Automotive Paint Over/On Top Of Gel Coat

[Sierra Tango II]

Im enjoying reading your thread. I restored a Donzi GT 21 some time ago. When I mean restore, I mean that i stripped it, rolled it, replaced the transom, blueprinted the bottom and gel coated the entire boat, top and Bottom. The only paint i used a small stripe on the side and one on the top. I had so so so many hours in wet sanding it, and can honestly say that even after sanding for 8 hours straight, for many days at a time, with blisters on my hand, that I never regretted the work once. The only regret I had was when I sold it, and then watched somebody on another sight, paint the boat a custom color. I loved every minute I worked on that boat. Your doing it right and doing a great job. Have fun and keep up the good work

[College Kid]

Another 4 hours into it:

Started by taking off all the tower hardware and rest of the hardware, then tarped up the interior to protect the carpet. Oh and I also removed all the seats and side upholstery..... then started with some 220 grit to remove the top layer, then moved up to 320 to smooth it out. I then cleaned up all the areas with acetone, to take these pics.

Had to take stop to spend some time at the sledding hill with my little guy, but am hoping to get back out there after he's in bed.

There were a few more trouble areas uncovered but all in all it's pretty good.

[College Kid]

Forgot one of the outside spot

[College Kid]

opps........ and one of the rear port corner......I could see stress marks through the paint in this area and expected to find issues.

[mikeg205]

College let me know when you are ready for decals...I will send you some... nice work...kuddos on the sledding. My son is 20 and my daughter 18. I have great memories of sledding. Unfortunately the winter weather in the Chicago has sucked for the last 5-7 years... some good snow here and there but but otherwise too cold for warm weather sports and and not enough snow for winter activities...

Boat's going to look great....where in Canada are you?.. I probably just forgot.

[carlbernhard]

Originally Posted by mikeg205

College let me know when you are ready for decals...I will send you some... nice work...kuddos on the sledding. My son is 20 and my daughter 18. I have great memories of sledding. Unfortunately the winter weather in the Chicago has sucked for the last 5-7 years... some good snow here and there but but otherwise too cold for warm weather sports and and not enough snow for winter activities...

Boat's going to look great....where in Canada are you?.. I probably just forgot.

College, I have just finished repraying my boat. If you have sanded with 220 grit you can spray a good filler primer such as awlgrip and then flat. This is the single most important part of the spray job...prepping of the surface. Without a good prep, you will never get a durable and satisfactory finish.Before you spray filler primer, you need to make sure there are no fat residues on the surface, so a good wipe down with acetone is essential. Before you spray your filler primer every tiny imperfection must be filled and sanded flat with 220. Your surface should basically be perfect. The golden rule is to not use filler primer to cover up imperfections. If your surface is well prepped you will be able to get away with 3 coats of filler primer. Filler primer must then be flatted/wet sanded with 1200 water paper until a perfect finish is obtained. You can then start the painting process. I second every ones suggestions that painting is second to restoring gelcoat, but if you want to change colour scheme or have physical damage you have no choice other than a vinyl wrap
.

[College Kid]

Thanks Mikeg, I already have you on my list to get the decals.

After all this work I am thinking I am going to be trying to stick with the current colour scheme and fixing the gel, as well as reinforcing all the areas I have come across with more fiberglass.

I did some reading last night and I feel that the gel coat repairs aren't out of reach for me. I am still not sure about fiberglass but I think I may even try and bite that off as well.

Does anyone have any experience using the Spectrum Colour product? I see they have the pre mixed white and might even have some of the flagship blue. I have also heard good things about the WestSystems product. Is it worth going for the pre mixed or should I just try mixing it up myself? Are there any other gelcoat products that I should look into?

I got another bit done last night and think I should be moving on to using some stripper in the hard to reach areas around the domes, and tight corners. Then after that I will move to cleaning up all the dust and start really digging into the trouble spots.

[mikeg205]

Do you plan on applying your own Gelcoat? If yes, I would start practicing how you are going to apply it. The better it goes down the better it will be to finish/buff/wax. ++++on surface prep for adhesion - same for the glass repairs... use real epoxy not polyester or vinyl resin - costs more but worth it.

[College Kid]

I am considering it. at lease for the small spots that aren't too deep. Looks similar to the process of dry wall mud and I am fairly experienced there.

[mikeg205]

Great - looking forward to pics