Keel Repair Advice

[REW]

Most of my supplies came in, still waiting for a few more to come in. I have removed most of the sticky from the old keel guard, that has been a job in itself! A can of acetone, a applicator pad, and alot of elbow grease! Hopefully finish removing the rest tonight. Tomorrow evening/night, I am going to start with the gel. Hopefully it will turn out ok. The instructions said to use some 40, 80, 100 grit sandpaper to rough up the area, does that sound to course? I was planning on 280 up to 320 for that. sports, you answered my next question about do I sand between coats of gel, thanks.

Before starting and between coats you are looking for a rough surface for the get to get a grip on. I would use 100 between coats.

[sp0tts]

Most of my supplies came in, still waiting for a few more to come in. I have removed most of the sticky from the old keel guard, that has been a job in itself! A can of acetone, a applicator pad, and alot of elbow grease! Hopefully finish removing the rest tonight. Tomorrow evening/night, I am going to start with the gel. Hopefully it will turn out ok. The instructions said to use some 40, 80, 100 grit sandpaper to rough up the area, does that sound to course? I was planning on 280 up to 320 for that. sports, you answered my next question about do I sand between coats of gel, thanks.

REW has it right, you want something to grip to. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to anything in the instructions from Spectron. The more aggressive grits will also make it easier on your arms. When you're done sanding between coats, I'd also recommend hosing/cleaning off the area you sanded to remove any gel dust that may have hung around, even with lots of water while sanding it will stick around.

Edited March 7, 2012 by sp0tts

[jwl019]

http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z330/jwl019/Keel%20Pics/

Update:

I applied my first coat with wax and not enough catalyst, so it did not fully cure. I started sanding down smooth and was cleaning it off when I really noticed it, so I sanded almost all the way down and started over.

1st recoat - applied only with catalyst and no surface seal (wax). Waited 45 min -1 hr after and checked it to make sure it was mostly dry and tacky. Started to mix up next coat.

2nd coat - applied only with catalyst and no wax. Waited again 45 min -1 hr after and started mixing 3rd.

3rd coat - applied with catalyst and wax, let dry for a while (couple hours).

Sanding steps - started sanding down with 220 grit sandpaper to knock down all the big ridges/clumps/etc.

Next will use 320 grit to really finish all rough areas off and then start with 400 grit up to 1500 and then compound and wax. While I am at it, I am going to wetsand all the front section to remove some of the scratches on the hull.

Depending on how well this blends will determine if I put another Keel Guard on or not.

[Asmodeus2112]

How did this turn out?

[jwl019]

Turned out great! Looks really good and wetsanding the hull made it look even better! All nice and shinny under the hull now.