2 questions from a fiberglass novice

[cypress94]

Guys, I'm pretty sure my boat needs wet sanding. I cant get the milky haze out by hand. So here are my questions..I have a gold metal flake stripe that follows the length of my boat...it feels raised and a little grainy....if I wet sand over it, will it damage that stripe? Also, my boat is a blue-green metal flake, and I do have a few scratches in it, a couple that go into the fiberglass....I know that a shop can color match a patch, but can they also replace the metal flake? Are these types of repairs typically noticeable? Thanks for any help!!

Matt

[cypress94]

I guess nobody has an answer??

[BASSCAT7]

Without pics it is impossible to tell about the stripe, the grainy feeling could very well be just the clear getting rough. How wide of a stripe 1/2 " or 10 " ? Only real way to tell is to test sand an inconspicious spot and see if the color of the stripe changes to silver, or you actually can see small flakes coming thru the gel.

A good glass shop can match any metal or poly flake gelcoat color, but at a good shop the work will not be cheap, you generally get what you pay for in glass work...if the price sounds too good to be true, there is a reason.

Also remember if it is an older boat and the original gel is faded some, there is not a whole lot they can do to get a perfect match. IF the original gel is faded, the new " patch " will be blended in as good as possible, but will not be a perfect match to the faded gel.
Sanding/compounding the old gel down will help to match the patch some.

[arjone01]

I'd say give wet sanding a shot, Mine too felt raised and rough however it came out fine. Give it a shot, if it is down to the flake then no loss as it sounds like you'd get it repaired anyway. Do a test spot and see.

[cypress94]

I appreciate the info, I think I'll give wet sanding a try. I have 2 pictures of my boat, in them you can see the gold stripe that runs along the top cap. You can somewhat see the hazing on the flat surface (camera phone isn't that great!!) Thank you all for your comments and help!

Here's the hazing photo: