Clearcoating Fiberglass Boat

Bartman

Member
I have not done this in a long, long time. Way back when I used to clear upper decks on bass boats with Restorer's Choice 2plus10 with good results. I'm not in the market of doing this, but my brother bought a 21 foot ski boat that someone has already clear coated. The clear coat failed and we pressure washed 90+% off. I don't see a single sand scratch. Looks like they may have washed it with a scotchbrite and cleared it. Anyway, on the questions. Can I use Universal Clear and what is the recommended prep? It is black gel coat with just a little bit of flake. The flakes are not like a bass boat, these are an inch apart.
 
i recently did this for a friend of mine.......his was getting that white haze real bad that they get so I had a candie mixed up to match his color as much as possible. I used W&G remover, scuffed with a scotch brite then sprayed the candie....it covered the white haze but allowed the flake to show through then I cleared it with universal clear. Been on the lake for 2 years now and still looks great !
 
gelcoat i sand with 320-400 then clear it. you want a good tooth for it to grab to. if not it can easily chip and peel. i paint alot of fiberglass. i do alot of yacht transoms and lettering so the whole back end of the boat will be done.
 
Thanks guys. And Jim, I didn't want to sway the conversation but way back when I did some bass boats, I prepped with 320 also. I found that a little more aggressive scratch adhered better and really was not noticeable over gel coat.
 
yes, polyesters are so chemical resistant that you have zero chemical adhesion to help you out. your clear and whatever else you put on gelcoat or glass will not bite in so your just relying on that scratch. 320 the gel then clean with a good acetone and clear it.
 
I've done a couple of boat hulls and several outdrives, other odds and ends using spi clear... definitely 320 for adhesion - AFTER thoroughly cleaning and then wetsanding the hull until the oxidized layers of gelcoat are gone (oxidized gelcoat is like a sponge and will hold all sorts of impurities, i've typically wound up doing this with slowly running water using 32o on a DA for clear gelcoat). if there's any metalflake or color you want to fix, now is the time to do it with gelcoat repair. I've had really good results with big chips in flake using a dremel tool to grind out the area, mixing a flake with the same color and size as the hull has, filling and filling the area with that. then you can use an airbrush to carefully "correct" any place where you had to remove a color border using when repairing the gel / flake... I've just used a little basecoat that matches the boat color. If any time between sanding and painting, I have scuffed (avoiding anyplace where I've brushed in / hidden a repair), cleaned thoroughly with por15 marine clean (just what I've had experience with) clear water rinse and shoot the clear. For any "regular" auto paint, only use below waterline for a trailer boat, and generally the euro clear is harder and more durable vs abrasion.... That's just my experience... my ski boat looks great still after 5+ years of hard use on the river here...
 
Boat turned out fine. Not my gig, I do cars but for family and friends I do almost anything. The issue on prepping this one was sanding just the right amount to remove oxidized gel coat but not too much to change the color. I've done a few boats over the years, not much fun to me. No issue with seeing the 320 prep under the SP UV clear. Gel coat is a lot harder than most substrates so a 320 scratch does not appear as coarse as 320 does over primer for instance.
 
Getting ready to paint my Boat from what i am reading you guys are just sanding the gel coat and clearing over it . i never painted a boat but want to do my Sea Ray in pearl White with some blue stripes . so is there any issue sanding the gel coat with 320 and doing it base clear with the SP UV clear . Thanks Shawn
 
if your painting then spray a thin sealer coat of epoxy primer under the base. a 1:1:1 mix and spray 1 coat would be fine. will get you much better adhesion. you really are better off not putting base right on the sanded gel.
 
Thanks do you think it will hold up or should i just skip the base coat and re clear the boat as is
 
sure it will hold up. the default these days for any higher end boat or yacht is a painted hull right from the mfg. they are usually using awlcraft or awlgrip but still painted. a thin epoxy then base then clear will be plenty durable. you do not paint the bottom though. hold your paint edge 1/4" above the chine.
 
This brings up a question I have about clearing gel coat: I have a 26 year old ocean boat that is in great condition. I hate the gel coat in a saltwater environment because I just can't keep it shiny and it's too much work every spring to cut and buff it every year. Really cuts into fishing time. I have always dreamed of painting it, but that would also take away from usable time as it would have to be done in the spring, no big shops around its home port. Is it possible that I could simply clear it over the factory gel coat and not have to base coat it too? Not sure if the color would change with a 320 sand, but the whole boat is basically off-white hull color top to bottom.
Thanks
 
if your going to do the whole hull one color then don't do base/clear or even just clear. just clear would be a waste. use a single stage. typically awlcraft would be the product of choice.
 
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