to gel or not to gel, that's the question
06-25-2010, 01:09 PM
#1
1st Gear
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Member Since: Jun 2010
Location: Abbeville La.
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to gel or not to gel, that's the question
I'm new to this forum and need some help. I've read different views on gelcoat vs epoxy primer. I'm working on a 63 vette that was repaired and repainted probably 35 years ago. The reason I say this is was sanded down to glass, sprayed with red oxide lacquer primer and painted gold.I had the worst time getting it off 'cause it gummed up the paper real fast. Now I'm down to the fiberglass but don't know what to apply. Some say gelcoat, others epoxy primer. As a guy who's been in this line of work since the early 80's, I've never had to deal with this before. A friend who has a shop says he uses seahawk gelcoat. others say use PPG DP epoxy then prime with high build. Anybody out there that has info, HELP. I don't want to mess this up. thanks Donald in Louisiana.
06-25-2010, 06:15 PM
#2
Team Owner
This HELP forum is for help with the forum itself. You should repost your thread in the C1 & C2 forum.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-and-c2-corvettes-4/
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-and-c2-corvettes-4/
08-20-2018, 08:52 AM
#3
Drifting
while i do not use gelcoat as much as i did in the past on this particular car i would. using gelcoat was started back in the lacquer days. it was the only way to hold down major repairs and stop ghosting .everything we do is a god awful mess . nature of the beast .
epoxy works well for me but i have plenty of cure time and like dub i've used my method for years . good luck with it .
epoxy works well for me but i have plenty of cure time and like dub i've used my method for years . good luck with it .
Last edited by porchdog; 08-20-2018 at 08:54 AM. Reason: ended up in wrong thread ,
08-20-2018, 06:56 PM
#4
Race Director
For what this is worth:
I would gelcoat it. I gelcoat the early pre-SMC Corvettes and that process is not deviated from.
Gelcoat is in a world all its own and has properties that are unmatched by other products. Some of them come close..but they still are not gelcoat.
Now...you can apply epoxy primer and then a polyester primer if you choose to do so. You can apply epoxy primer and then some K36 from PPG if you want to.
Some may apply a layer of WEST SYSTEMS epoxy resin and then prime on that. That seems to be a method that provides benefits also but I choose not to do it due to I have to wonder am I actually gaining anything in doing it when the Corvettes I gelcoat do not have any problems.
If you choose to apply the gelcoat..and you can check with your friend who uses gelcoat. I would make sure you apply at least 20 mils of it.
I know how you must feel when you get numerous opinions on the subject and I can say that most of them all have some validity to them. I can say that when I began repairing Corvettes a long time ago. the process I used back then is not what I use now due to always striving to provide a level of repair that i feel is in my best interests so I do not have to go back in on a job and repair it due to using an inferior product or omit a product and procedure.. I have lived though the jobs that were ready to leave the shop and they had to be taken back in the shop and completely stripped all the way back down and the job done all over again. So I have my fair share of scars on what to do and what NOT to do.
DUB
I would gelcoat it. I gelcoat the early pre-SMC Corvettes and that process is not deviated from.
Gelcoat is in a world all its own and has properties that are unmatched by other products. Some of them come close..but they still are not gelcoat.
Now...you can apply epoxy primer and then a polyester primer if you choose to do so. You can apply epoxy primer and then some K36 from PPG if you want to.
Some may apply a layer of WEST SYSTEMS epoxy resin and then prime on that. That seems to be a method that provides benefits also but I choose not to do it due to I have to wonder am I actually gaining anything in doing it when the Corvettes I gelcoat do not have any problems.
If you choose to apply the gelcoat..and you can check with your friend who uses gelcoat. I would make sure you apply at least 20 mils of it.
I know how you must feel when you get numerous opinions on the subject and I can say that most of them all have some validity to them. I can say that when I began repairing Corvettes a long time ago. the process I used back then is not what I use now due to always striving to provide a level of repair that i feel is in my best interests so I do not have to go back in on a job and repair it due to using an inferior product or omit a product and procedure.. I have lived though the jobs that were ready to leave the shop and they had to be taken back in the shop and completely stripped all the way back down and the job done all over again. So I have my fair share of scars on what to do and what NOT to do.
DUB