Hello, I took my bonnet off a couple of days ago because I thought the paint was cracked.

However, when I sanded the paint off I found that it's the gelcoat underneath that's cracked, a much longer job to repair.

Most opinions on the net say to dremel the cracks deeper, then fill and rub down again before respraying.

Is there a better way please as I can see me slipping and sliding all over the place with my dremel and causing more damage?





Cheers

Hugh the 2nd

If you need a new one moulding Absolute Veedubs have the moulds.

01386 553657

I would add some more fibreglass to the underside to strengthen it then v the cracks out and fill them. Got some here that need doing but hate body work.

Quote from: Manxdavid on March 31, 2019, 07:10:05 PM
If you need a new one moulding Absolute Veedubs have the moulds.

01386 553657

Wow, thanks, I'll give them a ring when I've made a mess of it 
Are you sure they have moulds for Kyote bodies?

Quote from: snoopy on March 31, 2019, 07:12:00 PM
I would add some more fibreglass to the underside to strengthen it then v the cracks out and fill them. Got some here that need doing but hate body work.

Good plan, thanks.
Then of course there's the respray to do; I'm rubbish at paintwork

Cheers

Hugh the 2nd

 
thats some serious cracks,,
as snoopy says if your gonna go down the repair route reinforce it from behind first.
my 2p to add is dont just v cut the cracks you must tap the ends of the cracks to stop them spreading further. also any intersecting crack points need to be drilled out as they are weak spots.
even after you repair they can still stress and continue to spread unless you stop them in their tracks,

(at first it might look orible but do a repair properly, that pic isnt the best but it shows taping the ends of the cracks before v cutting to repair.)
tedious work,, use chop strand, resin and silica powder mix (sands down better than just resin and chop strand)  to fill the holes you drill and gelcoat to fill the cracks cling film or tape over the gelcoat repairs to cure,, do not use body filler for this process as this can itself shrink or crack only use the body filler to smooth off after you have done any repairs.
Rich

Oh oh, sounds like I'm getting in deeper 

Cheers

Hugh the 2nd

found this beaut of a vid for you to watch,,
its not how i was taught but then i wasnt taught to do repairs of this size,, so could be golod for you with a whole bonnet to do
https://youtu.be/i9HbPP8A0Fo
Rich.

Quote from: Badger on April 01, 2019, 10:20:54 PM
found this beaut of a vid for you to watch,,
its not how i was taught but then i wasnt taught to do repairs of this size,, so could be golod for you with a whole bonnet to do
https://youtu.be/i9HbPP8A0Fo
Rich.

Thanks, watched it. Well out of my depth now. Think I'll find a workshop to deal with it

Cheers

Hugh the 2nd

Hugh..... Repairing fibreglass is not difficult. You just need patience and a fair bit of nerve to grind\sand quite a bit of existing material away...

Essentialy...  imagine a cross section through the "panel"... say approx 4 to 6mm thick.   Imagine a crack or a hole of 50mm dia.

From the "outer" surface grind away quite a larger area starting from the "outer" side and tapering the hole you produce to a smaller area at the inner side...

"Glass" the inner to provide a base to allow a mixture of resin and "glass" to be applied to the hole from the outer side. Let it cure for a while.

Now.... use an orbital sander on the panel to go well down into the total surface of the panel gel coat. Quite a rough grit at this point. Remove all dust particles and wipe thoroughly with acetone to remove any oils from your hands. Don`t touch the surface again with your hands unless you are wearing clean latex gloves. Look for pin prick holes, and dings. Use a stopper to fill and fine sand again. Clean up again. Use a high fill primer, not etch primer, sand and repeat until all looks good. (This prep is 80% of all work). When you happy. Mist coat with colour. Use wet and dry, about 800 grade. Low spots will have paint left in. High spots won`t. Use the stopper again if you need to to. When fully happy apply colour coats.

Two things most folk do when painting fibreglass....  To many, too thick coats of paint. This will not flex well and will eventually crack\flake. 2nd try to polish it far too soon. Give it a few weeks for solvents to disperse.  All sounds a bit daunting but it`s not. Just a bit of practice.

Thanks for all your help
It'll be a few days before I get started again on this, and I'll need to get some glass and resin in first.

Cheers

Hugh the 2nd

Have a go at it

If all goes to plan you will get really sticky, covered in resin and find that its actually really easy to do

If it fails, then sand it all back and have another go at it

If all really really fails, then adopt your plan B and get someone else to do it, but it shouldn`t cost any more for the few minutes in sanding off your mistakes, so its worth having a crack at it.

Hugh.... Important..... Fibreglass matting is standard. However the resin is not. I no longer remember the correct terms but "David`s Isopon must be used only with the pink catalyst.   The other version of resin is different and the catalyst also. Flea bay has both mat & resin available together.

Both types are of the same ratio mix..... Don`t get bogged down with percentage mix... Work on about 2% of catalyst.

Isopon catalyst is pink and a semi solid.... Think an apple size for the resin. Pea size for catalyst.

The other polyester version .... Catalyst is liquid. 2% not easy to judge.  The blueish resin will go greenish when catalyst is mixed. This all takes time  to suss out but it will be worth it. The big no no with fibreglass application is not to try to accelerate the curing of the applied mat\resin mix on a cold day with hair dryer or hot air gun. The residual air within the layer\s will expand, bubble up and give you a headache sorting. The surface will cure faster than the underlaying material and this is not good.   Hope what I type doesn`t put you off. Fibreglass is an amazing material for the novice to work with. I have created two rear light pods from two plant pots at next to no cost. Will add a couple of photo`s so you can see before and after

Sorry, bad news, spoke to Absolute and the Koyote, Renegade and Manta Ray moulds have all 'vanished'. Very sad!

Quote from: Manxdavid on April 02, 2019, 11:45:20 AM
Sorry, bad news, spoke to Absolute and the Koyote, Renegade and Manta Ray moulds have all 'vanished'. Very sad!

Any more on this Dave..

Quote from: Paul1953 on April 02, 2019, 11:55:56 AM

Quote from: Manxdavid on April 02, 2019, 11:45:20 AM
Sorry, bad news, spoke to Absolute and the Koyote, Renegade and Manta Ray moulds have all 'vanished'. Very sad!

Any more on this Dave..

Seemingly they were sold to someone who took them but ended up not paying and seems to have vanished owing $$$.