gelcoater to the courtesy phone!!!

i been on this site for awhile and noticed you seem to have your mind wrapped around this gelcoat stuff so i wanted to pick your brain on a small gelcoat project i'm tackling in the next week or so. picked up the color match gelcoat from lilly-ram for my all red 89 hallett 240. the rash/damage is in the typical places from the OG owner beaching at mead all in the keel area. my plan is to scuff/prep areas by hand with some 450-600 or maybe lighter grit,wipe down with acetone, and using the "ROLL N TIP" method to get the gelcoat laid out wet sand put a buff on it. i plan to use 2 coats...is there any tips/techniques or advise that would help me put? prep work? mix ratio? thanks in advance:thumbsup

I'm by no means a repair expert,but I can pass what I think I know

First off,prep prep prep.A paint job is only as good as its prep.
Acetone it,use prep-all,or whatever.Make sure it is free of wax and grime.

I'm thinking you might need to go a bit more coarse with your sanding than 600 for proper tooth.

Mix ratios. Be careful here,it's very important.
Lilly likes to see you at a 2% catalyst ratio.However,Lilly is a fairly "hot" product.The pot life might be a bit short at 2% especially if you do it in the next day or so with expected 85+ temps.
DO NOT go below 1% catalyst ratio,bad things happen.

Now,if the area is small and you know you're going to have plenty of time,you could step it up to 2.5% but like I said be careful.Exceed 3% and you stand a good chance of the material having some porosity.
When you are finishing up,set the bucket,can,pail,or whatever you mixed the gel in well away from the work area.It will probably smoke and stink.Dont let any catalyst around that smoldering shit either or bad things can happen...you'll burn the place down.

I assume they gave you some sort of surface agent?
Make sure this gel they sold you doesn't have a surfacing wax in it if you plan to do multiple coats.If it has it the second will not stick to the first.

Make the first coat thicker than the second coat and make sure the first is cured before applying the second...or again,bad things happen.A good test is the squeak test.When you suspect the coat is dry(it won't ever dry without the surface agent) firmly drag your finger tip along the surface.If it squeaks,you're good to go.

All the Best:thumbup:

...and post some pics!!

Hey,uhh.
What's the super clear for?

Lilly said 1 to 1 on the mix gel/clear @ 2% hardener with a dry time possible dry time of 2-3hrs.compared to the DIY vidoes i seen this stuff is half the dry time...there tech mentioned it was newer formula with quicker set up.
Ill be smart and test a small batch 1oz to 1oz @2% and spread it on a metal to see how it cures before i countinue to the boat

I forgot to mention he said the clear is also really thin so the 1 to 1 mix is capable.and that i didnt need any thinner due to it being so thin will lay out nice and flat with minimal wet sanding and buffing if prepped right

I'm not sure but the clear may alter the color,and will definitely make it more translucent than it already is.
It should do a fair job at making it dry without exterior applied surface agent.

It might be wise to apply some red out of the can first,then use the clear/red as a final.

Gelcoater said:

I'm not sure but the clear may alter the color,and will definitely make it more translucent than it already is.
It should do a fair job at making it dry without exterior applied surface agent.

It might be wise to apply some red out of the can first,then use the clear/red as a final.

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Sounds good out side of the small gel repair kits havnt messed with gel on any of my boats so i wanted to get extra input so im on the right path, thanks for the input and responses ill do a test run in a couple days after the 90 degree weather chills out and get back with results...again thanks

Well,it's been pretty cool.

Humidity has an effect as well, 80-90% in Cali to 20% in good ol Az. It can bite you in the ass.

Scott D. said:

Humidity has an effect as well, 80-90% in Cali to 20% in good ol Az. It can bite you in the ass.

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It sure can.
Slows it down some.
Might not be a bad thing for someone new to it though.
If he goes at 2% it might take a little longer to kick in high humidity but it will kick.

Today it's 80 something,and a whole 7% humidity.:cool

Gelcoater said:

It sure can.
Slows it down some.
Might not be a bad thing for someone new to it though.
If he goes at 2% it might take a little longer to kick in high humidity but it will kick.

Today it's 80 something,and a whole 7% humidity.:cool

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School me a lil...
are speaking of drying time on the boat or the mix of the 3 parts not making a bond while mixing? Im giving it a go wendsday morning on a couple spots to test the prep and mix to see how it sets up before i bust out the bunny suit and hardware...lol

707dog said:

School me a lil...
are speaking of drying time on the boat or the mix of the 3 parts not making a bond while mixing? Im giving it a go wendsday morning on a couple spots to test the prep and mix to see how it sets up before i bust out the bunny suit and hardware...lol

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Personally,if I were you I'd leave that super clear in the can.
Your boat doesn't have clear on the bottom(I'm 99.9% sure)adding some to this repair will make it stand out vs the rest of the bottom.

I'm not sure I understand your question about making a bond while mixing?
They will for sure mix well,I just don't think the clear is needed except as a way to get the top coat to dry.It will make the red that already doesn't hide very well more translucent.
The surfacing agent wax would work fine,would have been cheaper than the clear,and won't alter the color/gloss /hide like the clear probably will.

Gelcoater said:

Personally,if I were you I'd leave that super clear in the can.
Your boat doesn't have clear on the bottom(I'm 99.9% sure)adding some to this repair will make it stand out vs the rest of the bottom.

I'm not sure I understand your question about making a bond while mixing?
They will for sure mix well,I just don't think the clear is needed except as a way to get the top coat to dry.It will make the red that already doesn't hide very well more translucent.
The surfacing agent wax would work fine,would have been cheaper than the clear,and won't alter the color/gloss /hide like the clear probably will.

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Sorry i was referring to what you guys mentioned about the humidity and what does it affect... i beleive were i am is usually 68-80% humidity according to weather channel

707dog said:

Sorry i was referring to what you guys mentioned about the humidity and what does it affect... i beleive were i am is usually 68-80% humidity according to weather channel

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The humidity will just slightly slow down the gel/cure times.

Gelcoater said:

Personally,if I were you I'd leave that super clear in the can.
Your boat doesn't have clear on the bottom(I'm 99.9% sure)adding some to this repair will make it stand out vs the rest of the bottom.

I'm not sure I understand your question about making a bond while mixing?
They will for sure mix well,I just don't think the clear is needed except as a way to get the top coat to dry.It will make the red that already doesn't hide very well more translucent.
The surfacing agent wax would work fine,would have been cheaper than the clear,and won't alter the color/gloss /hide like the clear probably will.

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think i know what your talking about in the above statement, mixed up a little bit to try out in a small area and the mix didn't cover the areas with the glass showing very well made them look like there was just clear added, i did do a light coat the first pass let it sit for about a hr or so then did another light pass and coverage got better,there will have to be another coat for sure to get full coverage, you were right about the shine its has a richer shine to it over the OG gelcoat my test spot was just before the delta pad so not visible, i thank you in advance for your input on this:thumbsup
i had around 20-25 mins of mixing/ working time in 30% humidity then it started setting up does that sound about right?
would a different ratio knock down some of the clear/shine but still have enough for hardener to react and set up?

707dog said:

think i know what your talking about in the above statement, mixed up a little bit to try out in a small area and the mix didn't cover the areas with the glass showing very well made them look like there was just clear added, i did do a light coat the first pass let it sit for about a hr or so then did another light pass and coverage got better,there will have to be another coat for sure to get full coverage, you were right about the shine its has a richer shine to it over the OG gelcoat my test spot was just before the delta pad so not visible, i thank you in advance for your input on this:thumbsup
i had around 20-25 mins of mixing/ working time in 30% humidity then it started setting up does that sound about right?
would a different ratio knock down some of the clear/shine but still have enough for hardener to react and set up?

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No,a different ratio isn't going to alter the shine.
You want to be at 2% optimally.Dont go below one percent,don't exceed 3%.
Or bad things can happen.

I'm not sure where you live or how close to home you can find a glass shop but I would probably omit the clear.Get the color to cover and let it tack up.
Get some green surface agent and cover your fresh spray and let it dry.
It's water soluble so easy to clean off the boat and out of what ever you spray it with.
Then wait a day and buff it up.

The clear is thinning out the opacity of your gel. Like gelcoater said, don't add the clear and get some pva and spray it on so you get a good cure.