Hey guys, I want to do a nice job filling in the exhaust holes in my transom. I get the basic procedure by cutting two plywood dowels, coating them with resin and glass them in. I’m just looking for some more input as far as whose products I would want to use, and the recommended steps. It’s the original gel coat from 1986, would the new gel be allot whiter?,  if it is, would I have to color sand and buff out the entire transom to blend the colors and make it look decent?...any advise would be helpful…thanks

Any good gel coat provider/maker will scan a piece of your original to match it... You have to call em to see what size of sample they need. I brought in a spray paint cap to match my engine paint (ford blue) an it was perfect. You can apply it with a small roller/squeegee then wet sand/buff. Just want to prep the area well... an gel will not dry over epoxy.

and gel will not dry over epoxy.

100% complete myth.

I have been doing it since 1996. The problem is that the mixing ratio of the epoxy used has to be dead nuts and completely cured before polyester products are introduced.

I have made several fairly large repairs on old and newer boats using West Systems and the Tap Plastics epoxies. Never one time did I have an adhesion issue or a gel coat repair problem.

The issue has to do with the hardener off gassing if it was mixed too "fat". The ratio on epoxy resins is an exact science, very different from polyester.

As long as the ratio's were correct (I use a paint mixing scale) and the epoxy is fully cured, you can block sand, clean and directly apply poly gel coat as a finish. The advantage IMHO is that there is zero "shrinkage" on the epoxy resins unlike that of polyester. So no bleed through will ever be realized.

Not a poke, just laying down some facts.... 

GT

Gt is it better to apply primer over the epoxy.  I have done some work with the west systems and live the stuff. However I thought I had to primer be for I applied flow coat


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Thanks for the info GT


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All finished with the transom project, turned out nice for my first time shooting gel coat, thanks for the input and suggestions.

All finished with the transom project, turned out nice for my first time shooting gel coat, thanks for the input and suggestions.

That came out amazing... Nice work.

GT

Looks great, good job!

All finished with the transom project, turned out nice for my first time shooting gel coat, thanks for the input and suggestions.

well hot damn.  that looks better than new.  can i get some details on what products you used, etc?  i have to reshoot quite a large area in my boat and curious as to prep, etc.