Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

[i386]

The hull is finally flipped and on saw horses. I'm ready to start prepping for paint. There are a good many gouges in the gel coat (from rocks and stumps I would guess). There's also some bad places I sanded out eariler. I want to partially sand through the gel coat to give the primer a good surface to grab on to. I'm using epoxy. Would resin and glass bubbles make a good filler for the bad spots. I know it's supposed to make it sandable, but will it be too weak? What grade of sand paper should I start at and work down to?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

You do need to sand the gel coat, but don't sand it down much, it will make no difference in the bond and will only create more of a chance to make the surface uneven, the surface just needs to be thoroughly sanded (no shiny spots). Unless the areas you're filling are structural, the mix you asked about will work fine, so will plain gel coat, or other marine fillers designed for below the later line.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Use an epoxy filler if you plan on using an epoxy paint. Epoxy don't like sticking to polyester.

I would start with a light sand of 150 - 200 grit, then dewax thoroughly, then fill.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Epoxy sticks to polyester just fine, it's the other way around polyester doesn't stick all that well to epoxy.

 

[i386]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Thanks, I'll be painting with Interlux Perfection and pre-priming/priming with whatever their directions call for.

As long as the epoxy/glass bubbles sand pretty easily I think I'll be fine. I think the biggest challenge is going to be getting rid of a really nasty poly repair on the bow. I fixed it really well from the inside, but I think it's going to take a lot of work on the outside to make it look like it never happened.

 

[oops!]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

actually id start to sand with 400......you can go coarser....but then you will have to sand out the sand paper scratches and the chance of an uneven finish will be doubled.......

the whole idea of sanding is just to clean the hull in prep for the paint

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Thanks, I'll be painting with Interlux Perfection and pre-priming/priming with whatever their directions call for.

As long as the epoxy/glass bubbles sand pretty easily I think I'll be fine. I think the biggest challenge is going to be getting rid of a really nasty poly repair on the bow. I fixed it really well from the inside, but I think it's going to take a lot of work on the outside to make it look like it never happened.

Ya know 386 i never thought id say this, but i painted right gel coat no primer...Its been two season now and notta a flake... If you think about it gel-coat is a pretty dam consistent base..

A word to the wise. Spray on the Prime-Kote and get it as perfect as possible....That stuff dries and hard as concrete and sands worse..Ask Dewpster...

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Thanks, I'll be painting with Interlux Perfection and pre-priming/priming with whatever their directions call for.

As long as the epoxy/glass bubbles sand pretty easily I think I'll be fine. I think the biggest challenge is going to be getting rid of a really nasty poly repair on the bow. I fixed it really well from the inside, but I think it's going to take a lot of work on the outside to make it look like it never happened.

Watertite Product DetailsProduct Description

A two-part, easy to use, fast drying epoxy compound for filling holes and repairing scratches in gelcoat and fiberglass. Interprotect Watertite YAV135 is especially recommended for use to fill gelcoat blisters below the waterline. It is recommended for use with the Interprotect Epoxy Barrier System or VC Tar2.

Interprotect Watertite YAV135 is an excellent fairing compound due to its unique two-phase cure, which gives a long easy-to-sand window. Interprotect Watertite YAV135 can be applied to a thickness of 3/4? without sagging and its superior spreadability makes it an ideal glazing compound for filling small nicks and scratches.

Note: Epiglass Epoxy Resin can also be used as a fairing compound when mixed with HT440 Filler powder.

 

[i386]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Yea, I been looking at that stuff...

I've still got a good 1/2 gal of epoxy resin left and a big tub of 3M glass bubbles that I haven't touched yet. I rekon I'll roll my own so to speak to start with, but I'll keep that stuff in mind if I run out or it doesn't work. I'm definitely doing the Primekote before I paint regardless.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

Epoxy sticks to polyester just fine, it's the other way around polyester doesn't stick all that well to epoxy.

DOH! Brain fart moment.

 

[i386]

Re: Hull is flipped. Ideas on fill and prep?

I bought the $40 Ryobi RA sander from the big orange store today. I got some Norton 40, 120, and 220 sandpaper too.

I was able to use my chisel to get rid of most of that big repair on the bow. I believe it was done with one of those Bond-O repair kits by one of the previous owners. I gotta say, since I started on this project, I've gotten pretty skilled with a chisel.

I didn't want to spend too much on a sander because I figured the dust would kill it anyway. But, this sander works surprisingly well. It's pretty quiet, light, doesn't generate much dust, and doesn't vibrate too bad. I can feel it heat up if I bear down it too much so I try to let the paper do most of the work. I would imagine that's the difference between this one and a more expensive model.

After wiping down with acetone, I went ahead and filled my first set of holes and big imperfections. I use my epoxy resin and glass bubbles. what I found was I still needed to add some Cabosil, as the glass bubbles don't thicken the resin enough by itself. Once this can of acetone is gone, I might switch to denatured alcohol just to get a break from the fumes.

I rekon I should have posted this in my restore thread. Anyway, this seems to be working and I'm making progress once again.