TOPIC: 1958 Fleetform Commodore 14

Hey guys, I got this 1958 fleetform about 3 weeks ago, and have been on iboats. I have the seats, stringers, and mechanical stuff out. I also have some of the inside sanded. How would you guys suggest I sand the gel coat off? I'm 13 by the way.

Cpenrose, welcome aboard. Pics would be such a good help. Is you r gel bad? Are you sure it won't clean up. Sanding off the gel coat is a big job, believe me I've done it.

Good time to get your feet wet and you are at the right site for all the help you need. Why are you sanding the gelcoat off? If you want to change color you just need to get all the old wax an' stuff off, if it's cracked there are high build primer paints that will fill those in so you can get a mirror finish.
Pictures are good for a lot of us old people but there is a wealth of information here for you to tap into...ask away.
Welcome,

PS, no need to start a new thread for each post, just "reply"

Sorry I got all messed up, the picture didn't load, so I'll try again... The gel is cracked all over in a billion peices.

I don't know if what I did now just worked, but it worked on iboats forum.

There we go, now I'll post more.

cpenrose,

WELCOME ABOARD.

IF it was me, I would look for a "self-leveling" epoxy paint that will seep into & fill small surface imperfections, after lightly sanding the current finish relatively smooth.
(I would go no "finer" than 100 grit wet & dry sandpaper.)

Then I would sand that finish smooth, wipe-down with the proper wiping liquid (check out the label on the paint container.) and re-coat the epoxy paint with a finish coat.

yours, satx

It's even worse than that, especially on the white. I don't think it's salvagable .

cpenrose, welcome to the site. You have a boat there that many members here really like and have restored many of them. It is nice to see a young person getting into this hobby. From the looks of your pics it looks like your boat has been well used. It looks like your hull is going to require alot of work to get it back to a useable condition. There have been alot worse looking boats here and most of them have been returned to usable condition. It will all depend on how far you want to go on it.the easyer way is to do what satx has outlined. If you read through some of the forums you will be able to see what other people have done to there projects. It will be alot of work but in the end it is real rewarding when people look at it and say you have done a great job on it. And don,t worry about not knowing about how to do everything. There is a vast amount of smarts here on the site to get you through any problems you may encounter. Skip

IF YOU DON'T SAND OR GRIND OUT those gel coat cracks, they will only re-appear. ron

That's why I've decided that I'm going to remove the gelcoat. Then I'll use an epoxy primer then paint. Am I correct?

i had a 57 fleetform and it was in a building that a car burned up in and the top deck got real hot and cracked the gel coat. i ground the deck down to the glass, alot of work and very uneven. and time consuming. i got so discouraged with the project that i gave the boat away, just to much for me to do. buy the looks of yours it will take alot of work. but they are very nice boats, iam still looking for one that is in better condition then the one i had. frog

rerun

cpenrose,

BEFORE I did anything else, I would try sanding the hull throughly all over, washing it down throughly with a scrub-brush/TSP/warm water, coating the hull with trowled on thickened (to whipped cream consistency) slow-setting epoxy, then sand that smooth and paint as I suggested.

I may be wrong but I really see no percentage in grinding down the hull until the cracks are gone as:
1. that will likely weaken the entire hull significantly,
2. cause a great deal of PROBABLY needless labor
and
3. epoxy, properly thickened, will fill the cracks and is stronger by weight than steel.

NOTE: I suspect that "frog" is correct that trying to grind-out the cracks is a waste of time/effort.- IF the epoxy "whipped cream", epoxy primer & paint treatment doesn't work, I doubt if anything else will be effective.

just my opinion, satx

To ALL,

IF you are faced with a badly hail-damaged deck AND "authenticity" is not important to you, you might do what a childhood friend, Rayford Baker, did to an old ski-boat with a "trashed" deck that he "re-modeled".

He sanded/filled the deck as best he could, glued-down a thin layer of padding and then applied a automotive vinyl top material to the entire deck to match color/texture of the vinyl roof on the tow-car.
(The lower portion of the hull matches the "ice-blue" body color of the '70s Town Car. = NIFTY-looking rig, too.)

yours, satx

You have the same problem My Winner did and you will have to get that off the fiberglass. There is no way to cover that up. Just remember it is harder than the glass and when you hit the glass it can be holed quickly. It can also be repaired. Take your time and go easy. It will take alot of time and do use a good respirator. It can be done. I did one in the last two years.

I realize this is an older thread, but I'm in the same boat (haha). I've got a 1958-9 (not sure which) 14' fleetform, but with a gelcoat in maybe slightly better condition. Only a couple nail sized chunks missing, mostly just crazed from too thick gelcoat (I've read its supposed to be about 22mils thick, whereas I'd have to bet mine is maybe a whole centimeter). I hit it with the coin car wash rinse spray and a ton of the dirt came off. I think I'm going to sand it down (a test spot looked nice and cherry red) and see if I cant get most of the crazing out. What do you guys think?