Repairing gelcoat (canoe)

[Sire]

Hi
I have a couple of older fibreglass canadian canoes, both of which have fairly deep scratches and abrasions where they have been dragged over the ground, scraped against rocks etc. Structurally they seem to be perfectly sound.
Would a repair consisting of fibreglass filler, followed by two-pack epoxy paint be a reasonable way to smarten them up?

Secondly, the previous owner of one of the canoes had given it a coat of regular exterior gloss at some point. This, unsurprisingly, has started to flake off after a couple of months use. Would regular paint stripper of the Nitromors variety be ok to use to remove this or would another method or product be better?
Thanks!

 

[oldsaltoz]

Hi
I have a couple of older fibreglass Canadian canoes, both of which have fairly deep scratches and abrasions where they have been dragged over the ground, scraped against rocks etc. Structurally they seem to be perfectly sound.
Would a repair consisting of fibreglass filler, followed by two-pack epoxy paint be a reasonable way to smarten them up?
Thanks!

G'day Sire,

Many canoes were made with an Epoxy based resin (Lighter and stronger) so any repairs you do will requie an epoxy resin, even if made of standard Poly resin because the epoxy adheres much better and has a herder surface then poly resin.

However epoxy is not UV stable so will need protection from sunlight.

You could mix some Micro-spheres (Glass bubbles) with an epoxy resin mixed to a toothpaste thickness and apply with an old credit card as a former.

Then wait 24 hours for it cure and sand it down with 250 grit sandpaper.

Before painting it though you will have to apply a coat of Epoxy primer, then you van add any paint you like.

Even a new layer of gel-coat; or I shold say Flow-coat, it's the same as gel-coat but has wax added to the mix so you can apply it with a roller and tip it off with brush (Long bristles about 50 mm wide) working to a wet edge).

You could even spray it on but use high pressure and a small 1.5 or 2 tip with low volume or you risk and orange peel finish.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[nimbusgb]

Nitromors will strip off the old 'regular' paint. Work in small sections, stripping as soon as the paint 'crinkles' and don't let the nitromors stay too long on the old gelcoat as it will soften it over time. I did an composite aircraft strip with nitromors with no ill effects except for very, very sore arms and lots of caustic burns

 

[gordmac]

Would gellcoat filler do?

 

[oldsaltoz]

Would gellcoat filler do?

If the hull is sound it will do great job, but it will have to be an Epoxy based gel-coat (or flow coat) because the standard resin stuff just won't stick too well.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[Sire]

Thanks very much folks!