Finally after months of procrastination, I decided to re-gelcoat (as apposed to painting) the top and interior of my 64 1700. I've painted three corvettes and know the importance of a good surface for painting. Being the surface on my boat was rather bad, and needed to be re-gelcoated before any paint work (as in the corvettes) I figured I'd put enough gelcoat on, sand and buff, and it would be like new. After a lot of research, I found you need to total about 30 mils before sanding (Bertram yachts website). A gun with a 2 to 2.5 mm nozzle, Lots of acetone for cleaning, and a lot of patience. The finish after spraying has gobs of "orange peel" so my winter project will now be sanding and buffing. I did a small section of the stern (second picture down) with 400, 600, 1000, and 1200 grit followed by 3M "Perfect It" compund with a foam waffle pad. Results are promising, hope the rest looks as good when it's done. I'm sure the 5 interior panels and the bench seats will pose a challenge.
John, refinishing with gelcoat is very labor intensive, but I too feel it is the right way to do as boat. I am having to do repairs on a Hydrodyne that had previous repairs with paint. Some tips to help you. Try to spray the gelcoat as wet as possible. There is a range from spraying dry, and having lots of orange peel, to spraying wet, and having runs. The closer you get to almost creating runs, the smoother the gelcoat will be. If you are working down orange peel, (or runs) do not be afraid of using coarser grits of sandpaper. I usually start with 220, and then 320, 400, 500, 600, and 800, on blocks, and then switch to 1000, 1500, and 2500 on sponge pads, and then buff and polish. I also like to let the gelcoat set for a long time before I sand it down. This allows all the solvents to evaporate, and gives time for all the shrinking to occur. I am not trying to beat a flat rate, so I do not need to rush the job.
It looks good !!! I don't envy the amount of sanding you still have left. I went through that same process once with the 600- 1000-1200 wet paper . A little tip : Put Vaseline on your figer tips and then slip them into a cheap rubber glove. Keeps from blistering your finger tips. Bob
