Fiberglass question

[Gallivan]

I started sanding down my fiberglass hood overlay

As you can see some areas are worn right through the gel coat, other places have pitting into the gel coat.

Should I sand down to the gel coat in the good areas, or sand down into the gel coat?

Gallivan
57 Golden Hawk
Golden, CO

[Chucks Stude]

I think that I am going blind, and am having a little difficulty in seeing this well, but let me give this a shot. I would highly recommend against sanding into the actual fiberglass, it is difficult to get the fuzzy ends of the glass back to where it was before. The gel coat refers to the area above the fiberglass mat, that gives the product a smooth finish. It looks to me like you can just fill the holes with a product that has good adhesion to fiberglass, smooth, prime and repaint.
From the look of it, that has been done before.
If you do sand into the actual fiberglass, you will have to get a boat repair kit, with resin, and fiberglass cloth and repair the area, than smooth, fill, prime, and repaint. I hope this helps.

[KGlowacky]

I will also give a thought from hanging around and working at a corvette shop. You will have to fiberglass over the area's that the gel coat are gone. Use chopped fiberglass matt not boat mesh looking mat. Do not sand off any more of the gel coat then need be. After filling sanding, a thin coast of body filler will be needed to get a smooth suface. Gel coat is nothing more then resin with no mat. Don't get worried, this is not that uncommon. Scuff up all the gel coat a little befor primming. Good luck.

[JBody]

Tell you what I'd do...My hood was weathered to the point that the paint was gone, and the gel coat in large areas, so that fiberglas strands were visible. I picked up a nos hood that had some damage(a hole the size of a fifty-cent piece), plus lots of scratches, nicks and low areas right over the hood hinge attachment area. Plus, the front lip and the underside reinforcement was unbonded. I fixed all of that up with bonding adhesive, Duraglass,and polyester finishing putty. By the time I did so, there was quite a bit of of the gel coat gone on the nos one, also, plus 80 grit sanding scratches. . So then what I used was a product that is a catlyzed(peroxide hardener) sprayable polyester material called Clausen's "Rust Defender". It is an awful yellow color, and has a very strong odor(so wear a respirator), but is highly effective. Available at places that specialize in pro autobody & paint supplies--It is labeled specifically for the reconditioning of damaged and then properly repaired fiberglass. It is a surfacer, so after you spray a sufficient amount over the entire part and resand it with a long board and 150 grit, the fiberglass strands will not be visible,nor the repaired areas, because it essentially serves as your new "gel coat". You can then primer it with your favorite product, block sand and topcoat it. Buy a gallon, use 1/2 of it on your hood, & pour uncatalyzed surplus into clean full quart or pint cans(@$1 or so) for future use over body filler on the rest of the car--the product shelf life is greatly foreshortened by any air space in the can. It may be slightly old-school, but it works for me.

[buddymander]

A corvette body guy told me once that you respray the gelcoat. He worked on a lot of cars that has cracks all over them. He would sand the cracked gelcoat off and spray the new gelcoat right over what was left.

[warrlaw1]

I once found a neat trick to do repairs on gel coat on FG canoes: Saran Wrap! Once you've laid the gel coat, cover it with plastic wrap, pull it tight and get the bubbles out. Once the fiberglass dries, the plastic peels right off and the finish is as smooth as the plastic wrap. I hate fiberglass.

[52 Ragtop]

There is a product called "Eliminator" it is made by Morton Paints. It IS a fiberglass resin WITH color pigment added to it. It is also mixed with a hardner. Spray it on IN A PAINT BOOTH or move everything at least 500 feet away! It will stick to ANYTHING!!
Wear a GOOD charcoal filter mask, spray at least a cup full of lacquer thinner through the gum when done! (or throw the gun away)
Eliminator gets very hard and is very hard to dry sand! Use 220 wet or dry sandpaper with lots of water.
Of course, have all your body work done first, but if needed, plastic filler CAN be used over Eliminator! It is available at Automotive Paint stores, it is NOT cheap, but, it is like re-spraying a gel coat back on.

Jim

[WCP]

Skim the roughed up areas with Evercoat Vette Panel Adhesive/Filler #870 or 880 (different size package) - used also for bonding non-SMC (Stude) fibreglass panels. Sand out - has the same sanding hardness as the gelcoat/fibreglass panel.

[LARK59]

Prime the panel with Feather Fill



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