Re: 1986 Sea Ray hull repair advise
I did some searching on the forum and could not find the Keel Repair thread I was looking for. I did a post on this a while back. I'll keep looking and if I can't find it, I'll repeat the process here for you.
Well couldn't find it so... Here goes. This is gunna be a bit detailed.
First Take a Hammer and chisel and knock off all the fractured bits and pieces of gelcoat all along the keel from the top to the bottom of any damage. Inspect the area well looking for hairline fractures so you'll know where to start and finish. Once all the loose stuff has been knocked off and removed, use a grinder to grind and feather back the gelcoat 6-8 inches. Now wash it all down with Acetone to get it really clean. Scrub with a stiff bristle brush. It won't hurt the existing gelcoat so don't worry. Really scrub it good. Now it's time to decide if you're gunna paint or gelcoat it?? If you're gunna gelcoat it, you'll have to attempt to match the existing gelcoat color and THAT will NOT be easy. Of course trying to match it with paint is not easy either but you could paint the entire hull and then it wouldn't matter. If you go with just patching with gelcoat paste, you'll mix up some gelcoat to match the color, mix in some cabosil to make a thick paste ( like mayonaise), spread it on, let it cure for 2 hours then sand it off and sand and polish it and HOPE it blends in fairly well. If you decide to paint it, then you'll use Resin filler and CSM cloth and Glass to patch the area then sand and fair and then paint. Let us know which way you want to go and I can give you more specifics.
