Gelcoat repair

OK, I found one with decent mechanicals but the body on this "early 80's? CMC) looks like hell. Chips, spider cracks, horrible finish. I have done some old bodo work on metal cars but I need a good "how to" to get on this one if I buy it. Any ideas? Found this video: http://smartflix.com/store/video/1167/Cosmetic-Gelcoat-Fiberglass-Repair and wondered if anyone had any better ideas. The trick to all this is guidance on smoothing and sanding and right undercoat before hitting it with a new formula acrylic.

Comments always welcome.

Fred Adler
San Diego

Hoping Dale Schumacher will share his real life experiences. He redid a show (a few!) winning CMC MG TD using West Marine's system. He loaned me a book from West that showed how to use the product and which to use. I've unsuccesfully tried plain fiberglass resin (too watery), bondo body fillers (don't stick well and crack again) plus spot putty (no strength at all). Dale said the key was to Dremel each crack in the gel coat clear down to the fiber strand sub-strata and just beyond where the crack starts and ends. He has an area on his "new" Speedie front fender where it looks like a home run ball bounced off it.

From many years of repairing fiberglass cars and boats I can give you some tips. For spiderwebs, cracks or deep gouges I would recommend grinding down thru the damage until you get solid fiberglass and bevel out the area to the surface. If the area is much larger than 1" diameter more or less I would recommend laminating layers of mat to build it back up. Otherwise you can use a product called Kittyhair, which is a fiberglass resin filler with chopped fiberglass strands premixed in. You activate it just like a bondo with a hardner. Pretty easy to work with. After everything is sanded back smooth apply a polyester primer in a few coats to give you a base for final paint prep . If you sand thru the primer you will want to recoat so no fiberglass strands are exposed. There is also a polyester putty for small imperfections that you can use before priming. It's not as quick as the laquer based putty but gives superior results.
GOOD LUCK

Along with the West Marine guide to fiberglass repair (you can get it online at West marine or at a local marine supply store) you might get the book; "Fiberglass and Composite materials" by Forbes Aird. Between the two of those and some good materials, you'll be able to fizx anything.

Jamestown Distributors has a full line of fiberglass materials (mostly for boats, but everything applies to car bodies as well). You can find them at www.jamestowndistributors.com

gn

Super guys and thanks.

Fred Adler
San Diego