joHnKennedyJrSunfish
New Member
Hi,
I am new to boat repair and need some guidance. I was given some advice . . . but fear that it was not good.
I was given a 1960 Sunfish that had lived a good life, seen a good bit of use. Learning as I go . . . I repaired a four inch crack/hole in the keel, underneath the seating well. The gelcoat was in bad shape . . . .lots of very thin spider cracks, and hundreds of tiny pits, some deep of scrapes, previous repairs, etc. I dremmeled those out, put in fairing, sanded the entire surface and painted with epoxy primer, one coat, one quart. (Total Boat). It's looking good.
My intent was to apply gel coat, and I am realizing now that it might not be correct to put gel coat on without first having removed the old gelcoat.. Am I good to go just applying gelcoat (after sanding, etc.) If so, am I good with just one coat of epoxy primer. My concern is that I did not remove the original gelcoat ( though I did sand it down well enough to remove the yellowing ). And . . . applying gelcoat, from what I am reading it needs to be applied thick enough to set up, and it has a very short working period. It's easy to imagine that going sideways.
Plan B would be to add another coat or two of epoxy primer. From reading the instructions it appears to be used as a final coat on boats. The single coat of epoxy primer looks great . . . so perhaps I apply another coat or two and call it a done for now?
Thank you . . .
I am new to boat repair and need some guidance. I was given some advice . . . but fear that it was not good.
I was given a 1960 Sunfish that had lived a good life, seen a good bit of use. Learning as I go . . . I repaired a four inch crack/hole in the keel, underneath the seating well. The gelcoat was in bad shape . . . .lots of very thin spider cracks, and hundreds of tiny pits, some deep of scrapes, previous repairs, etc. I dremmeled those out, put in fairing, sanded the entire surface and painted with epoxy primer, one coat, one quart. (Total Boat). It's looking good.
My intent was to apply gel coat, and I am realizing now that it might not be correct to put gel coat on without first having removed the old gelcoat.. Am I good to go just applying gelcoat (after sanding, etc.) If so, am I good with just one coat of epoxy primer. My concern is that I did not remove the original gelcoat ( though I did sand it down well enough to remove the yellowing ). And . . . applying gelcoat, from what I am reading it needs to be applied thick enough to set up, and it has a very short working period. It's easy to imagine that going sideways.
Plan B would be to add another coat or two of epoxy primer. From reading the instructions it appears to be used as a final coat on boats. The single coat of epoxy primer looks great . . . so perhaps I apply another coat or two and call it a done for now?
Thank you . . .