fixing minor gell coat__/ hull damage

[bgreene Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bgreene]

I've got a ding on my 94' Mako hull that goes through to the

fiberglass ( fortunately above water line )

What's the best way to make my own repair - without getting into

the body shop business regarding tools and such !

Idea here is to result in solid patch, with close as reasonable

color and shine.

[Wilson Ayala Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wilson Ayala]

Go here:

https://www.minicraft.com/index.htm

They have matching gelcoat, find your boat under the make and model. They make gelcoat putty repair kits with everything you need. Go to the gelcote section in the menu on the sidebar.

Wipe it with acetone,rough up the gouge with some 80grit, wipe with acetone and fill with some catalyzed putty. Many people use a razor blade as a putty knive in such a situation.

Once it cures you have to sand. You will start with 220 grit, then to 320, to 400 then finally 600grit sandpaper. Then buff with rubbing compound and a high speed buffer.

Its not as bad as it first seems.

Check out Bennett marine. They have lots of videos on how to do this if you need it.

[makorider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close makorider]

What he said. One thing I do a bit differently is I'll cover the area with packing tape, then cut around the gouge about 1/8". When you apply the gellcoat, you'll wipe flush with the packing tape. Now, the gellcoat will shrink, and if its down to the glass you'll probably have to put on a second swab, but the tape makes it easier as you only have a few thousands to sand down and that few thousands may cover your shrinkage.

Not hard to do at all.

[Gary Shallbetter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary Shallbetter]

Dont make this a project, after you wipe it fill it with your filler. Forget Mini craft, they suck and you have to buy a qt plus shipping plus haz mat charges. Go to West or Boat us and buy a pint of the off the shelf gelcote and one of their little tint kits. Use a little yellow and a little brown to tint it. Start with yellow and dont go overboard. Add a little brown and remember these tints are very strong so just a tiny bit will do. Dont tint the can only tint about 5% in a cup. If your boat is bleached from the sun you will need to tint it very little. If you can find sanding agent or wax as we call it thats great if not dont worry about it. If you can find styreen use that as your reducer if not use acetone, not recomended but it will work. Spray it with an aresol sprayer sold by the same place. When your done hit it with 800 wet paper buff if and go fishing. this whole prosses should take you about 3 hours start to finish.

[RingLeader Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close RingLeader]

My gelcoat tinting skills suck to say the least. I've never achieved a result that was even close. The closest thing I can do is the custom matched gelcoat from Minicraft and/or FGCI. I sent Minicraft a chip from the boat and its perfect. For the larger scale stuff that I do... its the best way to go. For a small scratch/gouge, you might try tinting it yourself.

[HungOne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close HungOne]

for doing small repairs, how well does MarineTex hold up?

[Wilson Ayala Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wilson Ayala]

I think that that stuff is epoxy, but I'm not sure. If that is the case it will hold up but is not compatible, after that, with a new application of gelcoat. I don't know if it is tintable or not either.

[RingLeader Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close RingLeader]

Its probably gonna have some added UV degradation since it is epoxy based. Gelcoat would be the best way to go about fixing these dings and scratches.