repairing gelcoat on an older canoe..

Hi,

I have just been given an older mohawk 16' canoe. It's in great shape apart
from some scratches and several large patches where the gel coat has come
off and the fiberglass has been exposed. Its chopped mat layup so i think
that means its polyester? Anyway - whats an economical way of repairing
the exposed mat sections? Should I just get some epoxy and paint it on and
sand it flat and repeat until its all flat and in line with the remaining
original gel coat? What about painting it? do i need special paint, surface
prep? and how expensive is it to piant? since its an older boat it's not
worth putting that much money into it..

Sal

"Sal" <sal.TakeThisOut@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A2D9BF01AB07jerrybcom@199.45.49.11...
> Hi,
>
> I have just been given an older mohawk 16' canoe. It's in great shape
> apart
> from some scratches and several large patches where the gel coat has come
> off and the fiberglass has been exposed. Its chopped mat layup so i think
> that means its polyester? Anyway - whats an economical way of repairing
> the exposed mat sections? Should I just get some epoxy and paint it on and
> sand it flat and repeat until its all flat and in line with the remaining
> original gel coat? What about painting it? do i need special paint,
> surface
> prep? and how expensive is it to piant? since its an older boat it's not
> worth putting that much money into it..
>
> Sal

A canoe is not always in the water. Refurbishing it depends on how much you
will use it and store it.
The structural integrity of 20 to 40 years old Fiberglas canoe needs to be
checked carefully before you spend money on it. Its condition is subject to
how it was stored and supported when it was not in use. A properly stored
canoe is done indoor and supported by a minimum of 3 points 4 is better.
To fix your canoe you should not spent more than 20% to 25% of the cost of a
new one.
Ideally you should be using two parts epoxy. If you happen to have some
left over from a previous job use it.
Or you may be able to get away by using ployester resin and flair it with
Premium marine filler. The entire canoe should be sanded using open coat
paper starting with a grit of 120 and finishing it with 220 grit. As for
the painting a polyurethane paint equivalent to Interlux Brightside or a
more expensive two part epoxy paint with the proper primer.
I have used polyurethane concrete floor paint with good result.
The cost of the paint: for concrete floor paint its about $15.00 for a
litter and for Interlux its $35.00.
Two parts epoxy paint will run up to $65.00 per litter or more.
Good Norton sand paper costs about $0.50 per 8"X11" sheet.

You may get away with only using polyester resin