Post by chick on Nov 27, 2019 10:22:15 GMT -5
Question for y'all. My G3 gelcoat is "crazed" all over both the hull and deck.
Plan-A The normal repair involves grinding out all of the cracks, but mine is so extensive that this is not practical. Nor is grinding off ALL of the gelcoat and filling/fairing the whole thing. Grinding leaves a very unfair surface. NO WAY!!!
Plan-B is to cover it all with a layer of light fiberglass cloth and finishing that off. Still a lot of work, but if done carefully, it requires only minimal filling and fairing as the contours remain un-altered.
Plan-C is what I'm considering. It would be to sand the surface to smooth and abrade it, but not enough to gouge or change the contours. Then repair any localized damaged areas. Next would be a heavy couple of coats of epoxy resin. Finish by sanding that, apply epoxy primer, fair, and finally paint as usual.
I've never done Plan-C, but think that the epoxy would stabilize the surface cracks enough that they would not re-appear. Have any of you tried that, or seen it done? My theory is that epoxy resin would be strong enough to "hold it all together", just like filling and stabilizing the grain on a wooden boat. Polyester resin, like used to laminate production fiberglass boats, and what gelcoat is made of, would NOT have the strength needed.
