gel coat repair

[jjssas]

2000 410 Dancer: On top of front deck, in the roughened portion, there are two, virtually side by side tiny holes, about the size of the head of a finishing nail. MarineMax (MM) tells me it is a result of the popping of small "bubbles" or "blisters" (or something like that)originating at manufacture in the gelcoat or fibreglass. Over time, heat, cold, walking on deck etc. causes the holes to appear. MM says the area needs to be ground out and repaired and when done the repair is not noticable. True? How much skill is needed to do it yourself? Thanks

Court Ship

 

[sublimetime]

before doing any GRINDING away to do such a little cosmetic repair I would first try to fill the TINY holes with Evercoat gelcoat repair and scratch filler, comes in a tube bout 1/2 ounce,two different colors of white, at your local boat store,works great on these air hole voids in gel coat.Fill holes to slightly above deck surface, let dry couple days,then come back with a brand new razor blade and shave it flush. litlle compound and wax and its virtually invisible.

 

[blueflew]

what you have is a void formed when the fiberglass was laid up, there was an air pocket between the gelcoat and fiberglass. If you fill it as is, you may not fill the entire void and it will"pop" again. you have to sand/grind away all the loose gelcoat, mask around this area with tape, and fill the void with color matched gelcoat paste (not the thin stuff that is sprayed). you can get the non-skid pattern mold online. Try spectrumcolor.com. push the non-skid mold over the repair and let it dry a couple of hours. wet sand starting with #320 to #800. then compound and seal with non-skid protector (starbrite or Aurora makes these). try and get the gelcoat from searay to match your boat. color match is the key to an invisible repair. spectrum color also sells color matched gel paste. can make your own gel paste by adding cabosil to the regular liquid gelcoat. good luck and let me know what happens