HELP Re-Gelcoating/painting

[Haji]

Does anyone know of someone/firm that does re-gelcoating or two pack painting of boats?

I have just had a rough quote to re-paint the transom (in/out) on my 17ft boat together with some internal flo coating and can't believe the cost.

Before I re-mortgage the house I would like to get one or two check prices.

Names/phone numbers of any suggestions much appreciated.

[nimrod]

haji. Contact one of your local panel beater smash repairs workshop.
There are a lot of them doing it tough lately and would appreciate the work. The smaller ones would love to have their apprentices busy rather then them just sweeping the floors.
Frank

[storms72]

Frank is on the money there Haji, I spoke to the guys who supplied the fibreglass'n'stuff for my mates floor replacement....He used to do it but had to stop due to work cover changing things (now have to have a spray booth and all the filtering gear,a proper face mask isnt enough anymore)...He said many fibreglass joints are not spraying now....He said same as Frank take it to a Panel beaters-get it done in 2 pack marine epoxy....

Hey Fishinf....where did you get your transom done and do you know if they have a spray booth?

Good luck Haji

[Dog Catcher]

Haji

Gelcoat or flow coat is exactly the same thing as polyester resin the stuff used when fibreglassing only difference is gelcoat has a higher vescocity in other words it's thicker.

Same efeect can nearly be achieved by using pigment paste which is a colour agent.

Alot of fart arsing about & body filler used by panel beaters is good enough to do the repairs unless of course you've got cracks.

As far as spraying goes ??

Well if boat is not an eye sore IU wouldn't waste my money cause 1st trip out the it'll get scatched all over again

[fishinf]

Frank is on the money there Haji, I spoke to the guys who supplied the fibreglass'n'stuff for my mates floor replacement....He used to do it but had to stop due to work cover changing things (now have to have a spray booth and all the filtering gear,a proper face mask isnt enough anymore)...He said many fibreglass joints are not spraying now....He said same as Frank take it to a Panel beaters-get it done in 2 pack marine epoxy....

Hey Fishinf....where did you get your transom done and do you know if they have a spray booth?

Good luck Haji
he was just a back yard guy he done a good job on the transom
but rough spaying he said he could have done better but
more time more money it was good enough
id go with the panel beater /spraypainter

[Haji]

As suggested I have had a yarn with a panelbeating contact who is looking into whether he will need a special gun or can use his existing gear to spray two pack.

There seems to be a lot of mistique surrounding the application of gelcoat. I tried brushing Flo-Coat as recommended by my fibreglass supplier but found that I just could not "tip off" to remove brush marks.

As to using a roller for Flo-Coat that was a total disaster. I was not confident enough to thin the material down which may be the problem?

Any more suggestions, advice?

[storms72]

Haji, check these links....
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/bo_maintenance_repair/article/0,2021,DIY_13718_2278103,00.html

This one may be useful for your Smash repairer.
http://aquaskier.com/articles/gel_coat_repair.htm

[Haji]

Storms you continue to suprise me, where do you get all this info? I tried the net and got nowhere near the great stuff that you got.

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

[storms72]

Cheers Haji, you just have to sift through the bad stuff to find the goods....use Google as your search engine and ask simple stuff--for yours I wrote "applying gel coat" and "applying flow coat"..Just keep it simple unless you're trying to work out an error with your PC then just copy and paste the whole error and you will get the solution to your troubles.

Just ask Haji, it only takes a few minutes for me to track down some good stuff.

Cheers
Jason

[Dog Catcher]

There seems to be a lot of mistique surrounding the application of gelcoat. I tried brushing Flo-Coat as recommended by my fibreglass supplier but found that I just could not "tip off" to remove brush marks.

You need to sand brush marks out if you're using a roller over say a large surface area dont use a lambswool type roller get yourself a moehair roller they give you a smoother finish but you'll still have to sand back no different to say if you were cutting out a run in paintwork

But like I said earlier if you're gonna re spray the boat I wouldn't be using gelcoat to do the repairs it's alot of work to sand back body filler does the job just fine

[Dog Catcher]

I didn't know that Flo Coat and Gel Coat can be thinned down, had I done that when I first tried to paint the transom etc I would probably have avoided all the hassle of sanding out brush marks that I couldn’t avoid and saved a lot of money. We live and learn!


If you were going to that then why go to the trouble of buying Gelcoat ??

Polyester Resin does not have the viscosity of Gelcoat BUT !! it will run straight out of the niche's you intended to fill & you'll have defeated the whole purpose if anything you'd want to have thickened the Gelcoat doing a hot mix wont help either.

Thats why I suggested body filler & to give you an example how good it is it's used to repair fibreglass damage on commercial aircraft such as 747's & I'm not talking inside the Fuselage either I'm refering to items such as ailerons etc on the wings.

Up up @ 30,000 ft temps get down to well under 30 deg