lexkyboater
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2007
- Messages
- 191
A previous owner of my boat used car clear coat instead of gel coat on the upper deck of my boat, and now it's peeling badly. See attached picture. I was thinking about sanding this down and fixing it, but with what? The maroon gel coat isn't great on the top deck, but I was thinking about leaving as is, and just put a clear coat of gel coat over the top. The boat is a 1984 and this would help the looks immensely.
So, can I just use a $5 preval sprayer to apply the clear gel coat, per http://www.prevalspraygun.com/automotive.htm and http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/whalerRepair.html? I have a spray gun, but it's not really set up for gel coat, and I've read that airless spray rig is best for gel coats. After that follow up with poly vinyl acetate (PVA) to let the gel coat cure for a few hours? Other articles I referenced that I thought were good were http://aquaskier.com/articles/gel_coat_repair.htm, http://www.mbyc.net/Fleet59/glass_damage.htm, and even http://www.torresen.com/butterfly/butterfly_hullrepair.htm says I could go with an epoxy or urethane marine finish, but it scratches easily. Seems that would be trouble matching the area below the deck. And I'm on a budget. Recommendations? I want cheap, fast, and decent looking. Probably not thinking about reapplying the gel coat color, just the clear, so this shoudn't be a huge and/or expensive job. Local marine shop has the clear gel coat for $40 and the PVA. TIA, Steve
So, can I just use a $5 preval sprayer to apply the clear gel coat, per http://www.prevalspraygun.com/automotive.htm and http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/whalerRepair.html? I have a spray gun, but it's not really set up for gel coat, and I've read that airless spray rig is best for gel coats. After that follow up with poly vinyl acetate (PVA) to let the gel coat cure for a few hours? Other articles I referenced that I thought were good were http://aquaskier.com/articles/gel_coat_repair.htm, http://www.mbyc.net/Fleet59/glass_damage.htm, and even http://www.torresen.com/butterfly/butterfly_hullrepair.htm says I could go with an epoxy or urethane marine finish, but it scratches easily. Seems that would be trouble matching the area below the deck. And I'm on a budget. Recommendations? I want cheap, fast, and decent looking. Probably not thinking about reapplying the gel coat color, just the clear, so this shoudn't be a huge and/or expensive job. Local marine shop has the clear gel coat for $40 and the PVA. TIA, Steve