Thread: Question about gel coat.

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I hope to be starting body work on my T soon and know very little about finshing fiberglass. I have a long seam aroung the top of my body where the interior insert was glued in. I saw a show recently about spraying gel coat over filler to keep seams from showing through the paint.

Is this something that needs to be done? If so, can gel coat be shot with a regular gravity fed gun? Any tips on fiberglass prep and painting would be greatly appreciated.

My paint experience is limited(very limited) to body work, primer and prep on metal. I've painted small parts before and hope to make this my first complete paint job.

I have done pretty extensive work on 'glass bodies,....many early Covette restorations, painted some T-buckets, built molds and replacement parts, painted many other 'glass bodies and parts, too,.... and I've found that 2-4 coats of urethane primer solves most problems with fiberglass, better than gel coat.

Just grind it, fill any imperfections, then primer.

With all the new products out these days, I wouldn't worry about breaking through a bit of gel coat... I do the same as HRP, just cover it with a few coats of urethene and move on....

I'll add another voice to Jay's comments. Epoxy sealers and high quality primers are made to block bleed through.

I would also remind that before touching abrasives to fiberglass that a thorough cleaning with a good wax and grease remover, followed by a complete soap and water wash will prevent driving contaminants down into the glass.

The seam has to go but as Bob has said, do a good cleanup first to remove any residual mold release agent. I start with some liquid dish detergent like Dawn or Palmolive, wash it down 2-3 times. Then I use the wax and grease remover - and unless you are letting it sit for a few days, the water based stuff will evaporate better. If you are just going to clean it then go off to work on something else, I really prefer the solvent based W&G remover.

The gel gloss on a 'glass part has to be removed and a tooth for primer made. I tend to use a little finer wet and dry paper then many - 180 or 220, but it does provide a good surface. Then - I use epoxy primer, and the best that I have found is Southern Polyurethane. You really don't even need any sealer as it is fully sandable.

If you can find a Wescott's catalog, they do have a pretty good write up on finishing fiberglass

Thanks for the info guys!

I knew someone(several actually) on here would have the answer.

I'm looking forward to getting to the finish stage.

Mike