint of paste for my repair.

 

[finisher11]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

hi i'm new to this forum but i see there r a lot of owners having trouble with fibreglass repairs im based in suffolk ,uk and i have my own business doing this all over the country so i think i might know abit about fibreglass and gelcoat so feel free to ask any questions i specialize in colour matching
as for star cracks i would not individually grind out the cracks i would grind out all the crack because there will be cracks underneath the surface that will come out at a later date and if area changes temp you will see the spider repair come through
1.i would fill with gelcoat and staple (chopped strands)and cabosil(colidal silica)and mixed in to a paste (peanut butter consistant) mixing the gelcoat and catalyst first then adding staples then cabosil in that order as you can evenly mix the hardner in at that stage so not to get any un-catalysted areas on job leaving the gel proud as it will shrink up a bit
2. wait till its cured then rub down with a da sander with 60 grit paper till its nearly flat then go to 120 grit to get it flat then any bits that weren't stuck to repaired area will flake off leaving you to see how flat and fair you've sanded it. sand an area about 6" all around the crack repair then you are ready to colour match
3.get original gelcoat from manufacturer or mix up a colour i can't tell you how to do this as it down to the persons eye to see which colours you need to add to get the right colour starting from a white as there are about 5 different standard whites that you can buy
4.once you have colour apply 3 coats one after the other after each layer has cured the 3rd layer put a wax solution with it just to stop it from clooging your sand paper up
5.once cured normally next day i would sand with 120 grit then 400grit then 800 grit you can wet and dry this for a better finish then polish with a polishing compund(aquabuff 2000)is what i use as i think this is the best
6.heypresto you should have a lovely clean shiny new repair that u and others would never know there was a repair there
i hope i have helped you out or you need further help in this or anything else

Edit: removed link - QC

 

[QC]

Re: repairing spider cracks in gel coat

This an old thread, so let's just let it fade away like poorly cared for Gelcoat