In the second pic, you can see where the repair area is sanded/roughed up beyond the actual damage, to aid adhesion. This makes a feathered repair area - out on the extents, the original clear gel is what's feathered, so that the final clear gel coat layer application (whether troweled or sprayed on) will totally cover and extend past onto surrounding smooth original gelcoat. Then during block wet sanding and finishing, the clear gel is taken down to flush with original surface. That make sense?
Very nice! Thanks for sharing! This will help others for sure.
dang you made that look easy.
What did I do wrong? Got a kit and prepped old transom transducer holes, mixed up gel with black pigment and filled holes, blew on flake, mixed up clear gel, filled and put the wax paper on, let set overnight. In morning I pulled off the wax paper, started wet sanding, and more wet sanding, that compound then polish with power buffer wheel. Very smooth, the clear gel in the repair part is cloudy and wont show flake through it. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
Was I supposed to let the black gel with the flake on it cure before I added the clear on top???
I used the kit over the weekend just as well. After wet sanding and polishing, mine turned out clear. I applied the clear 5 minutes after blowing on the flake and allowed both layers to cure together just as you. The only thing I did differently was I pulled the wax paper off after 90 minutes to begin wet sanding. Not sure if the overnight curing is what is making your gelcoat cloudy. This was my first time doing any gelcoat repair...
Nitro Savage 896 - 150hp Mariner EFI - Ultrex / Garmins
Could the Evercoat kit I bought be old? was your gel clear when it came out of tube? mine was kinda yellow
I gave this a shot today but had to pull off the patch before it cured. I colored the clear gel black with the dye and when I blew the flake on and pressed it down the black oozed through the flake in some spots. Should I just use clear gel and completely cover the surface with flake. I guess it wouldn't make a difference what color is behind it if the flake covers the whole area, right? I am working on a spot that covers a Red flake, silver flake pin stripe, and black flake area. Should I do each color at a separate time?
I think that is what I would do.. Use clear and blow the flake on until it matches. But do some testing first on your flake to make sure it will match closely.
I took a close up picture of the chip I am attempting to repair along with the surrounding polyflake.. After looking at the polyflake close up, it appears to be a combination of Dark Red/burgundy, black and a little silver. The pictures shows pretty clearly when zooming in, that the black is flake as well, not a background gel coat.
It is pretty similar in color to yours actually, so you might take a look.
I might just mix my flake with the clear put the first layer on and see how it looks, blow more on if needed and cover with clear after that...
Last edited by KCLOST; 07-09-2018 at 07:32 AM.
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
The picture didn't come out a clear as it is on my phone, but I am sure that the black is flake as well. I also have the actual polyflake from the manufacture, and there are 3 separate flakes in the mix, Burgundy, Black, Silver..
Good luck...
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
Will do, got started on it last night. Sanded and ready to go. Should complete the resin/flake tonight.....
Taped off aread and sanded with 180 grit. No glass fibers were exposed so this was pretty easy...
Last edited by KCLOST; 07-11-2018 at 07:48 AM.
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
Mixed the flake with mainly clear and 1 drop of black to give it some tint but not to hide the flake entirely....
Last edited by KCLOST; 07-11-2018 at 08:06 AM.
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
Applied the resin with flake first, blew more flake on top as well, and then mixed clear gel to go over that... Applied the Mylar over it, but as you can see this was at a bad spot to make the Kevlar lay flat across the entire repair area, multiple curves to deal with... As a result I had to use more resin than I really needed, it basically filled the area inside the tape.... Going to have to do more sanding to get it down flush with the surrounding area than I planned....
More pics to come....
Last edited by KCLOST; 07-11-2018 at 08:09 AM.
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
Sanded last night with 320, 600, 1500 and am happy with the results... Ready for the buffer to polish..
Disappointed though with the haze in the clear resin... New Evercoat kit, so I can't blame that on age and followed directions to a T. Didn't expect this.. Hopefully after buffing it will lessen in appearance...
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team
It wont, at least my haze wont buff out.
exactly what happened to my repairs, makes me wonder if the Evercoat kits we got are old, or if somehow moisture got in. IDK.
I've had the same cloudy result using the patch kit - on thicker applications, if I remember correctly. So perhaps applying it too thick causes this? Don't know if humidity has an affect...? Age of the gel paste could very well be a factor, as the kits may be sitting on shelves for long periods of time before purchase; versus bulk gel coat from a supplier that turns inventory quickly.
I don't know if there is any datecode info. on the tubes - I'll have to check mine to verify.
Have not had this issue with thin applications (e.g., filling shallow scratches, or a thin top-coat application over a broader repair area).
Like the title says, I think the kits are great for "small" repairs. But deep gouges certainly need to be filled with base material and flake, topped by a thin coating of clear gel - typically 15 - 20 mils.
Justin's video shows a great base repair, but spraying the clear gel coat finish to obtain a uniform thickness (using traditional clear gelcoat).
If you think the gel thickness is too great causing the haze, try sanding it down some, and apply another THIN layer of clear gel. I know it's a more sanding, but may be a simple solution.
Well, I'm a little disappointed.... That kit says nothing about haze potential. And this chip was not very deep, not even down to the glass and only the size of a dime. I wish I would have seen this latest video, that is cool...
Latest photos after polish, final result.... The camera flash makes it look a little worse than it really is but it is surely noticeable..
Live and learn I guess....
Last edited by KCLOST; 07-12-2018 at 06:50 PM.
Layton Strong
Nitro State Team