ondarvr
Supreme Mariner
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2005
- Messages
- 11,527
Re: '78 Ebko Lebaron - Therapy
I hate to say this and don't take it the wrong way, but you have become the poster child for why I don't often recommend re-gel coating a boat.
It's not that it can't be done well, it's that people frequently have very little experience with gel coat because it's not as common and nothing like paint, and trying to follow internet instructions can be difficult, if you had done it hands on with someone else that had experience prior to this attempt it would be much easier. There are just so many steps involved it creates many opportunities for setbacks that can be very frustrating. Even experts run into problems like this fairly often.
The finished thickness of the gel coat needs to be around 20 mils, so depending on how much orange peel you have it may need to start at 40 mils before sanding. You can get mil gauges that can be used to measure the thickness as you spray.
I hate to say this and don't take it the wrong way, but you have become the poster child for why I don't often recommend re-gel coating a boat.
It's not that it can't be done well, it's that people frequently have very little experience with gel coat because it's not as common and nothing like paint, and trying to follow internet instructions can be difficult, if you had done it hands on with someone else that had experience prior to this attempt it would be much easier. There are just so many steps involved it creates many opportunities for setbacks that can be very frustrating. Even experts run into problems like this fairly often.
The finished thickness of the gel coat needs to be around 20 mils, so depending on how much orange peel you have it may need to start at 40 mils before sanding. You can get mil gauges that can be used to measure the thickness as you spray.