Clearcoat on original gelcoat

[Rick Leddon]

I have a Manx that the clearcoat has gotten real thin on. In places it is rough and the red metalflake is turning silver. I would like to clearcoat the buggy to stop the continuing damage, and improve the shine. Any advise on what product to use and how to prepare the surface. Anything else I should look out for. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Carltons]

You could sand and recoat with clear gel coat (from Tap Plastics) using their surface cure agent with it. I have sprayed Gelcoat through a paint gun. It works, but work fast and be good a tearing down the gun in between coats. Use lots of acetone. Its not as nice as the original coating, but it works. Once you have sprayed, sand, sand, sand and polish.

[croakintowd]

Hi Rick, Recently I was doing some body work on the faded red metalflake carcass of my buggy. I had to do a bit of laminating, and everywhere I slopped the resin on, the red metalflake started to look much better. The faded areas got red again, and the metal flake started to shine. So, I'd say that if you gently sand the buggy, clean it real well, clearcoat it and then sand and clearcoat a few more times, it may just work. Bear in mind I've never tried this on a whole buggy. There are members out there who have retored their finish. I'd guess the whole thing would depend on how far gone the finish was in the first place. Maybe tow it to a Boat Shop that does fiberglass repair. They would know better than I would. Good luck,

[racetearoffs]

as much as I wanted to save my original Bruce finish I realize I cant and have decided to run my buggy for now as is and when I repaint it cover the best part of the original finish maybe a 2 by 3 inch spot and just re do the rest . I will allways still have the look just not not where you can see it .