Restoring gel coat floor help?!

[lukewhiting]

Before we start...excuse the lack of tubes on this boat!

The boats a sea ray 180 and I'm starting the process of re doing the floor.

The previous owner removed the carpet and refitted a nasty rubber mat.

I stripped everything out (seats, rubber mat, rear seats and engine cover & slower side panels) underneath is all gel coated but obviously covered in glue.

Once I clean the glue off what would be the best way to restore the gel coat?

Could I get away with painting it and sealing it or will it need to be gel coated again?

My aim is to make it look nice enough and then I'm fitting 'seadek' or some variant so the majority of it will be covered. It's only the panel gaps and sides that'll be on show.

I'm not dead set on a showroom finish but want it to be as good as I can get it myself.

Cheers for the help!

[jeffstevens763@g]

Personally I would refit carpet

[lukewhiting]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Personally I would refit carpet

It was an option (the cheapest) the only thing is the boats mainly used for wakeboarding so it's constantly wet inside...carpet just wouldn't dry out

[Xk59D]

i'd just flowcoat it myself with fine sand in it so bare feet friendly

[lukewhiting]

I made a start tonight clearing the glue.

Began with some loctite adhesive
remover which worked but was really slow going so switched to an orbital sander.

Worked wonders and the gelcoat underneath came up real smooth. Will obviously need buffing up or a top coat to shine but it's better than I expected.
Still unsure of what coat too finish it with though

[jeffstevens763@g]

Talk to shakespear boats 're the carpet it's special stuff

[gtflash]

Acetone will remove most adhesives. Buy it form cfs or ecf for far better prices

Struggling to see which bit you want to recoat. Given the choice I'd avoid paint. It doesn't last like gel which is almost forever but demands some skill to apply. Does it have to be smooth or textured.? If so how textured? Makes a big difference in the choice of material and applications

[lukewhiting]

Originally Posted by gtflash

Acetone will remove most adhesives. Buy it form cfs or ecf for far better prices

Struggling to see which bit you want to recoat. Given the choice I'd avoid paint. It doesn't last like gel which is almost forever but demands some skill to apply. Does it have to be smooth or textured.? If so how textured? Makes a big difference in the choice of material and applications

All the brown on the floor and sides is glue which is coming off. The white patch is what I've cleared so far.

I want to get a nice gloss finish on the gelcoat under the glue. This way I can apply the seadek straight on top. The seadek doesn't cover everything so still needs a relatively good finish. Here's an example

[gtflash]

Ah so patches where borders will be? A green smooth gloss roller applied gel coat has a lovely eggshell texture which would never offend anyone.

If you have enough gel coat left on boat. just sand it, then buff, start at 120-180, then move up the grits to 600-800 ish. If it's smooth ish already start 320 maybe. Then work up and buff with buffer wheel. An orbital sander or power polisher will do wonders. If you only have borders to make look pretty it shouldn't be that much work if they are flat. Corners and curves are difficult. It's very easy to go through the gel though. You may need to apply some more gel. It's not hard but time consuming. Ribraff on here is an expert on gelcoat sanding and polishing.

I've just done a gel repair of an area about 10cm x 80cm. Brushed on as it will lay down thicker with a brush. Prior to gel, Sanded area to 80 grit, wiped with acetone then once cured I will sand from 120 ish up. I'll use plenty of water. Change the water between grits and hose down the area between grits. Hopefully it will be done to a dull gloss in less than half hour of sanding.

[lukewhiting]

So I've got this far...

All the glue has been removed to leave a fairly good gel coat floor!

There are some marks & spare screw holes but other than that it's pretty good.

I'm putting the interior in so the seadek floor can be templated and made and I can see what bits of deck need to be touched up and what it's will be hidden.

That's if you can just touch it up???

I also need to remake some ski locker hatches...anyone have any bright ideas for them??

Cheers!

Attachment 1

[lukewhiting]

[gtflash]

Easy to touch up gel. A perfect colour match is less easy. If non structural then a catalysed gelcoat will fill screw holes easily. Bathe in acetone first. The holes not you, squeeze in the gelcoat, then cover in cling film, baking paper, pva or add wax to the mix. If structural add cabosil to the gel before catalysing.
Plastic padding gelcoat filler is pretty cool but very white. It depends how perfect you want it.

Locker hatches could be ply with a skin of glass each side. Or even a closed cell foam but it would add some issues. Where did the originals go?

[lukewhiting]

So an update so far...

Glue was fully removed and the gel coat was filled and smoothed. Finally found some glue removed that actually melted the glue so it just wiped off!

I ended up just using some hempel paint because the gel coat was in such good condition underneath.

Impressed with the paint! Cheap, quick and easy to do. I just used a roller and a brush for the edges. No artistic skill needed and it still dried to a perfect gloss.

I've now refitted all the seats, rewired in all the speakers and the AMP.

Plan for the ski hatches goes as...
Rear piece I have some spare super light weight floor from my old thundercat.
And for the front piece I'll just glass some ply, using batons to strengthen if needed.
Will then smooth and just paint over both.

Getting the seadek fitted beginning of next month hopefully!

[jeffstevens763@g]

thats come up really well Luke