AGED GEL-COAT

[grahamc]

Help, Does anyone have a simple answer to age cracked gel coat, Its not star cracks but the whole car is covered in micro cracks
Is it a case of sand through it or just lots of high build primer?
Already tried initialy flatting back and 2 coats high build primer ( just one rear quarter panel ) but you can still see the crazing

Thanks Graham

[Stuart]

I'm by no means an expert, but I'd have thought that leaving any of the little blister cracks would mean they still have the chance to spread more, I'd have thought you'll have to remove all of the crack. Hopefully someone with more experience will be able to confirm this.

[wolfie]

you need to grind the cracks right back, if you leave the slightest bit it spreads in no time. Once you've totally ground out the crack fill it with resin and a final thin layer of filler just to tidy it up

[Stuart]

you need to grind the cracks right back, if you leave the slightest bit it spreads in no time. Once you've totally ground out the crack fill it with resin and a final thin layer of filler just to tidy it up

As he says they're not cracks, more age related micro cracks where the gelcoat is starting to break-up.

[AndyBeeson]

Hi,
I have similar cracks on my Mk3 coupe almost as if someone has gone over parts of the car with a wire brush. From what I`ve found out by searching the web gel coat can be repaired and restored. If you aren`t confident at repairing yourself (like me - easy to make a horrible mess by inexperienced people) the I`d advise getting a specialist to carry out the work, more costly but an expert will make your Midas shine so to speak. Normal or your average car bodyshop repairers may not have the necessary grp skills and may just want to respray the car. A better bet may be boat repairers who know about fibreglass boats. Gel coat resin from what I understand can be colour matched too and looks the same colour wet as it does when set so making colour matching easier.
As already mentioned if you do it yourself you`ll have to sand out the cracks before brushing on the gelcoat resin then resand to blend in with the bodywork (remember to wear a mask when sanding).
One place I found is www.gelnshine.co.uk I don`t know how good they are and what they charge. On their site they say they`ll travel around the country. They may be able to offer advice and give a quote etc. I may give them a call myself at some point once I have my gearbox sorted.
Anyway hope you get your Midas sorted, be interesting to hear how you get on. I`m no expert on this subject so if anyone else has more information be interesting to hear.
Andrew.