58 FonZie

can anyone recommend a Gel COAT Brand? Waxed or un-waxed type? I'm aware of EcKlers Gelcoat (waxed) but anywhere else that I can purchase the Gel COAT with sacrificing the quality or is EcKlers the only place i should get it from?
Also, after spraying the Gel Coat , do you block sand it or wait to put on a high build polyester primer. I'm in CA so a lot of PPG's DP is not available any longer.
So if anyone can suggest steps or see below if i have it right?
1) body and fiberglass work
2) body filler
3) gel coating
4) primer surfacer
5) primer sealer
6) paint
Thanks

Nowhere Man

the factory never gel coated. so why do you need too

64Corvette

58 FonZie, Go to: http://www.fibreglast.com good products and they have alot of how to vedios and information. They will also are very helpful in answering question on the phone. I bought from them and I also bought many of my gelcoats from local boat building shops. Of all the years building radio control boats and repairing Corvettes I was only told by one shop they would not sell me gelcoats or supplies! Most of the shops were very nice eager to sell or help!

"It didn't come with gelcoat from the factory so why put gelcoat on it now," This has been talked about many times here before so I will only say this, If you want a 'shell' over the raw and repaired fiber glass that will not be effected by the chemicals of the top coats and you want it to last for many years then use gelcoat to seal it off.

Mike Terry

The orange that you see is gel coat and to me that was the only way to go. The last pic shows you can sand it and primer it also. Sorry I do not remember the brand. I do know that iyt came from a place in Dayton Ohio.

58 FonZie

Probably true but with today's paints at least that's what i've been hearing would lift some of the fibers up. In the 50's i'm sure you could have gotten primers (red oxide) just about anywhere and would probably be compatible with the fiberglass,

58 FonZie

Thanks so much! that's great advice...

58 FonZie

Thank you, looks awesome..

59BlueSilver

My career was in aircraft fiberglass bonding and I don't like gel coats either.

Nowhere Man

I am not a body shop guy by trade but is/was. Gel coat used in fiberglass boats only to seal the boat to make it water tight. What benifit does it have. Becouse I know plenty of these cars that was painted without gel coat with no ill effects. And we all know the original paint cars out there that held up just fine

59BlueSilver

Robert61

You might want to read a thread by forum member Not Red Rob, '58 rest mod project getting started. He gel coated his and the condensed version is it didn't set up after many months and had to be stripped and repainted. If any of you have experience in reguard to gel coating I'd like to hear it as well. Is this not the process, first a mold release is applied, then gel coat, then the fiber glass? This is all while each coat is wet. It would seem to me the bonding would be completely different than coming back to a 60 year old body and spraying gel coat over it. Not intending to hijack the thread just looking to add to it.

Ktholin

By the way, I live in Southern California and have been able to buy non compliant paint at my local auto paint store. I just purchased PPG Concept series paint including PPG DP epoxy primer. The store requires me to sign a form indicating I am a non professional paint less than 15 cars per year, etc. This is a large, well known supplier. You can PM me if you want the store info.

emccomas

The early fiberglass (1953 to 1958) had a high resin content, and is very prone to minute cracking. It is a real pain in the butt to fix properly. All of those cracks have to be ground out and refilled with glass and resin.

The fiberglass / resin mix changed in 1959, and the glass is easier to work with.

Early cars will, in my opinion, benefit from a gel coat treatment. That old fiberglass is very dry and porous, and it splinters easily. I have seen this happen so many times on restored cars.

Not original, and generally makes the car body look better than it should.

Having said that, gel coat can be difficult to work with. It definitely takes a good hand.

I got all of this from my Corvette body man. He started repairing Corvettes in 1958, when he put a fender on a wrecked 1957. He is still restoring old Corvettes today.

emccomas

A bit backwards...the gel coats goes on after the fiberglass.

Here is a link to gel coating a fiberglass boat. Similar procedure. One step that seems to get missed is that gel coat dries in the absence if air, so a coat of wax is often used to seal the gel coat so it can dry / cure.

Gel coating a car after 1959, probably not much gain. Gel coating an early car will save lots of time, and provide a significant level of protection. Has anyone ever seen an early car after an accident. That old brittle fiberglass just shatters.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=..._2V71Gzaba-vBA

Robert61

You may be the most experienced guy thete is in fiber glass. I have no way of knowing. But swimming pools are made in the order i described. This is why i would like to here from pros. Again you may be that guy.

emccomas

Definitely not me, but my Corvette body man, probably. Like I said, boats are done in a similar process.

Your comment about pools didn't make sense, so I did some checking. Fiberglass pools are made inside out. The lowest layer, the outside layer, is put on first. That is the gel coat layer. Then comes the fiberglass, then the resin, then I think another layer of gel coat (perhaps) or a separation agent (like PVA). So the gel coat layer is on the outside when the pool is pulled from the mold. That is essentially the same thing as spraying a layer of gel coat on the outside of the body of a Corvette.

I am NOT a pool expert, I actually know very little about them, but this is what I gathered from the internet.

Robert61

I know a guy that has a pool building business. Thats how theyve always done it. When i research gel coating they say the same thing that gel coat is applied first.

emccomas

Absolutely, because pools are made inside out. The top layer goes on first. That is the gel coat layer. That is the layer that will be exposed to the elements.

Top layer = Gel coat
2nd Layer = Fiberglass
3rd layer = Resin (mixed with 2nd layer)
4th layer = Mold release agent (like Poly Vinyl Alcohol PVA)

The key is that the gel coat is the top layer of the pool, Corvette, whatever. This is the layer that the primer and paint is applied to.

58 FonZie

Thank you so much for your post and insight. Great info..👍🏻

SolidAxle