Fiberglass and Gel Coat repair. Please help.

[Ctemp1]

Hit a metal buoy while boating on the river last week. It was only above the water about 2".
Anyways I have uploaded photos of the damage and was wonder if a simple gel coat would do the trick. I have also uploaded a photo of my recent supplies order. Any input helps as I do not know much about this topic. Thanks in advance

 

[Woodonglass]

The fiberglass appears to NOT have been affected. This is a basic Gelcoat repair IMHO. Use a Sander or Dremel with 60 grit and feather the edges of the areas.Wash clean with acetone. Use UNWAXED gelcoat and mix in some cabosil to thicken it to a Creamy Peanut butter consistency, Use a bondo spreader to fill the gouges. Tape some plastic over the repairs and let cure overnight. WetSand with 800 thru 1500 grit and you're done. What Year and Mfg of boat is this?

 

[Ctemp1]

No Title

The fiberglass appears to NOT have been affected. This is a basic Gelcoat repair IMHO. Use a Sander or Dremel with 60 grit and feather the edges of the areas.Wash clean with acetone. Use UNWAXED gelcoat and mix in some cabosil to thicken it to a Creamy Peanut butter consistency, Use a bondo spreader to fill the gouges. Tape some plastic over the repairs and let cure overnight. WetSand with 800 thru 1500 grit and you're done. What Year and Mfg of boat is this?

Thanks Sir! I was thinking of throwing a layer of woven fiberglass on the two big ones because there is s hair or two that came loose. Btw I believe I purchased WAXED gel coat, will this be an issue? How about mixing some kitty hair or 3m high strength filler with the gel coat for a harder seal? Thanks again, this is a 1995 Bayliner 1850 190hp

 

[Ctemp1]

Any other tips or advice? Thanks

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmm NO. Only mix with cabosil. Waxed gelcoat is ok but for patch work not needed. If you plan on gelcoating when done, the Wax will need to be sanded off in order for the gelcoat to adhere properly.

 

[Ctemp1]

No Title

Thanks I have started sanding today

 

[Woodonglass]

Looking Good!!:thumb:

 

[Ctemp1]

No Title

I have put fiberglass woven fabric on, then added gel coat thickened with fumed silica, sanded with another less thick layer. Will sand, and finish with another coat tonight.

 

[Woodonglass]

Uhmm instead of using a large rectangular piece, it would have been must better and easier if you would have cut the glass to the shape of the repair. It's gunna be hard to blend the patch now.

 

[Ctemp1]

No Title

This is the fiberglass shown in pic below, the pics above is the gel coats which are pure white, I am not matching the color on these pieces

 

[harringtondav]

I just finished my first patch job and got excellent results following Woodonglass above and http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/re-gelcoating.htm. I waxed each shot so I could sand the orange peel before the next shot. I was over killing, anal about getting a smooth base for my final shot.

I did make a couple beginner's mistakes. I failed to excavate my guffs deep enough to get the finished epoxy/fairing compound filler well below the finished surface before shooting the gel coat. My between - layer sanding started to show the red filler. I should have aborted, and resanded the filler .020-.030" min below the finished surface, and restart the build up process. Instead, I piled on another layer or two, and sanded just enough to get thru the final orange peel and started the finishing process.

I ended up with invisible, factory gloss patches - looking from straight on, but that .005-.015" high finished layer sticks out like a sore thumb when viewed from any angle. I'll live with it until I have more guffs to fix, and rework these three areas.

Final goof: When they say thoroughly clean your HVLP gun w/in 5-6 min. of loading the paint cup, they mean THOROUGHLY. Just spraying acetone until it is clear doesn't cut it. After three shots, my gun died. There was a layer of cured gelcoat around the needle, and in the cup's feed hole. I bought a nice, $40 gun that worked fine for layering, but buying another was the price of learning. Cleaning means removing the spray cap, nozzle, needle and cup, and immersing it in acetone, then brushing everything clean.