Ready for gelcoat
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Ready for gelcoat
ok, got all the bodywork done , masked the car off and I'm going to spray this baby with gelcoat tomorrow morning, I've constructed a spray booth , as per dubs instructions, and I think I'm ready to go. I'll post pictures when I'm done , if I can figure out how
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
I took dubs advise and bolted all the bumpers on, to make sure they fit, glad I did, had to make a few alterations, and they fit like a dream. Luckily I had just got all the chrome and trim back from the platers .
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 361
From: Monson MA
Please share what brand, amount, and what you will be spraying over the gelcoat. I am almost ready for final sanding of the fiberglass. Also what grit paper did you prep with. Ant details on the booth build would be appreciated. I will be using my garage also.
Thanks,Peter
Thanks,Peter
Last edited by twinpack; Jan 28, 2019 at 09:45 AM.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,349
Likes: 1,578
From: los altos hills california
Gee I keep editing this ... you cannot ever have enough light and from every angle too. Do an imaginary walk around with a spray gun. Apologies if you already know all this.
If you will be spraying a metallic, you want the doors vertical.
Last edited by ignatz; Jan 28, 2019 at 12:21 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Wow, just finished, turned out great, spraying two gallons of gelcoat on a car is time consuming. The product I used is a generic brand available at a local plastic supply place we have here in Victoria BC , they are the only ones that carry any gelcoat here. I bought two gallons of the neutral coloured stuff , and 250 ml of black tint, I split that between the two gallons and it turned it jet black. I used a gravity feed gun I had with. 3.0 tip on it, it is set up with the disposable pot system , which you really need for this process. I experimented a bit, and ended up reducing the gelcoat a little more than 10 percent with styrene and adding 16 ml of MPK per 800 ml paint pot, it's not very warm here so that's the max they recommend ( 8 degrees Celsius, 47 Fahrenheit) I was going to add wax to the last coat, on the advise of the people at the supply store , but after talking to DUB this morning I opted to top coat the gelcoat with PVA, and it seems to have worked great, I sprayed about two quarts on, as per DUBs advise.
as to the question , " why use gelcoat" I was going to skip this step but after talking with guys like DUB and a few other painters , I decided to use gelcoat to seal everything up , before going to polyester primer, a lot of work but I have lots of time and I'm going to keep this car, and I want to do the best job possible.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Exactly my thought on the gelcoat vs primer - but great prep work. But I am adding a cautionary note about the setup and maybe the booth, I seem to remember paint not sticking to whatever it was I had shielded my open body areas in. Pretty sure it was two mil mylar but not positive. You do not want this to come unstuck while you are spraying, and I can't tell what the cockpit area is. Paper is the good stuff.
Gee I keep editing this ... you cannot ever have enough light and from every angle too. Do an imaginary walk around with a spray gun. Apologies if you already know all this.
If you will be spraying a metallic, you want the doors vertical.
Gee I keep editing this ... you cannot ever have enough light and from every angle too. Do an imaginary walk around with a spray gun. Apologies if you already know all this.
If you will be spraying a metallic, you want the doors vertical.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,349
Likes: 1,578
From: los altos hills california
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Just went out to the shop to check on things , the pva seems to have done its job, everything has rocked up hard. Forgot to ask anyone how long to leave it before you sand it? I saw a YouTube video where they were going to leave it for a month?! I was thinking a few days would be lots, I'm stoked to get sanding and get the primer on. I'm not stoked to have to mask it all off again , though ,lol
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Please share what brand, amount, and what you will be spraying over the gelcoat. I am almost ready for final sanding of the fiberglass. Also what grit paper did you prep with. Ant details on the booth build would be appreciated. I will be using my garage also.
Thanks,Peter
Thanks,Peter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 361
From: Monson MA
hey peter, I took DUBs idea and just strung two cables down the length of the garage using screw eyes and turnbuckles, then looped poly over the whole thing and used tuck tape on the floor and seems. Worked great, although I have to say there is almost no overspray with the gelcoat , it basically comes out of the gun and lands on the car. I prepped the car to 80 grit, and then gave it a quick blocking with 180 ( probably not necessary)
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,753
From: Charlotte NC
Dave.
The temperature is important when you are being concerned about how long to let it sit before you block on it. SO...a cold temperature like 50 degrees F is really not enough to really do much even if you let it sit for a week.
IF you can get the body really warm by using an alternate heat source and still allow the air from time to time to be expelled out of your garage so you do not have a possible vapor explosion issue....which depends on what your alternate heat source is and where it is being placed in regards to the environment of where the vapors can collect......I weld heat it up and then you should be OK.
I use a 185,000 BTU kerosene salamander heater and blow air into the room my paint booth is in and even with fans being on.... on a 50 degree F day I can get my booth to 80 degrees F. Once I KNOW the vapors are all but gone I can REALLY heat up my booth to about 120+ degrees to further get the body hot...and occasionally turn my booth fans on to get some of the heated air/vapors out... so I have no surprises when the car actually gets outside in the summer and the body gets that hot on a sunny day. THAT is what you are kind of looking for. A way to get it hot as (or hotter) if it were outside on a hot sunny day.. It is not a requirement..but logically...it makes sense. Put the body through the same temperature as you know it will EVENTUALLY go through so nothing pops up on you.
SUPER GLAD you went and got the PVA and I think by how well it turned out...or discussion on this helped your because it looks good it the photos.
DUB
The temperature is important when you are being concerned about how long to let it sit before you block on it. SO...a cold temperature like 50 degrees F is really not enough to really do much even if you let it sit for a week.
IF you can get the body really warm by using an alternate heat source and still allow the air from time to time to be expelled out of your garage so you do not have a possible vapor explosion issue....which depends on what your alternate heat source is and where it is being placed in regards to the environment of where the vapors can collect......I weld heat it up and then you should be OK.
I use a 185,000 BTU kerosene salamander heater and blow air into the room my paint booth is in and even with fans being on.... on a 50 degree F day I can get my booth to 80 degrees F. Once I KNOW the vapors are all but gone I can REALLY heat up my booth to about 120+ degrees to further get the body hot...and occasionally turn my booth fans on to get some of the heated air/vapors out... so I have no surprises when the car actually gets outside in the summer and the body gets that hot on a sunny day. THAT is what you are kind of looking for. A way to get it hot as (or hotter) if it were outside on a hot sunny day.. It is not a requirement..but logically...it makes sense. Put the body through the same temperature as you know it will EVENTUALLY go through so nothing pops up on you.
SUPER GLAD you went and got the PVA and I think by how well it turned out...or discussion on this helped your because it looks good it the photos.
DUB
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Ok good to know Dub, I have the heat on in the garage and can keep it at about 70, but I do have one of those salamander heaters at my shop and will really get it cranked up in there . My buddy is free next Saturday, and we were really hoping to start sanding and get it into polyester early next week.
so with the PVA you just roll the car outside and wash it off with a hose? Crap, so much for leaving all that masking on for the primer, oh well
so with the PVA you just roll the car outside and wash it off with a hose? Crap, so much for leaving all that masking on for the primer, oh well
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 396
Likes: 36
From: Victoria BC
Oh one other thing I was going to mention; after reducing the gelcoat a little over 10 percent and adding the MEK , 2 gallons resulted exactly 5 coats on the car and all the pieces ( doors hood etc. ) DUB had advised me to do some test samples and use a mil gauge to see how thick it ended up but I was too impatient, but I can tell you there is a **** load ( to use a technical term) of material on there, I should measure the garage door it may have to be widened to get the car out of there.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 361
From: Monson MA
Dave.
The temperature is important when you are being concerned about how long to let it sit before you block on it. SO...a cold temperature like 50 degrees F is really not enough to really do much even if you let it sit for a week.
IF you can get the body really warm by using an alternate heat source and still allow the air from time to time to be expelled out of your garage so you do not have a possible vapor explosion issue....which depends on what your alternate heat source is and where it is being placed in regards to the environment of where the vapors can collect......I weld heat it up and then you should be OK.
I use a 185,000 BTU kerosene salamander heater and blow air into the room my paint booth is in and even with fans being on.... on a 50 degree F day I can get my booth to 80 degrees F. Once I KNOW the vapors are all but gone I can REALLY heat up my booth to about 120+ degrees to further get the body hot...and occasionally turn my booth fans on to get some of the heated air/vapors out... so I have no surprises when the car actually gets outside in the summer and the body gets that hot on a sunny day. THAT is what you are kind of looking for. A way to get it hot as (or hotter) if it were outside on a hot sunny day.. It is not a requirement..but logically...it makes sense. Put the body through the same temperature as you know it will EVENTUALLY go through so nothing pops up on you.
SUPER GLAD you went and got the PVA and I think by how well it turned out...or discussion on this helped your because it looks good it the photos.
DUB
The temperature is important when you are being concerned about how long to let it sit before you block on it. SO...a cold temperature like 50 degrees F is really not enough to really do much even if you let it sit for a week.
IF you can get the body really warm by using an alternate heat source and still allow the air from time to time to be expelled out of your garage so you do not have a possible vapor explosion issue....which depends on what your alternate heat source is and where it is being placed in regards to the environment of where the vapors can collect......I weld heat it up and then you should be OK.
I use a 185,000 BTU kerosene salamander heater and blow air into the room my paint booth is in and even with fans being on.... on a 50 degree F day I can get my booth to 80 degrees F. Once I KNOW the vapors are all but gone I can REALLY heat up my booth to about 120+ degrees to further get the body hot...and occasionally turn my booth fans on to get some of the heated air/vapors out... so I have no surprises when the car actually gets outside in the summer and the body gets that hot on a sunny day. THAT is what you are kind of looking for. A way to get it hot as (or hotter) if it were outside on a hot sunny day.. It is not a requirement..but logically...it makes sense. Put the body through the same temperature as you know it will EVENTUALLY go through so nothing pops up on you.
SUPER GLAD you went and got the PVA and I think by how well it turned out...or discussion on this helped your because it looks good it the photos.
DUB
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,753
From: Charlotte NC
So DUB, after spraying the gelcoat, how long to wait before spraying the PVA. I curing in a 70* garage, how long before rinsing it off or do you let it sit a few weeks and then rinse. I like this approach to lock down any work performed. This thread is timely. Sorry for the high jack again but I need this info. I plan on starting next week on my booth.
DUB