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2 scratches in gel coat


chrisallenhogs

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I found two pretty good scrathces in my gel coat that apparently came from a medal hook in the dock it was parked in. What is the best way to get those out? Do I need to sand it down and reapply gel coat, the color is black.

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Also, What would it cost to have the dealer fix a qtr size group of scratches some you can feel some you can't?

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If you need it repaired rather than just wet sanded and buffed out, it's not in a tough area with a radius or two different colors of gel coat that come together, and you want to save some money I'd highly suggest picking up a patch kit from Spectrum Color at

http://www.spectrumcolor.com/. It's a patch paste that is custom matched - just order it for your year/color - and it's real easy to do. A jar that contains 2oz. IIRC was only like $30.

Mike

Edited by mlange
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Its easy to remove scratches from gel coat, but you need to use your better judgement on the extent of the repair. If the scratch is too deep or wide, and/or gel coat is missing it needs to be replaced. So what I'm saying is if the scratch would require you to sand so much that it would leave a dent in the gel coat it would be better to get it fixed by a pro. If you run your finger nail over the scratch and can just feel it you will be able to fix it. What I do is wet sand the scratch with 1500 grit paper until I can't feel or see it. What your left with is an area the looks like it has been sanded, but the scratch will be gone. The next thing you do is make the sanded gel coat look like new gel coat. I use all meguires products for the next steps. First I use the #44 color restorer but you can use their #49 Oxidation remover and/or there power cut compound. All you want to do is get rid of the sanded area and bring it back to the same color as the gel coat. After this step it will look good but you will still be able to see that you worked on the area. Next I use Meguiars #45 Boat and RV polish, follow directions on bottle. Then wax the intire area with the meguiars marine wax of your choice. If you spent enough time with the color restorer or oxidation remover and follow all directions on the bottles your repair will look better then new. You can also check out the Meguires web site for more info and questions you may have.

I have fixed lots of scratches this way and my boat looks as good or better than the day I picked it up.

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How much would it cost to fix about a 2 inch long gouge? I don't think the kit will fix this one and I have no abilty to DIY.

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How much would it cost to fix about a 2 inch long gouge? I don't think the kit will fix this one and I have no abilty to DIY.

Alot

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How much would it cost to fix about a 2 inch long gouge? I don't think the kit will fix this one and I have no abilty to DIY.

Alot

Are we talking $500 or $1500?

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How much would it cost to fix about a 2 inch long gouge? I don't think the kit will fix this one and I have no abilty to DIY.

Alot

Are we talking $500 or $1500?

Depends on your glass repair guy. We've had small repairs done in the Seattle area for $50 - $250.

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Here are some pictures.

DSC01614.jpg

This one is small about 1/8 inch - decently deep. 1mm or so. you can definetly feel it

DSC01615.jpg

This is the big one about 1 inch long, same depth as one above but in the grey.

DSC01624.jpg

This one looks really bad about 1/2 inch long, I think its actually about 50 small scratches none to bad, I think this would buff out pretty easy. It looks worse than it is.

Any ideas on estimates would be good for me to know before I go to the dealer.

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Here are some pictures.

DSC01614.jpg

This one is small about 1/8 inch - decently deep. 1mm or so. you can definetly feel it

DSC01615.jpg

This is the big one about 1 inch long, same depth as one above but in the grey.

DSC01624.jpg

This one looks really bad about 1/2 inch long, I think its actually about 50 small scratches none to bad, I think this would buff out pretty easy. It looks worse than it is.

Any ideas on estimates would be good for me to know before I go to the dealer.

From what I can see you can sand those out and save your money for gas.

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i don't know if my wife will let me do it but I will give it a shot. Thanks for all the response. I'll post pictures of the after.

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Dosen't look too bad, boat is fresh so no fading on the gel, but black is a PITA to sand and buff. I would say its 3-5 hours labor (from the descriptions can't see too much in the pics).

The big question is does your dealer do this work in house or does he farm it out.

-Chris

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I'm going to talk to him this morning. I'm pretty sure that he has someone do the work for him. Are we talking 3 - 4 hours to do all the work or per scratch?

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From what I can see all of it. Alot of gel repair is actually waiting for stuff to dry. The spraying isn't time consuming and the real art is in teh wetsanding and buffing that follows.

-Chris

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I would start with #0000 steel wool, keeping it wet. If that doesn't get it out, then move to a fine sandpaper (also wet), and keep going more coarse until the scratch is gone. Then go back over it with the wet steel wool, then some rubbing compound (Turtle Wax compound or whatever). I finish it off with Finesse It II finishing compound to take the dullness out and then 3M Marine Performance Paste Wax (or whatever wax you want to use).

That process works wonders for me.

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