New gel pics...(updated)

[Jamesbon]

For the first time in 15 years, my hull bottom is a uniform color! We shot white gel on Saturday. Then on Monday we swapped around the masking and prepped the sides for red gel. Once we shoot the red, we'll d.a. the entire hull and buff to a brilliant shine. That stuff is THICK!

It's been a long haul! It's still hard to believe we're finally rounding the bend to the finish line.

http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscgel1.jpg

Nice armpit :rolleyes: Here's yours truly wiping the hull side down with Acetone. We've used allmost 15 gallons of that $hit so far. Good thing it smells nice eek!

http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscgel2.jpg

[HP 600SC]

Man, that right hand is moving so fast it a blurr!!
Hmmmm.....well anyway It sure looks good mang!!
YGL,
Ted

[RickR]

NICE lookin' bottom :D

[Sagbay32]

That looks great!

How do you shoot gel? Special gun? How many coats of gel do you need to apply? I have zero experience with it and was looking for a little Gelcoat 101 talk.

Thanks
Mike

[Lineleader]

Nathan:

Way to go! Please work out on the kinks on your GT so you can do mine next!

Looks great, hang in there.

LL

[Jamesbon]

HP,
My right hand is inherently stronger than the left... :D

Sagbay,
We shoot the gel through a regular pneumatic gun. I think you're looking at 2 coats. Sit tight another day, and I'll provide a pic by pic or step by step tutorial for all eyes to benefit. And, yes, 2 coats of this $hit is at times thicker than 1/16".

Thanks "LL!"
I will help in any way I can !!! More to follow!

[Cuda]

Looks good! I would like to enroll in gelcoat 101 also.

[Eugene Nahemow]

Nathan,
As always beautiful work.
I can't wait to see this bad boy finished!!

Regards.

[MarkGT]

NATE

LOOKING GOOD!!!

I can't wait to see it finished with the new seating. I'm planning an interior redo with buckets seats also. If you go with a new windshield I would be interested in your old black one.

[HyperDonzi]

how hard was it to flip the hull over??

[rong]

I got to commend the performance, as this is truly hard work! The result is very worth the effort. My question is: what is the desired thickness? Gell with age will become brittle. The thickness will affect this? How about if you are recoating? Thanks for any input to this.

[Jamesbon]

Like a dumb a$$, I took a bunch of pics, then left the camera at the shop. :o So, I'll give you a "pic-less" run down for now, and late Monday, I'll post the pics.

Tonight we shot the sides red. We started by adding a little "liquid wax" directly to the 5 gal. bucket of red gel coat, then agitated. Someone help me here, why do you need to add wax? I think it's to lessen the "stickiness" of the cured gel??

Next, we poured a pre determined amount of "Patch Booster/Resin Solution" into our 1 gallon paper mixing bucket. The Patch Booster helps the resin kick faster and cure "dryer." This is ideal, as tacky cured gel doesn't take well to sanding. The Patch Booster also slightly thins out the resin mixture for spraying through a standard Nesco gun.

So, now we take the wax/resin mixture from the 5 gallon bucket, and pour a bit less than a gallon into our mixing bucket which contains the patch booster. We agitate this and pour a quart into the spray can. Once in the can, we finally add the Mek-P or stuff that makes the resin "kick." We do it this way to keep our entire mixing bucket from curing while we're spraying.

After spraying about 2-3 "cans" of gel, we had to clean the gun with acetone, as it'll start to kick and wreak havoc inside.

That's about it in a nutshell. Like I said before, I'll add the pics late Monday night.

Thanks for your compliments, Fellas! They keep me going...

MarkGT,
I decided to stick with my windshield. I may have it polished and anodized, but will most likely run it in it's current black form until sometime down the road when the dust settles.

Yeah, I sold my stock "marshmallow seats," in favor of buckets as well. I think you'll like yours.

Show us and tell us more about your rig, Mark!!

You guys know Mark has a GT with an Arneson, right?

Whippin Boy,
Flipping the hull sucks a$$! You need a bunch of space and alot of friends. We did it with 6 of us, but you have to watch and listen to your hull get the $hit tweaked out of it while the rollover takes place. I can hardly wait to do it with the new polished gel :( It's nerve racking to say the least...

rong,
All I do know in relation to the desired thickness, is:
It's layed on thick, real thick, after the gel cures, you end up with an "orange peel effect," which is then sanded off to remove any hi or low spots. I'm guessing that a substantial amount is removed during the sanding process, which again is meant to even everything out. Maybe some one else can shed more light on this.

[CDMA]

You need the wax because gelcoat will not cure exposed to air. When you spray it the wax rises to the top and makes the gelcoat airtight with a thin layer or wax. This allows the gelcoat to cure properly.

Chris
P.S. Looks awesome nate...I hear a rumor from a little birdie the original Arneson boy's boat may be getting a facelift too....

[HP 600SC]

Pablo...
Hey Mang! I tink your camra is now at the pawn shop MANG!!!! LOL....
Pedro.

[Rick]

Nathan, you are totally rockin! What a nice job! Is your motor done? GT's rule. Rick

[harbormaster]

Rong, gel-coat should be between 15 and 20 mils. New boats are done in this manner as well. You can get a guage for this from a paint supply store (auto) to see what it looks like. Basically it looks like a heavy 32nd of an inch...

(Lenny, posting as the harbourmaster, notice the "U" in Harbourmaster,...that's Canadian eh...)

[Steve Sinclair]

Wow that look's great....my boat looks just like
yours but says "Magnum Donzi" on the side, I need
to re-do her now! Maybe a good winter project
if I can find a large heated workshop.
Steve.

[rong]

Thanks Harbormaster! Can't wait for the final pictures on this! A suggestion on flipping the boat without tweaking the hull. Build a wooden frame with crossmembers and attach it to the hull top using wooden blocks. You flip the frame with little twist on the hull.

[Jamesbon]

I'm a little overdue, but here goes...

After spraying the bottom and sides, the entire hull is covered with a mixture of machinist's dye and acetone. The dye stains the exterior light blue. Once dyed, we sanded with 400 to remove all of the dye or low & high spots in which it sits. The dye is basically used as a visual guage to tell you when everything is sanded level or smooth. We used "credit card" sized pieces of synthetic core as our sanding blocks. After this, she gets sanded with 800 in preparation for buffing. The 800 apparently makes buffing much easier.

Here, we're adding wax to the resin.
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscwax.jpg

Adding Patchaid to the resin/wax mixture.
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscpatchaid.jpg

Adding MEK to the resin/wax/Patchaid mixture in the Nesco can.
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscmek.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscnesco.jpg

[Jamesbon]

The dash and hull prior to sanding.
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscdash5.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscredside.jpg

The deck after white gel and prior to sanding.
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscdeck5.jpg
http://www.donzi.net/photos/nscdeck6.jpg

[Playn]

Great looking work! :D

[Tidbart]

Boat is coming along nicely.

Just out of curiosity, when do you expect to be completely done?

Bob

[Speed-Racer]

Nate, Boat is coming along great!! I still remeber it from Sanford, and yes it was many shades of red....

[Sagbay32]

Nate,
Thank you for the update, the boat looks great.

Mike

[jb]

wow, what a great project. Makes me want to sell my '59 Crosby looking at what needs to be done.
looks great...keep updates coming
very interesting.

[rong]

Harbormaster- can this be made into a "how to"?
Just can't wait to see this all together and blinding bright. :cool: This is priceless!

[harbormaster]

Looks good Nate! I wish I could have talked to to more in Sarasota.

[Jamesbon]

Thanks Fellas.

I plan to be done by AOTH.

[Steven Cohn]

Boat looks great! However, I noticed a disposable dust mask in the photo of the spray gun. I hope you're using better respiratory protection than that. Even if you're spraying in a booth a disposable mask potection factor(PF)is rated at only 2-3. When spraying gel coat, epoxy, Imron,... you want much more protection than a disposable can offer. Personally, the minimum would be a full face negative pressure respirator, PF 50. Afterall, you want to be able to enjoy your boat, as well as your life. Not here to preach, but please be careful.
Steven

[Jamesbon]

Thanks for the info. Steven. I use a "twin canister, rubber, strap on thing." (no pun wink ) I can't even smell the gel with it on during spraying. I'm not really sure what exactly it's called. I'll look next time I'm in the shop.

[GEOO]

Nate,
Can I place an order to have my X re-gelcoated??? We could traded usage or the boat for a while????

[Steven Cohn]

Nathan,
It's good that you can't "smell" the gel through your mask. Check what type of cartridges are on the respirator. The cartridges will state on them what they are designed to filter. You may have a particulate filter, but not an organic vapor chemical cartridge (OV). Many chemicals are odorless. Therefor, one wouldn't "smell them if one were exposed. If you should need any information pertaining to respiratory protection, call me at (202)275-0737.
Steven

[MarkGT]

LOOK**N**GOOOOD

Well, now I know what the top deck looks like without the dash. I had thoughts of removing mine until I saw the notch for the glove box.
(It would make a nice step to the front deck! :rolleyes: )

Add refinishing the dash to my list. Yours looks great in RED. Mine needs a change from the brown leather look. Just about to start tearing out my interior. Keep the pictures coming, there inspiring to all us slow movers!!