How i re-gel coated my car

[Jeff's First FFR]

Well…I really didn’t know what I wanted to do about the parting lines, bodywork and painting. I had never done bodywork. I had ground down the parting lines, dug out the clay and exposed some voids and pinholes. I had sanded too much. The car was ugly. Still not knowing what I wanted, I went ahead and filled the areas with HSRF and sanded down with 40 grit. Then I applied Evercoat Rage Gold and contoured the areas with a final sanding with 80 grit to about 4 inches beyond the Rage.

photo

I was still not ready to think about paint. I researched re-gelcoating . There is little about re-gelcoating a car on the ‘net, but quite a lot about touching up and re-gelcoating BOATS. Gel coat is thick and does not self-level like paint. It can be brushed on (leaves big brush marks), rolled on (leaves roller marks, lint and bubbles) or sprayed (leaves orange peel). However it cannot be left exposed to air or it will not harden. Ten percent paraffin wax can be added to the gel coat that rises to the surface and seals it; or PVA can be sprayed on to seal it or there are additives like Duratec. This is the culmination of several month’s research and experimentation.

MATERIALS

1. Merton’s Fiberglass Supply (East Longmeadow, MA 413-736-0348) Factory Five Racing Red Gel Coat without wax, 1 quart $40
2. Merton’s Styrene thinner, 1 pint $10
3. Merton’s Poly Vinyl Alcohol, 1 pint $8
4. Merton’s MEKP catalyst
5. Acetone, 1 gallon
6. 80 grit sandpaper
7. Drop cloths and garage wall covers
8. HSRF
9. Rage Gold
10. Patience, a lot

TOOLS

1. HARBOR FREIGHT purple spray gun, [drill out orifice to 5/64” (2mm)] $12.95 (was $9.95)
2. Trim spray gun 1.4mm tip
3. Compressor, air filter, water & oil separator, etc.
4. Paint filter funnels
5. Mixing containers, etc. (I used plastic water bottles with top cut off; then use top as a funnel)


PROCEDURE

I experimented with Merton’s gel coat with WAX, thinned with acetone and sprayed with the PreVal sprayer and with a normal paint spray gun and didn’t like the results. The PreVal spit and sputtered; the paint gun worked well, however the surface stayed tacky. So I used the PVA method.
After cleaning the car and wiping down with acetone, I masked of the areas not to be coated leaving about an inch to 4 inches of virgin gel coat.

143385

I decided on mixing up about 8 oz of gel coat at a time. I used plastic water bottles with the top cut off (top makes a good funnel). I used 8 oz of non-wax gel coat with 1 oz styrene thinner. I prepared two batches. I added 0.2 oz of MEKP catalyst mixed well and filtered it into the HF gun. The stuff doesn’t spray very far so I ended up holding the gun about 4 inches from the surface with a medium fan pattern. It’s not like spraying paint, do not release the trigger after each stroke but rather go back and forth many times over a small area to build up a good thick coat (15 to 30 thou) and cover the body filler well. (A larger orifice could help, some folks use 2.5-3 mm).
I sprayed two heavy coats by re-filling the gun. Soon after the gel coat tacked up, I used the trim spray gun to completely cover the new gel coat with PVA (about 12 inches from the surface with a medium fan pattern).

143386

Now clean up the HF gun with lots of acetone. Can use water on the PVA gun.

Let the car sit un-molested overnight. Oh…BTW need temp between 70-90F when coating and drying with low humidity. Wear a respirator, goggles and gloves during the process.
The next day the PVA was dry and the gel coat had cured, so I washed off the PVA with soap and water.
The gel coat had a nice fine orange peel surface and was every so slightly tacky. I examined my work and found a few areas that needed another coat and re-sprayed, re-PVA’d them, cured, and washed off PVA. Now the coating needs to sit for a week or so before cutting, buffing and blending.
The car is now all RED and looks “good enough” to be seen in (said wife).

143387

I may have left out something...but I hope this helps someone.

Jeff




Update:

I before mentioned using Duratec additive (available from FIBERGLAST; watch their video). I recommend this approach since it eliminates the poly-vinyl-alcohol step. By mixing Duratec 1:1 with the gelcoat (with or without wax) it not only thins the gel-coat to spray viscosity it also acts a a curing agent so that the gel-coat will harden in air. The resultant finish has much less orange peel and is high gloss. Simply buff (away the wax) and get a great finish.

Jeff

[Ernie67]

You are the BEST!

[egchewy79]

great job!
that $9.95 HF spray gun could have been cheaper with one of their ubiquitous coupons :)
they are becoming sticklers lately on expired coupons.

[CraigS]

Thanks for the details. I am going to copy/paste into a Word doc so I have it for future reference.

[hineas]

This is awesome. Strong work and experimenting for our benefit!!

[D Stand]

Thanks for the details. I have been reading and watching videos for boat repairs for this very reason!

[nucjd19]

Big thanks for the write up Jeff !

[lance corsi]

I always wondered about this. Thanks for sharing.

[Jeff's First FFR]

Well…I really didn’t know what I wanted to do about the parting lines, bodywork and painting. I had never done bodywork. I had ground down the parting lines, dug out the clay and exposed some voids and pinholes. I had sanded too much. The car was ugly. Still not knowing what I wanted, I went ahead and filled the areas with HSRF and sanded down with 40 grit. Then I applied Evercoat Rage Gold and contoured the areas with a final sanding with 80 grit to about 4 inches beyond the Rage.

photo

I was still not ready to think about paint. I researched re-gelcoating . There is little about re-gelcoating a car on the ‘net, but quite a lot about touching up and re-gelcoating BOATS. Gel coat is thick and does not self-level like paint. It can be brushed on (leaves big brush marks), rolled on (leaves roller marks, lint and bubbles) or sprayed (leaves orange peel). However it cannot be left exposed to air or it will not harden. Ten percent paraffin wax can be added to the gel coat that rises to the surface and seals it; or PVA can be sprayed on to seal it or there are additives like Duratec. This is the culmination of several month’s research and experimentation.

MATERIALS

1. Merton’s Fiberglass Supply (East Longmeadow, MA 413-736-0348) Factory Five Racing Red Gel Coat without wax, 1 quart $40
2. Merton’s Styrene thinner, 1 pint $10
3. Merton’s Poly Vinyl Alcohol, 1 pint $8
4. Merton’s MEKP catalyst
5. Acetone, 1 gallon
6. 80 grit sandpaper
7. Drop cloths and garage wall covers
8. HSRF
9. Rage Gold
10. Patience, a lot

TOOLS

1. HARBOR FREIGHT purple spray gun, [drill out orifice to 5/64” (2mm)] $12.95 (was $9.95)
2. Trim spray gun 1.4mm tip
3. Compressor, air filter, water & oil separator, etc.
4. Paint filter funnels
5. Mixing containers, etc. (I used plastic water bottles with top cut off; then use top as a funnel)


PROCEDURE

I experimented with Merton’s gel coat with WAX, thinned with acetone and sprayed with the PreVal sprayer and with a normal paint spray gun and didn’t like the results. The PreVal spit and sputtered; the paint gun worked well, however the surface stayed tacky. So I used the PVA method.
After cleaning the car and wiping down with acetone, I masked of the areas not to be coated leaving about an inch to 4 inches of virgin gel coat.

143385

I decided on mixing up about 8 oz of gel coat at a time. I used plastic water bottles with the top cut off (top makes a good funnel). I used 8 oz of non-wax gel coat with 1 oz styrene thinner. I prepared two batches. I added 0.2 oz of MEKP catalyst mixed well and filtered it into the HF gun. The stuff doesn’t spray very far so I ended up holding the gun about 4 inches from the surface with a medium fan pattern. It’s not like spraying paint, do not release the trigger after each stroke but rather go back and forth many times over a small area to build up a good thick coat (15 to 30 thou) and cover the body filler well. (A larger orifice could help, some folks use 2.5-3 mm).
I sprayed two heavy coats by re-filling the gun. Immediately after spraying the gel coat I used the trim gun to completely cover the new gel coat with PVA (about 12 inches from the surface with a medium fan pattern).

143386

Now clean up the HF gun with lots of acetone. Can use water on the PVA gun.

Let the car sit un-molested overnight. Oh…BTW need temp between 70-90F when coating and drying with low humidity. Wear a respirator, goggles and gloves during the process.
The next day the PVA was dry and the gel coat had cured, so I washed off the PVA with soap and water.
The gel coat had a nice fine orange peel surface and was every so slightly tacky. I examined my work and found a few areas that needed another coat and re-sprayed, re-PVA’d them. Now the coating needs to sit for a week or so before cutting, buffing and blending.
The car is now all RED and looks “good enough” to be seen in (said wife).

143387

I may have left out something...but I hope this helps someone.

Jeff

UPDATE: Two days later the gel coat is fully cured and ready for cut and buff. But I will wait a while to make sure it is hard underneath. Probably one week.

[chmhasy]

looking good

[J R Jones]

Jeff,
Your description suggests that you created this process. Did you consult a paint/bodywork professional? I painted a restoration at the local tech school and the "professor" recommended a sealer coat to make all my surface prep common. It worked well. More recently my paint store/restoration guy turned me on to epoxy primer which has significant bond strength and cure time is short. Top coat without sanding within 24 hours. Most recently I painted my son's Supra restoration and he had a variety of surfaces including rattle can primer. I sent him to the store to get sealer. They did not have it?!? and sold him urethane primer. That had better fill properties than epoxy primer. Cure time was short and wet sanding went great.

[Axoid]

I made a call today to Merton's, and spoke to Joe. He mentioned they no longer supply the red gel coat to FFR. Anyone know where they get their red gel coat? Or maybe the manufacturer & color code of the red gel coat?

Thanks,
Don

[kirby]

Ok. I am biting on this. My boat is gel coat and it looks awesome (when it's clean...who buys a boat that's about half black?). The gel coat on the boat is permanent and takes a beating. Could you just leave it in gelcoat forever?

[J R Jones]

Ok. I am biting on this. My boat is gel coat and it looks awesome (when it's clean...who buys a boat that's about half black?). The gel coat on the boat is permanent and takes a beating. Could you just leave it in gelcoat forever?

Gel Coat for marine application is formulated with UV damage inhibitors. Durability can vary with ($) quality of the boat. Fading and gloss degradation are the fails. White is not as obvious and blues have some inherent resistance to UV damage. I speculate that FRP intended for paint has little or no UV inhibitor.
One has to be careful with paint, even clear coat, to make sure it has UV inhibitors. Water based paints are more prone to UV damage, urethanes are better. Buy carefully.
jim

[Dave 53]

Ok. I am biting on this. My boat is gel coat and it looks awesome (when it's clean...who buys a boat that's about half black?). The gel coat on the boat is permanent and takes a beating. Could you just leave it in gelcoat forever?

My intentions are to leave my 818 in gel coat. It's a working track car (go car), not a show car. 20,000 miles and about 3 years of driving and it seems to be holding up fine.

A friend got his Cobra painted and immediately got a small chip. We staired at it as we tried to consul him. On my 818, I set tools on the body, it's full of scuffs, scratches and a few chips. It has parting lines and my kid drew dragon on the hood and a snake on the trunk with a Sharpie. There's a scuff where I hit a cone at about 70 mph. Another where a Porsche GT4 rub up against me. Both could be rubbed out, but I prefer to tell the stories. Scratches on the hood from when I set it down in front of the car and ran it over and scratches on the engine cover from when I forgot the pins and it few off on the freeway. More stories. A guy was telling me about a product I could use to get all the black OPR (other people's rubber) tire chunk marks off my car. Why? It's truly liberating to not worry about 'the paint". They say our cars are a reflection of ourselves - my car is imperfect, has some character and goes like hell!

201325

[Jeff's First FFR]

Gel Coat for marine application is formulated with UV damage inhibitors. Durability can vary with ($) quality of the boat. Fading and gloss degradation are the fails. White is not as obvious and blues have some inherent resistance to UV damage. I speculate that FRP intended for paint has little or no UV inhibitor.
One has to be careful with paint, even clear coat, to make sure it has UV inhibitors. Water based paints are more prone to UV damage, urethanes are better. Buy carefully.
jim

I used Meguires Marine wax to protect my gel coat from UV. Apply as needed or once a year.

[J R Jones]

I used Meguires Marine wax to protect my gel coat from UV. Apply as needed or once a year.

In paint or gel coat the UV protection is a blended component. I am skeptical of a topical treatment that can not be measured as a coating.

This is a reference evaluation of Meguires and similar product:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=137KaMaf6GE

https://www.google.com/search?q=does+meguiar%27s+auto+wax+block+uv+radiat ion&sca_esv=891eb93c4edd4a1c&sca_upv=1&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS858US858&sxsrf=ADLYWILzEFUWvy9G6jf8kR9JJ13lAPrT2w%3A1720203 290274&ei=GjiIZui6ENaRur8PrMCO-AY&oq=does+Meguires+auto+wax+block+UV+radiation%3F&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKmRvZXMgTWVndWlyZXMgYXV0 byB3YXggYmxvY2sgVVYgcmFkaWF0aW9uPyoCCAAyChAhGKABGM MEGApItVFQsAtY8TVwAXgBkAEAmAGwAaABwQiqAQMxLji4AQHI AQD4AQGYAgqgAuAIwgIHECMYsAMYJ8ICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAg cQIxiwAhgnwgIIEAAYgAQYogSYAwCIBgGQBgmSBwMyLjigB5Qq&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6a8e6fd1,vid:kVJJrC-HzH4,st:0

If you ever paint your gel coat, topical treatments will not be your friend. Fish eyed paint is hard to correct.
jiim