Gel coat.

k80matey

I'm too poor to buy rubbish.
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After three years of searching I've managed to find a fairing for my Falcone Militaire.
It's a bit rough and has a couple of holes in it and a broken screen. I've managed to repair the screen and am awaiting delivery of some Fibrofill to take care of the holes.

The fairing is a Polizei Blue and I want to repaint it in Nato. The gel coat is very rough though. I would love to sand it back and paint over it. The bike is nearly 50 years old and I don't want to put a shiny, new looking fairing on it.
Is it feasible to do this? If so any tips on suitable paints gratefully received.
If not, how to remove the gel coat?
Cheers chaps.:confused:
 
Only way to remove Gel coat is to sand / grind it it off.

Unfortunatly if you take all the gel coat off, you will ruin the gloss / smooth apperance.

Unlike paint which is applied over a subtrate, which self levels to some degree, Gelcoat is applied first.


The layup would be

Gelcoat / (cure) / Resin /matt-resin /matt-resin - Cure

The part is then released from the mould with little or no finishing other a quick polish to the gelcoat


If you want to paint over the gelcoat, it woul involve sanding, digging out any chips and filling / sanding , keying the surface & then painting

and depending on how many coats of paint - rekeying and repainting
 
As said already sand, fill and paint, however if the gel coat has "star" cracks or other cracks you'll need to route these out and fill otherwise they'll still show after painting. Use a self etch primer to ensure good paint adhesion. If there is any sign of osmosis, little clusters of blisters, it will need sealing on the glass side too.
 
Thanks chaps.
I don't really mind too much if there are imperfections showing. The main thing I'm trying to achieve is to turn it from blue to Nato without all the new paint falling off.
The bike is showing its patina of nearly 50 years, so a few cracks here and there won't really matter.
There's no sign of osmosis. So I'm thinking a good sanding down, etch primer and paint might suffice?
Cheers.:thumb2
 


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