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Gelcoat Repair


blackacre

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If you play with fire, sooner or later you get burned. I run and fish pretty skinny with my Pathfinder. Finally had to pay the price courtesy of an oyster encrusted ghost trap. Left a small gouge about 12 inches long along a chine. Any suggestions on a repair? I would prefer to do it right, rather than using marinetex or similar band aid. I've seen several gelcoat repair kits from various places. Would one of those suffice? Any pointers for not having the gelcoat drip when applying to the bottom of the boat? Thanks!

Pathfinder Gouge.JPG

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Hum !!! looks to be more than just a little gel coat repair coverage.  I would grind it out "careful not to go to deep" and then build it back up and match the shape of the chine.  Once you are done with that then you can brush on some color match gel cot and cover it with a piece of plastic coated with PVA release agent on it and that will end up once you peel it off giving your freshly painted gel coat a smooth look.  Still may need to do some light wet sanding if you want it perfect.  Couple coats of wax and you should be good to go.  Or take it to a fiberglass shop.  I just think that scratch or "gouge" is more than what a gelcoat repair can cover.  IMO !!

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Spectrum is the best, they have specific colors for Pathfinder.  This is a fairly straight forward repair. Just grind minimally, apply Spectrum repair paste (no slumping or dripping) and overfill the cavity, then go through progression wet sanding, polish and voila !

If after grinding the repair is to deep for just gelcoat repair, then do as RacerxV6 describes using Spectrum as your final layer

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1 hour ago, RacerxV6 said:

Hum !!! looks to be more than just a little gel coat repair coverage.  I would grind it out "careful not to go to deep" and then build it back up and match the shape of the chine.  Once you are done with that then you can brush on some color match gel cot and cover it with a piece of plastic coated with PVA release agent on it and that will end up once you peel it off giving your freshly painted gel coat a smooth look.  Still may need to do some light wet sanding if you want it perfect.  Couple coats of wax and you should be good to go.  Or take it to a fiberglass shop.  I just think that scratch or "gouge" is more than what a gelcoat repair can cover.  IMO !!

i agree. i had about the same thing on mine. i ground it out and cut up some fiberglass mat, then mixed it with resin. i put that on the scar and let it set, then sanded it down. i put a coat of white gel coat on it and sanded and buffed it. color doesn't match exact, but it's on the bottom of the boat and can't be seen.

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7 hours ago, blackacre said:

Thanks for the advice. For the Spectrum paste kit, is the correct color Oyster White for my 2004 2200V?

https://www.iboats.com/shop/spectrum-color-pathfinder-2011-2014-oyster-white-color-boat-gel-coat-patch-paste-repair-kit.html

 

That's the correct color. I've used it on my '03.  FYI, you can store the leftover in the refrigerator and get a longer shelf life out of it.

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  • 2 years later...

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