Scratch Repair Opinion

[NukeJet]

So a little bit of dock rash happened. What are your opinions on repair? I have bought some Spectrum gelcoat repair and it's on the way. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bruce]

@Glassman, I think he would probably need to deepen that scratch to get the Spectrum paste to hold. What do you think?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

It's hard to tell how deep these scratches are but it looks like you might be able to wet sand them out.

When you wet the scratch, does it turn black?

 

[NukeJet]

I will check tomorrow. If it helps my fingernail catches on the scratches.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

You might have enough depth of gel to sand and buff it back to a gloss with minor dimple in the coat. If you strive for perfection, a heavy sanding down to the bottom of the gel and then a gel application will be needed. Sand out past your scratches an inch or two slowing rising up for a nice blending patch.

 

[blacksapphirez]

im drooling... i know i will never have the patience to do all the things they have done but it is incredible what they have done.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-31/587305-how-wetsand-cut-buff-gel-coat-boat.html

 

[Andy S]

So a little bit of dock rash happened. What are your opinions on repair? I have bought some Spectrum gelcoat repair and it's on the way. Thanks in advance.
View attachment 43525 View attachment 43526

If it is not a scratch but the rubber off the dock protectors, then I would use some Acetone to remove the rubber, clean the area with soap and water, and once dry put some wax on the area.

 

[Brad R.]

I just fixed one from a rock. It was all the way through the gel to the fiberglass. Thankfully it didn't get into the fiberglass. I filled it with gelcoat and wet sanded it. It came out good but was a bunch of work. I wet sanded all the way to 3000 grit, polished, and then waxed.

 

[tdonoughue]

First opinion: With the Spectrum, you will need to mix up a minimum of 1/2 the container at a time. Those two little rashes will use about, um, 1/100th of the container. So, my first opinion is that you should deal with it and not fix these yet. Wait until you have several and a nick or two. You will still wind up burning 3/4 of the gelcoat, but you will feel better that you used it better.

Second opinion: If you want to fix those, you will need to either widen/deepen them (I used a Dremel tool with a parabolic sanding stone on mine) or sand them flat as @Murf'n'surf suggested. If you do the Dremel route, you can get a nice finish with a bondo spatula (or similar); if you do the sand down, you should probably invest $5 in a Preval sprayer. Dilute the gelcoat and spray it (disclaimer: I haven't done this yet, but I am a-fixin to, as they say down here). Either way you will do a lot of sanding if you do it right. It will scare the #$@# out of you (as you scuff around the repair area), but by the time you get to the last step, you will never know the scratch was there.

 

[NukeJet]

Thanks for the responses. I am going to try and sand/buff/wax first and see if it still bugs me. I hate that every time I look in my sideview mirrors I can see it.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

There is always this option available:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/131336475876?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

[Glassman]

@Glassman, I think he would probably need to deepen that scratch to get the Spectrum paste to hold. What do you think?

I can't tell, but I think you are right. It may be too slight for the paste to work properly. A better approach would be to get gel coat, thin it and spray it on with an airbrush.
That way you won't sand off too much material going the other route. It MAY be so slight that a little wet sanding - 800/1000/1500 and polish is all it needs. You don't want to take it down so much that it creates waves in the surface.

You could also try the MagicEZY stuf: http://www.magicezy.com/

 

[scokill]

I can't tell, but I think you are right. It may be too slight for the paste to work properly. A better approach would be to get gel coat, thin it and spray it on with an airbrush.
That way you won't sand off too much material going the other route. It MAY be so slight that a little wet sanding - 800/1000/1500 and polish is all it needs. You don't want to take it down so much that it creates waves in the surface.

You could also try the MagicEZY stuf: http://www.magicezy.com/

You can create waves in the surface...don't ask me how I know

 

[mraz72]

The link to Mike Phillips is awesome. I have the rupes bigfoot 21 and the rupes mini that I use on my cars. I plan on getting the holograms out of my paint in the off season.