Minor Fiberglass Repair Questions

Got a couple minor dings in my hull. Contacted Ranger and they sent me gelcoat and instructions on product to buy at automotive store and mix. The instructions say use 1% catalyst (MEKP) and mix. However it does not say what ratio.

1) has anyone ever done this?

Inside my live well there is a little damage from where the latch hits. The previous owner has some epoxy type material as a patch. So it’s just cosmetic. I did find some product that claims it’s a fiberglass paint as I’d be fine painting it to cover it up.
2) Has anyone ever used a fiberglass paint product before for minor cosmetic issues?

Just wait until you put your first ding / scratch on the outside. You will want to cry.

I’m guessing there is a You Tube video somewhere to walk you through it. Good luck.

1) Does your hull contain metal flake (sparkles)?

2) As far as the catalyst and gelcoat, I am guessing the instructions meant use 1% MEKP to gelcoat (1% ratio). We send out kits that contain (A) gelcoat and (B)catalyst. You would mix all of A and B and wouldn’t leave any guesswork for you.
They may have done that.

Application is fairly simple, use a brush and dab. Brush stroke’s don’t seem to blend in as well.

Im traveling thru Monday, but feel free to PM and Ill shoot ya my number. Im more on the engineering side, but work for a fiberglass boat manufacturer and deal with warranty issues frequently. Can likely answer any questions on mixing/applications.

As far as the livewell, even if you paint isn’t it just going to chip out again after awhile? May want to opt for a resin based epoxy with some structural properties that you can than paint over after cure.

Or apply a rubber gasket and forget about it.

There is some flakes/sparkles but the majority is plain white. The portions I’m looking to fix are plain white.

Ranger said they couldn’t ship the MEKP. They said to buy that stuff at auto store. So you’re thinking it’s 99% gelcoat and 1% MEKP?

As for the live well… the chipped portion is only on the rim. (Where the metal latch would hit if it slammed shut. So, it’s not really a big deal as you only see it if you open the live well. Still, if there’s a paint I could cover up the epoxy that’s already there and if it wasn’t a perfect color match I could just paint the whole rim. Open to other ideas though. Maybe I should just gelcoat this area too, but my buddy said I’d probably have to grind out the epoxy first. I’ll post a pic and send PM

PM sent.

Here is a pic of the inside rim of the livewell

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Also Ranger sent me to ORiellys to get the MKEP. They even had the part number. I went to ORiellys today and they looked up the part number but said they didn’t stock it and couldn’t get it because it was restricted. The guy said he had never seen that before in 5 years working there

That is the cleanest livewell with the rustiest ding I have seen.
Not sure of the scratches on the hull but most likely it will be a temp fix as you will most likely do the same.

Ripjiggen wrote:

That is the cleanest livewell with the rustiest ding I have seen.
Not sure of the scratches on the hull but most likely it will be a temp fix as you will most likely do the same.

Yeah, that’s the weird thing. The boat is clean as a whistle, except for a few minor issues. Could probably just let it go and forget about it…

this place can help you out in the Cities, they have it all in stock and are ready to share the knowledge as well, bought all my stuff there for years.

Express Composites

slawrenz wrote:

this place can help you out in the Cities, they have it all in stock and are ready to share the knowledge as well, bought all my stuff there for years.

Express Composites

Thank you Slawrenz!!

I have worked with fiberglass but am no expert. You can sand out the bad area and when you apply the new gel coat make sure it is a little higher than the repair area because you can sand down and buff it and it will blend in pretty good. When it comes to the hardner the stuff I used in the past was so many drops per oz of gel coat so you can mix small batches. Gel coat needs to be applied pretty thick to cure which makes repairing it pretty easy. If you have any questions about the repair process you can pm me and I would be happy to help. I have made fiberglass parts and repaired fiberglass stuff for many years.

Thanks Stanley. I think I have a decent grasp on what needs to be done now. I just need to get my hands on the MEKP now.

Thanks to all for help. Finally found some of the MEKP today. Here’s a pic of the livewell, already looks way better

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Agree will be hard sand down the rounded edge but wouldn’t bother me compared to what it looked like before.

Here’s one of the hull dings. Hopefully it all cures well and probably give it a light wet sand with 400 grit

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Ripjiggen wrote:

Agree will be hard sand down the rounded edge but wouldn’t bother me compared to what it looked like before.

Agree, for inside a livewell I’ll probably leave it alone and call it good