Paint or Gel Coat Repair

[therrick]

I have an 84 C-Dory whose previous owners never paid much attention to the gel coat. Besides the heavy oxidation there are numerous chips all over the boat and there's one real good bash. I first considered repairing the gelcoat but the more I learn about it the more it appears that it'll take quite a long time. Further, matching the color of the 22-year old gelcoat after rubbing it out with a compound seems like a bit of a craps-shoot.

I would like to make the boat look like it hasn't been sitting in a farm field unused for 10 years, but am not sure I want to launch a new career in gel coat touch-up. I haven't seen any posts from anyone who mentioned painting their boat, but I'm thinking seriously of taking that route. I'm handy with West System products from my home restoration work.

So, what I want to know is if I show up at a C-Dory gathering with a painted boat, will I be shunned? What I really want to know is other's experience with painting their C-Dory.

Thanks,

Tom Herrick

[Sneaks]

Shunned? Hardly. Look what Alabama's Byrdman has done with a little paint and a lot of enthusiasm.

[thataway]

My advice is to fair the hull using a product that you are familiar with, then epoxy primer and two part LP paint. Awlgrip would be my choice. There is a brushing reducer (really roll and trip)--Sterling is one which also brushes very well. On the other hand, since the biggest cost is fairing the hull--do that and then have an experienced boat painter do the final spray coats.

I am sure that the boat will look like new!

[Byrdman]

Well.... I have to admit... I did not and still do not have the skills/knowledge to paint my boat....but I knew someone who knew someone who did. Like Bob said... there are a few steps (and time periods) that must take place. Today... I have not yet received the exact copy of what was used in what order...but I do recall several steps/time lags in the process....sort of like what Bob is/was refering to.

I think mine looks fine....and, they are doing a bit of touch up after mounting new motor and controls, minimal electronics...and a few other little gigs and gagets... Nobody can do this much work, drilling, screwing, caulking, hoses in and around and not knick things up a bit...so... I thought it best to wait it out a bit more....and let the hero give it a go at some small but needed touch up. Today...I am very happy with the job...in a year after tossing on/off coolers, people and other stuff..... I'll let ya know. Take a peek.... at the link above...or the thread about the 18 Angler.

Byrdman

[MikeMac]

Hi Tom,
How bad is it? Can you get a shine on the gel coat with a bit of elbow grease? If you can, you can fix the nicks with West Marine's cream, or off-white, I can't remember which, SeaFit gel coat repair goop. It's comes in a little tube and is a really good match for the older boats. You can give it a shot for maybe 15 bucks for the goop, some 600 grit paper, and a good rubber sanding block all together. If that seems to work-great! If not you still can paint it. Anyway, you're going to have to fill the nicks with something so you might repair a few to see if that gives you the results you like. Also, around here there are some guys who are wizards at gel coat repair. For a few hundred buks they can do a whole boat.

Working on them is just about as much fun as using them!

Mike

[therrick]

Thanks, guys, for the input. If I wasn't in the middle of selling my house, doing lots of last minute repairs and preparing to move across the U.S. I might give the gel coat repair a try. I'm more experienced with wood than fiberglass and prefer to spend my time refitting the cabin with storage, seating and galley that work better for me.

I would like to remove the Honda 90 though so that I can do a thorough job. Does anyone know where I can find a lift ring for this engine? So far, it seems to be rather elusive except by reference in the owner's manual.

Thanks again for your help.

Tom Herrick

[drjohn71a]

Hi Tom.... Although I have yet to actually own a C-Dory, I have seen the excellent quality of finish and have repaired many lesser hulls over my lifetime. Soooo my thought is that, if there is any way you can swing it, I'd advise you patch and smooth the dings and have someone do the cleaning/refinishing treatment to the whole thing. At the worst, there might be some slight color difference in the white/creme coloured repaired areas, but with paint I guarantee you are going to accumulate many scratches thru the new paint in short order. Gel Coat is simply a much tougher, thicker finish than paint. There are cleaning and polishing kits you can get and, even here in Kansas, there are ppl who will do the job for you for far less than a paint job.

Again, the problem with paint, whatever quality and price, is that it is a thinner, softer coating than the gelcoat. My old '82 houseboat was patched so many times it looked like a palomino in the right light, but most of the time, no one noticed the patches once the hull was cleaned, polished and waxed.

Patching the nicks is not much more difficult than patching sheetrock. You have to use different materials if the area is very deep,then gelcoat over.
I think the factory can send you a close to matching cream colour gelcoat repair mat'l., but I just used over the counter 'kits' on my old boat with not much problem. Maybe you can find a college or high school student wishing to make a few extra bucks to do it for you.

Of course, professional repair would be the ultimate.

John

[therrick]

Yo, Kansas. I'm originally from Topeka, but left in 1960 after a tornado ripped up Meridan and our farm. I see you've been waiting for your 25 Ranger for a while now. I saw the hull of one at the factory this spring while passing through. Looks like an interesting boat.

I hate doing things half fast, so I may give the gelcoat repair a try on a couple of chips and see how it goes. Normally I take the more difficult road to get any job done in the best manner possible. Don't know why I seem to be opting for the quicker fix of paint. Maybe it's the heat.

Thanks for the response.

T

[drjohn71a]

Tom, It's really not much labor if you pick up the right tools. One of those Dremel type rotary saw/grinder things works good. Just dish out the defect with a grinding stone or file bit leaving a feathered edge. If it goes much past the gelcoat you put a base filler in first, then apply the gel coat with a plastic spatula, then smooth Saram Wrap over the top. After set, smooth and polish. I think it's easier to get a good smooth surface on a gelcoat repair than it is a sheet rock repair since you don't have as much shrinkage.

But, some cool evening or morning, put a grind stone in your portable drill and do a ding or two every week or day or month as it suits you.

Sorry to hear about your farm. I guess you no longer farm? I have a small farm outside of Harper and we've been dodging tornados right and left these past years. Year before last Harper county broke the record by having 14 tornados arise in 5 hours! My 101 yr old house survived three of them so far....

anyway, try a small out of sight spot first and see how it goes. JOhn

[MikeMac]

Hi Tom,
You know the more I think about it painting sounds like a real hassle (no offense, Byrdman). Maybe just because it's hot today The thought of yanking all the hardware off, and removing the portlights makes me want to go drink a beer instead. A possible middle ground might be to repair the gel coat on the topsides and paint below the waterline if your bottom is really bunged up. I've patched plenty of nicks and, after they've been smoothed with some 600 grit paper, polished, and waxed, you can hardly tell the difference.

Plus you still reserve a future painting option. If I were going to paint one, I'd go for "lobster yacht style" with a dark blue hull accented with gold sheer stripping and cream topsides with a matching blue and gold cabin-top trim band. But I'm just sitting here dreaming!

Have fun, that's the most important part!

Mike

[drjohn71a]

MikeMax.... This month's "Passage maker" magazine has three related articles describing the do's and don'ts of painting boat hulls. Awlgrip is the cooperating manufacturer and they say most of the info relates to Interlux also.

they say that painting a white hull a dark color can lead to excessive "post-curing" and the shrinkage from that exposes the underlying fiberglass.
Basically, they say manufacturers do a "post-cure" process in which temps of 130-170 degrees or so are reached inside a plastic bag environment to more fully cure the fiberglass. A white hull rarely gets hotter than that anywhere in the US, but a dark hull can get to 300 degrees on a hot, sunny day, causing continued curing (and subsequent shrinkage) of the resin which lets the underlying fibers come to the surface and show.

Sooooo Awlgrip says they routinely advise ppl, esp in warm climates like TX, to NOT repaint with dark colors since it will cause further curing and shrinkage of the resin and bizarre patterns to emerge at the surface.

Boats that are initially manufactured with dark gelcoat do not seem to suffer the same degree of "post-cure", they say.

John

[drjohn71a]

Also, excellent article on blistering, osmosis, testing and repairing and deciding whether it is worth fixing in the same "Passaemaker" issue. John

[therrick]

OK, OK, I really do hate to wimp out when it comes to a project like this; and you folks have kept me from doing it.

I bought the filler and gelcoat repair kits today before I took the boat out on the river. Tomorrow I begin by removing the engine, cabinets, and all the innards. We are going to paint the interior because my wife hates the 'dried fish guts' look of the original. We're also going to paint over the black trim with a nice British Racing Car Green (her term). However, I will give the gelcoat repairs a fair go of it and see what I can do. They are just chips mostly, except for the fist size bash; no spider cracking or flaking. The rest of the boat will get a thorough deoxidization rub, polish, and waxing. Ten years in a farm field doesn't do anything good for the finish; this is going to take a while. But as an old house restoration guy I do prefer to take it back to the original if possible.

Thanks again, guys, for the encouragement.

I'm on it...

T