Gel Coat Issue

[ctanke]

Hi guys,
Thought I'd post it here as well . . . .
I recently bought a 1972 Slickcraft 235. Very nice shape, but still plan on going thru her top to bottom this winter to bring her back to former glory. The hull is yellow and is in great condition/ will buff out fine, but the off-white interior fiberglass could use some attention . . . particularly where the surfaces face the full brunt of the sun. I'd describe what I'm seeing as light "pitting" with spots of blue showing through. Does this mean that my gel coat is shot? What are my options if that is the case? Thanks in advance wise ones, Chris

 

[Rickmerrill]

Hum, blue? Might help to see some pictures. Get a free photobucket account, upload there, copy the IMG link and paste that into your post (since the "upgrade" the upload feature doesn't work). Your options would be painting or re-gelcoating.

 

[Franzel311]

I buy and sell older boats all the time it's kind of a hobby and iv been doing fiberglass and gel work since I was a kid I grew up in a marina...gelcoat is great to work with because it is so forgiving and much thicker than automotive paint 9 outa 10 times the worst faded and scratched gell can be wet sanded and re buffed and it will come back looking almost new again as long as it's not spider cracked then uv gotta sand it all off and regel ....depending how bad the area is you can go as low as 400 grit wet paper and start lightly sanding work your way up to 600 then 800 and if you realy want it to shineu can do 1000 then 1200 grit but it's realy not neccery then wash the boat and compound start with a course compound I like aqua buff the best as it is the consistency of spacle you want to LIGHTLY buff that on and off with a hight speed compound wheel and be carfull that stuff will sand off any pinstripe/decals...but once u get used to it it works great then get some finishing compound and repeat the process it will come out looking new...if u need help on gelcoat replacement I can go over that with you to it's not as hard as most think and you can save thousands doing it your self all u need to do is take your time