Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | The bunk carpets are the culprit! They hold sand, etc, even small pieces of gravel. The pressure of contact and bouncing as you drive causes mirco chips or larger that allow water ingress from the wet bunks,,I got rid of my carpeted bunks. Now Esox Maniac's trailer is sporting new bunks painted with slip plate.. even then its hard to keep dirt & sand off the bunks, wipe down with old towel before reloading the boat..
SWORRALL's advice is spot on, working with gell underneath the boat is messy, but can be done. Given the large area, I would start off with a large squeegee, versus brush. You will also need painter's coveralls, a good filter face mask (gell & glass dust is nasty stuff), disposable gloves, eye protection, etc. Start by feathering the edges of the area's you chiseled off. But most importantly let the new exposed area dryout so all water is evaporated, I would wait a couple of weeks.
Read up on gell versus hardner mix's and working time, multiple pots is a good idea..Select a working time mix ratio, have a timer, mix thouroughly, and start timer, but don't try to use any that is starting to really setup (stop when timer goes off) you may waste some, but you will get an idea of how much to mix for next batch, adjust ratio's accordingly. Don't go over any that haven't cured properly between coats..curing time varies with mix ratio's too. Power sander & buffer are great to save time..just use right grits and don't work to fast, especially with sander on edges - final sanding should always be done by hand, I would also lightly hand wet sand edges out by 2-4 inches to allow for final feathering the repair so its not visible, Just go around this edge with final very thin coat of gell once everything in the repair area is looking good. This is where you might want a brush, very high quality, you don't want brush bristle's in the gell coat.
I would agree with Steve, maybe talk to a local pro to have final gell coat sprayed at your home, all he needs is a portable compressor and his spray gun, tools... try local body shops or semi repair shops, lots of semi truck parts are glass to save on weight.
Matching the color may be your biggest challenge..I would contact the manufacturer to obtain gell to match your boat..
http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/product_catalog/laminatingtools/lam...
Good luck!
Al |
