Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, cause I'm basing this on my '69... I'm pretty sure there ain't no gelcoat on a '64. Should be bare glass, topped with red oxide primer then a sealer coat. I stripped my '69 down to the red oxide and repainted from there.

Shannon

 

Shannon,

I believe that you are right, I remember John Hinckley saying a couple of months ago on the NCRS board that GM never used gel-coat.

Patrick, have him take it down all the way, that is how my car is right now. Another thing to remember is that if the car has been previously painted/ gel-coated, if he is using Bc/CC it might not stick to the old surfacer.

Tom McCabe

 

This must be a trick question.:D

Corvettes, aside from the very early C1s, NEVER had any gel coat. They don't need it now. Check the NCRS Tech board archive for the great debate. The glass surface does need a sealer to prevent loose strands from popping out, but gel coat is not the #1 choice for that. My guy used featherseal.

 

Yeah, Patrick, the first thing your friend better do is find himself another painter because its obvious this clown he's dealing with wouldn't know gelcoat if it bit him in the but. You can strip down to the bare glass and that's it; what's this guy want, the glass fibers sticking out at him? He's looking for a reason not to warrantee the paint job.

 

Patrick, The constant running battle is over wether gelcoat should be used at all! The manner in which the cars panels were molded (press molding), meant that gelcoat per se was not used on the original panels. Gelcoat is usually used in hand molded parts that are built up one layer at a time from the rear into a negative mold. the use of gel coat assures a smooth surface which has no air bubbles or strands of glass showing. Gelcoat is nothing but liquid polyester resin with a pigment which is sprayed into the mold and allowed to partially cure before the process continues. Press molded parts are made from resin soaked sheets being pressed between two matching dies (a negative and a positive),which is heated. This process assures parts which are of uniform thickness, are smooth on both sides, and have very few air bubbles trapped at the surface to mar the finish. This process produces parts with a very fast cycle time due to the heated dies and was adopted because of the need for fast production. Both parts are made of glass fiber mat and polyester resin (the same stuff that gelcoat is made of). The argument is that the General NEVER used gelcoat so it should not be used in restoration. My opinion is that this is a bunch of crap! The General may have never have sprayed a gelcoat layer on the panels, but polyester resin most assuredly existed on the surface of the panels as that is what the panels are made of!!!
I belive that gelcoat is a very effective means of sealing down loose fibers, filling small cracks and preventing old repairs from telegraphing through. some people prefer to use one of the newer polyester surfacers such as slick sand to achieve the same goal. some of the same people who po-po gelcoat as non-original, will think nothing of using slick sand as a primer surfacer. In my humble opinion (which I am sure that many people will disagree with), Gelcoat is a superior product to the polyester sufacers as a base to build a finish on. The surfacers have a large of inert material in them which renders them softer and eaiser to sand, but do not provide as hard and dense a surface to prevent small cracks and chemicals from coming back to the top. Now for the downside. Sanding down gelcoat is without a doubt one of the most miserable jobs there is in corvette restoration. It is very hard and has a parrifin wax in it which helps it to lay on smoother, which just clogs the sandpaper used to remove it. This can be minimized by using 80 grit wet or dry to get the surface smooth, as the wet sanding will keep the top layer of parrifin from cloging. The other downside is that any surfacer will by nature tend to fill and smooth the bond lines and imperfections that some people look for in judging a corvette. Surfacing and block sanding enough will yeild a perfect body which is not what judges look for. Done to a minimum will still yeild a body which will be acceptable to any judge. I personally NEVER strip a body to bare glass without sufracing it with one of the two products, but in my opinion the gelcoat is a better product. Sorry for being so verbose but wanted to give facts not just opinion. John :seeya :seeya :seeya

 

There's no gelcoat. The best way to paint is to strip it to bare glass, then correct any obvious surface or structual problems, then start with the priming. Any painter
who wants to shoot "gelcoat" shouldn't be painting midyears.

Duke

 

Well, this debate will rage on till the end of time. When I was working on my 68, I stripped it, and had loose glass strands pop through the bonding seams. I debated whether to use gel coat of FiberGlass Evercoat's Slick Sand. I opted for the Slick Sand. I sprayed it on in the winter of 98, outside in 40 degree evening. By morning the body surface was hard as a rock. The trick is to let all the solvents evaporate before shooting the laquer. I let the body sit for half a year while I did other things. So far no regrets, no problems.

To tell the truth, I don't thing it matters a whole lot because once the paint is applied who's gonna know what ya have underneath, Gel Coat or Slick Sand, or nuthin'. Gel Coat requires a ton of work and practically eliminates all the factory flaws in the panels, critical for judging purposes.

 

No gelcoat on OEM Corvette body panels. I think what the painter refers to is the factory undercoats. He prefers to have those removed and to begin his work on bare fiberglass. I would tend to think the car would not need gelcoat and there would be no need for the painter to shoot it. Save the time, money, and the labor involved.

 

George, the only thing I disagree with you on is that gelcoat does not hide seams any more than slick sand does. Both products work well and slick sand is eaiser to use. Have been painting cars for over 30 years and would never put lacquer primer and paint on top of a stripped or blasted body with out one of the two products. The glass fibers WILL come back to the surface in time on a lacquer paint job. Lacquer never totally cures and this gives the fibers time to work their way up to the surface. Can't comment on urethane paint as I have never shot urethane on a corvette, but my guess is that it would probably not be absoutely necessary due to the hard cure of urethane. I have seen your paint work and you shoot a nice paint job. If someone came to me and wanted me to shoot their car with lacquer with out putting a polyester surfacer on first, I would refuse the job as well. Anybody who would call someone a Bozo who refused to paint a car with out it just either doesn't understand the mechanics of paint or has just been brainwashed by the GENERAL DIDN'T DO IT crowd. :seeya

 

Patric when I did my car.I had the choice of media blasting car (around $600.00) car had to be completely apart media blaster said if its solid car no problems but if it had repare the media blasting could destroy the fiber glass and he had no gaureentees.Or chemical strip with the product from ecklers with plastic spreaders and steel wool and scotch brite pads.The down side of that was the fear that the chemicals would leach into the fiberglass and then evaporate once the car was painted and complete.I ended up just blocking the car down with wet sand paper and a block sander.The down side of this is that it took forever and it was alot of work and also the car is straight as a arrow whitch I thought looked great untill I seen some original surviver cars and seen all the ripples our car had from the factory.

 

If Varooom were here, I would risk inciting his ire, but what I can see of your 57 looks real nice. :D What type paint is that, acrylic enamel? Doesn't appear to be lacquer since it has gloss in every knook and cranny.

 

Patric is this a work in progress.or a car before the yellow one

 

stripped three paint jobs from the 69 then gel coated, five years later no problem, 12 Best Paints, Base Clear, screw NCRS BS. A good Corvette experienced painter can fool the best if that is the target base clear can look VERY similar to lacquer.