Hey all,
Fairly new here, so many of you don't know me that well yet, but I am nearing the end of a rebuild on a 1985 Riviera Bowrider...
I am at the point of spraying the gelcoat, but something kind of strange has happened...
I am using the cheapest evercoat non-waxed (laminating) gelcoat I can find... (long story), but suffice it to say I don't want to put another penny into this thing that I dont have to..
Well I have sprayed the cap on the boat, and from my understanding this type of gel coat requires a PVA Mold release in order for it to fully cure to a shiny finish...
Well I simply sprayed it on, and let it sit outside (FL Sun), and it has cured to a hard shiny finish without using any type of mold release... ???
I am using the gelcoat, about 25% acetone to cut it for spraying, (yes I know max is supposed to be 15%, but it wont spray still being that thick), and added the exact amount of hardener for my tempurature range..
My questions then are the following:
1. Do I need to do anything else to the finish the final coat other than wax it?
(Like I said the finish looks ok to me??)
2. Should I own up and go ahead and buy the waxed type and spray another coat? (I really really dont want to spend another 200 bucks on gelcoat)...
3. I have read a lot of information, and it seems a lot of people wet sand to a certain grit (600-1500) depending on the gelcoat, then rub, polish, wax... if I am happy with how my gelcoat looks as is... is this a "Required" step? (I absolutely do not want to sand this whole boat if I don't have to)
4. Most importantly, Will leaving it "AS IS" cause me any kind of problems down the road???
Reason I ask is, my son's birthday is in 3 weeks, and I want this boat ON THE WATER by then... I really do not have the time to sand down the gelcoat with fine grit, polish it and all that other stuff... Been working on this 2 years already...
However, the boat right now is currently apart (cap off, engine off, etc) and if I were to do it, now would be the time, as I can flip the hull, etc.
I know thats kind of a lot of info and a bit of a confusing mess (sorry), but any help or advice would be appreciated...
I am just really confused, because my gelcoat isnt doing what its "supposed" to, and the net result looks like I may be able to skip a lot of the work... which is certainly fine by me!
Also keep in mind, This is just a small runabout im eventually giving to my son when he's old enough, and I am sure he will be beating on it at that time.
Fairly new here, so many of you don't know me that well yet, but I am nearing the end of a rebuild on a 1985 Riviera Bowrider...
I am at the point of spraying the gelcoat, but something kind of strange has happened...
I am using the cheapest evercoat non-waxed (laminating) gelcoat I can find... (long story), but suffice it to say I don't want to put another penny into this thing that I dont have to..
Well I have sprayed the cap on the boat, and from my understanding this type of gel coat requires a PVA Mold release in order for it to fully cure to a shiny finish...
Well I simply sprayed it on, and let it sit outside (FL Sun), and it has cured to a hard shiny finish without using any type of mold release... ???
I am using the gelcoat, about 25% acetone to cut it for spraying, (yes I know max is supposed to be 15%, but it wont spray still being that thick), and added the exact amount of hardener for my tempurature range..
My questions then are the following:
1. Do I need to do anything else to the finish the final coat other than wax it?
(Like I said the finish looks ok to me??)
2. Should I own up and go ahead and buy the waxed type and spray another coat? (I really really dont want to spend another 200 bucks on gelcoat)...
3. I have read a lot of information, and it seems a lot of people wet sand to a certain grit (600-1500) depending on the gelcoat, then rub, polish, wax... if I am happy with how my gelcoat looks as is... is this a "Required" step? (I absolutely do not want to sand this whole boat if I don't have to)
4. Most importantly, Will leaving it "AS IS" cause me any kind of problems down the road???
Reason I ask is, my son's birthday is in 3 weeks, and I want this boat ON THE WATER by then... I really do not have the time to sand down the gelcoat with fine grit, polish it and all that other stuff... Been working on this 2 years already...
However, the boat right now is currently apart (cap off, engine off, etc) and if I were to do it, now would be the time, as I can flip the hull, etc.
I know thats kind of a lot of info and a bit of a confusing mess (sorry), but any help or advice would be appreciated...
I am just really confused, because my gelcoat isnt doing what its "supposed" to, and the net result looks like I may be able to skip a lot of the work... which is certainly fine by me!
Also keep in mind, This is just a small runabout im eventually giving to my son when he's old enough, and I am sure he will be beating on it at that time.