Champion 168

[Fishin Polock]

To redo that boat properly with gel coat ,( I would just because I'm a Champfanatic) Will probably run 6 grand. You will need at least 5 mills of colored gel and 5 mills of clear gel on average for that boat. My hull alone, below the arrow was 1500 with 7 mills of color and 5 mills of clear gel. Now I got a half off discount because I worked at the boat shop. So figure 3 grand per hull and topside. It is the sanding and filling labor that will cost the most. Gel is relatively inexpensive compared to the labor costs. A good shop will be able to rotisserie the boat also once it is stripped down to nothing. You can jack it straight up and shoot the hull, but it is more difficult to get the best finish without flipping the entire boat over.

What you can do to help offset the costs of labor if you are really serious about re gelcoating this rig is to strip everything off it yourself. carpet, seats, lids, molding trim, tm, motor, gas tank, and the helm area. If you are knowlagable with gel coat. You can do some of the prep sanding and stripping yourself. Lots of arm labor involved if you don't have the proper air tools for sanding. The shop will sand it again no matter what you do to it , but it shoudl take them less time to do the final prep. It's all in how much you know about gel coat finishing if you want to tackle that job. Trying to regel a topcap with all the crap on it will not give you the final finish you want. There will be tape lines. Simple as that. It's all in how much you love your rig as to how much time and effort you are willing to put into it. Myself. I put wayyy more into my rig than I could ever get back from it in a sale, but It has been with my family for 33 seasons now and it will never leave.

[Buckeye492]

I pretty much figured it was going to be an expensive endeavor. I can see where the labor costs would be astronomical. I do have a compressor & air tools and I don't mind an honest days labor. I appreciate all the input from everyone as this has been a sanity check of sorts. As far a fixing the cracks is the Evercoat 27 an acceptable product or is there something better. I've done bodywork on cars before so this isn't a completely foreign process.

[pmgoffjr]

Marinetex for the big gouges.
For the cracks use a razor blade to open them up. Use the right color sharpie in the crack then mix up resin to fill the crack. Cover with packing tape over the repair. Let it cure remove tape and buff down. Crack should disappear.

[Buckeye492]

Just a 2 part epoxy or polyester resin?

[pmgoffjr]

Fiberglass resin.
You do NOT want anything that cures fast, slower the better, fast cure will trap bubbles, and not self level itself out.

[n_gong]

Looks like the cap had been painted many years ago , could be a mess under that old paint .
Nelson

[Buckeye492]

Just curious, but why not paint / gelcoat? If repaired correctly, what is the problem? The top cap is in rough shape. With one or two exceptions, the cracks appear to be pretty superficial. I only ask because I don't know.

[Buckeye492]

Yes, it has been repainted. I found blue metal flake under the rear vents.

[Fishin Polock]

Well. All that will have to be sanded off before a re gelcoating. Good news is automotive paint is about 1 to 2 mills thick so it comes off fast.

The reason automotive won't bond properly to gel coat is because automotive paint is water-based acrylic polyurethane enamel and will never bond with thermosetting polymers based on epoxy or unsaturated polyester resin, which is what gel coat is . 2 totally different materials.

It will stick for a while, shine great and have better UV protection, but it will start to peel off like a old bad sunburn in a year or 2 as the gelcoat under it expands and contracts more than the acrylic paint does.

[Buckeye492]

So, some 100 grit on a D/A sander thru the topcoat? I am just guessing, but that would likely take care with a lot of the cracking I see? I understand that the impact cracks won't go away, but the tiny cracks might?

[pmgoffjr]

Fill the crack as instructed before you do your sanding.

[Fishin Polock]

Start with 800 grit , 100 is just way to much. Do your marine tex fill first. Take your time too. work up from 800 to 1000 to 1500 wet to 2000 wet and then a 3000 wet. After 3000 wet it should all but be shiny. THen its a buff out with a3 M or meguires med duty cut and a wool pad, then pick up a pro tec kit. Follow the directions to a T with the pro tec and you will get the results you want. I add a foam pad buff with the restore after the wool pad restore myself and 2 coats of the protectant.

I am guess you are not going the re gel coat route???

I'm curious as to what the gel coat under the automotive paint looks like . That will tell you if it can be buffed out and hold a shine, or buffed out and hold a shine for a short time frame, or it just really does need a few mills of fresh gel .

The smaller hairline cracks are stress crack, they happen. Can't stop them , but you can hide them with a good buffing job.

[SCOTT196]

If a wet sanding and buffing wont get it like you want it, I would put a wrap on it.

[Buckeye492]

I haven't ruled out the re-gelcoat yet. Just weighing all my options. I have a call into a local company about possibly wrapping it. However, there is a nice blue metal flake underneath the grey paint.

0223191637.jpg

[Buckeye492]

So, I did a little test with some Acetone on a cotton ball & the paint on the top rail bubbled up & just peeled off after 10 minutes. So that tells me that it needs removed. I have a guy that paints cars & is willing to paint the boat. So, the materials for painting is much cheaper than wrapping at this point. The downside is that I need to do all the prep work, and that's a lot of prep!

[Fishin Polock]

You can not get automotive paint to stick to gel. No way , no how. In a year or 2's time IT WILL peel off . Water based enamel and unsaturated polyester resin do not mix .

[pmgoffjr]

Yeah, take a pass on that offer. The ONLY thing that will work on gelcoat is more gelcoat. Don't let your guy talk you into imron or some other clear paint, it will NOT EVER last more than a year. I've seen way too many failures and never not once a success.

[ruudawg]

Ohhh Boy!!! Think I know not to paint a glass boat by now, lol

[pmgoffjr]

I'd tell you to go eat a dead rat out of the sewer before you painted your champion with auto paint.

[ruudawg]

I get it Pat. I would never paint a glass boat either, nothing I know of can take water on a constant basis for any length of time. Was only being sarcastic