Wet balsa core

[john doyle]

I know there have been many posts about this, but I'm so excited about how easy it is to repair decks "NOW". As all Dory's have gel coat cracks, I wanted to repair one that looked suspicious. We got the dremmel tool out & opened up the crack, only to find a wet core. Kept going a little bigger & finally had to get out the skill saw and cut a hole about 18" X 30". The West product instruction book said to replace the balsa with end grain cedar. Got a cedar 2X4 & cut off sections the size of the balsa, followed the WEST instructions & the hole is now finished except for painting. This was so easy except for the emotional part of cutting the deck open, that we have repaired all of the cracks in the gel coat & even found another area with wet balsa to repair. Would like to match the origonal color so ???, can someone tell me what paint brand & color will come close??
John CD31 #18 Bonnie Blue



redzeplin@yahoo.com

[John R.]

Check the archives, all the information is located there on obtaining matching gel coat from Gel Coat Products company.

I know there have been many posts about this, but I'm so excited about how easy it is to repair decks "NOW". As all Dory's have gel coat cracks, I wanted to repair one that looked suspicious. We got the dremmel tool out & opened up the crack, only to find a wet core. Kept going a little bigger & finally had to get out the skill saw and cut a hole about 18" X 30". The West product instruction book said to replace the balsa with end grain cedar. Got a cedar 2X4 & cut off sections the size of the balsa, followed the WEST instructions & the hole is now finished except for painting. This was so easy except for the emotional part of cutting the deck open, that we have repaired all of the cracks in the gel coat & even found another area with wet balsa to repair. Would like to match the origonal color so ???, can someone tell me what paint brand & color will come close??
John CD31 #18 Bonnie Blue

[john]

Check the archives, all the information is located there on obtaining matching gel coat from Gel Coat Products company.

I know there have been many posts about this, but I'm so excited about how easy it is to repair decks "NOW". As all Dory's have gel coat cracks, I wanted to repair one that looked suspicious. We got the dremmel tool out & opened up the crack, only to find a wet core. Kept going a little bigger & finally had to get out the skill saw and cut a hole about 18" X 30". The West product instruction book said to replace the balsa with end grain cedar. Got a cedar 2X4 & cut off sections the size of the balsa, followed the WEST instructions & the hole is now finished except for painting. This was so easy except for the emotional part of cutting the deck open, that we have repaired all of the cracks in the gel coat & even found another area with wet balsa to repair. Would like to match the origonal color so ???, can someone tell me what paint brand & color will come close??
John CD31 #18 Bonnie Blue

Can't use gel coat because I used Epoxy resin. Will have to paint



redzeplin@yahoo.com

[SteveZ]

Can't use gel coat because I used Epoxy resin. Will have to paint

I don't think this oft cited rule of thumb is true. You can use gelcoat over epoxy if the area is carefully prepared to remove the amine blush and key in the new gelcoat (see the West system web site for details). I recored my cockpit floor with epoxy and used matching gelcoat over the top. After 3 years of abuse the gelcoat has held up just fine.

[John R.]

Steve is correct, the amine blush is the primary culprit. Only water will completely remove it, solvents just spread it around. Proper preparation is the key.

Can't use gel coat because I used Epoxy resin. Will have to paint

I don't think this oft cited rule of thumb is true. You can use gelcoat over epoxy if the area is carefully prepared to remove the amine blush and key in the new gelcoat (see the West system web site for details). I recored my cockpit floor with epoxy and used matching gelcoat over the top. After 3 years of abuse the gelcoat has held up just fine.