Hello all! I come today with a question... or maybe more so I come in search of opinions.
I am currently working on a 95 XP720 semi-resto project, nearing the end of it, I have obviously saved the best for last.
After about a month of procrastination, I have finally flipped the ski over to begin attempting to re gelcote the hull. I have been putting this off because I am a mechanic, not a painter and this prospect makes me somewhat nervous. This is amplified by the fact that I have quite a large area to do and compounded by the previous owner's work.
At some point, this ski hit something hard and had a pretty decent sized hole, as well as the surrounding area suffering some damage, and has extensive areas where gelcoat the has been stripped away. It appears to me that the previous owner took the ski to someone who knew what they were doing with the fiber glass. The repair seems to have been executed very well and looks like it did a good job of maintaing the structural integrity of the hull.
After this repair was done, I can only guess that the previous owner said something like "No you don't need to paint it I can do that", then proceded to actually paint the hull.
My question is mostly related to prep, I have put several hours into researching through the actual process of applying the gelcote and have all that worked out. I am just not sure where I need to start with prep / how in depth the prep needs to be. Looking at the ski it feels like I should just go ahead and do the entire hull, but is that going to be unneeded work?
Obviously I need to sand it, but how far do I sand?
-Do i just need to sand the peaks down where the chips begin?
-What grit(s) should I be using?
In lieu of trying to answer my jumbled mess of rambling questions -
If this ski was flipped over in front of you, what would your plan of attack be?
I have scowered the forums and internet in search of someone giving a clear answer to my questions, but it seems that everything I find is pertaining to a MUCH smaller area and mostly is chip repairs. I know the subject has been beat to death on this forum, but I just didnt feel that I am prepared enough for my specific situation to jump into it.
As always, any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Nick
I am currently working on a 95 XP720 semi-resto project, nearing the end of it, I have obviously saved the best for last.
After about a month of procrastination, I have finally flipped the ski over to begin attempting to re gelcote the hull. I have been putting this off because I am a mechanic, not a painter and this prospect makes me somewhat nervous. This is amplified by the fact that I have quite a large area to do and compounded by the previous owner's work.
At some point, this ski hit something hard and had a pretty decent sized hole, as well as the surrounding area suffering some damage, and has extensive areas where gelcoat the has been stripped away. It appears to me that the previous owner took the ski to someone who knew what they were doing with the fiber glass. The repair seems to have been executed very well and looks like it did a good job of maintaing the structural integrity of the hull.
After this repair was done, I can only guess that the previous owner said something like "No you don't need to paint it I can do that", then proceded to actually paint the hull.
My question is mostly related to prep, I have put several hours into researching through the actual process of applying the gelcote and have all that worked out. I am just not sure where I need to start with prep / how in depth the prep needs to be. Looking at the ski it feels like I should just go ahead and do the entire hull, but is that going to be unneeded work?
Obviously I need to sand it, but how far do I sand?
-Do i just need to sand the peaks down where the chips begin?
-What grit(s) should I be using?
In lieu of trying to answer my jumbled mess of rambling questions -
If this ski was flipped over in front of you, what would your plan of attack be?
I have scowered the forums and internet in search of someone giving a clear answer to my questions, but it seems that everything I find is pertaining to a MUCH smaller area and mostly is chip repairs. I know the subject has been beat to death on this forum, but I just didnt feel that I am prepared enough for my specific situation to jump into it.
As always, any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Nick
