MacGregorSailors.com

1. I have a few dozen chips in the gelcoat on the upper deck. What is the best material to fill them? Bondo? Polyester resin with filler?

2. Where can I find the original white color for touch-up painting?

3. Under the port lazaret, I can see light shining through the fibreglass of the hull. An inspection of the outer hull shows worn paint and the original antifouling over the gelcoat; no chips, dings, cracks, etc. Is this normal? Should I add a layer of fibreglass inside the hull over the thin spots and paint the outer hull??

My Mac is a 1990 S model.

Pretty sure blue water yachts in Seattle has original gel coat color match kits for most models. Or if you're not picky most marine stores carry two part epoxy kits in limited colours. It is normal to see light coming through; if you're gonna add glass don't forget to grind the surface a bit first and clean it with a solvent.

Epoxy is the material of choice to repair polyester resin fiberglass, not polyester resin, which is counter-intuitive, but it's the way it is. Epoxy bonds much better to old polyester resin glass than does fresh polyester resin. I recommend you spend some time with the many materials, many free, available from West System Epoxy (no relation to West Marine, though West Marine carries it). They have free brochures and the owners, the Gougeon brothers, have a whole big book on using epoxy in every conceivable way. There is also a DVD available for a few bucks that is a great short-course on using epoxy and on epoxy encapsulated wood construction. It's well worth your time to check it out. You will be an expert in no time. Epoxy is not terribly difficult to work with and a bit of knowledge makes it actually fun. Oh, and they will hate me for this, but there are sources of epoxy materials that are considerably cheaper than West System. Check out US Composites in West Palm Beach. I have experienced good selection, good prices, and very prompt service from them.

White Marine Tex makes a good repair in white decks. Very close match.

RobertB wrote:White Marine Tex makes a good repair in white decks. Very close match.

That's the stuff

danphilgreen wrote:Epoxy is the material of choice to repair polyester resin fiberglass, not polyester resin, which is counter-intuitive, but it's the way it is. Epoxy bonds much better to old polyester resin glass than does fresh polyester resin. I recommend you spend some time with the many materials, many free, available from West System Epoxy (no relation to West Marine, though West Marine carries it). They have free brochures and the owners, the Gougeon brothers, have a whole big book on using epoxy in every conceivable way. There is also a DVD available for a few bucks that is a great short-course on using epoxy and on epoxy encapsulated wood construction. It's well worth your time to check it out. You will be an expert in no time. Epoxy is not terribly difficult to work with and a bit of knowledge makes it actually fun. Oh, and they will hate me for this, but there are sources of epoxy materials that are considerably cheaper than West System. Check out US Composites in West Palm Beach. I have experienced good selection, good prices, and very prompt service from them.

Thanx! That info is very helpful.
I never knew that epoxy would bond well with polyester resins, but your comment does make sense since it's a 25 year old boat. .

yukonbob wrote: It is normal to see light coming through; if you're gonna add glass don't forget to grind the surface a bit first and clean it with a solvent.

I was considering adding a layer or two of glass on the inside of the hull since the outer hull is in good shape.

RobertB wrote:White Marine Tex makes a good repair in white decks. Very close match.

Is this it?

http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html

yes

West marine sells a similar product called marine rx, which I have used to fix rudder dings and to fill a bow ding where the p.o. Had a close encounter with the trailer. On the hull, I top-coated with gelcoat and polished it. I just sanded the rudders and left the marine Tex since they are likely to get dinged again. Color is close enough if you aren't too picky. I haven't tried polishing it without a top coat, so don't know what sort of final finish you could get just using marine Tex. It does seem to make a strong repair, though.

My Mistress wrote:

RobertB wrote:White Marine Tex makes a good repair in white decks. Very close match.

Is this it?

http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html

They also have black and grey as well. Not aware of any other colours though.

Another question for the Mac Pro's: What type of paint can be used over the original gelcoat coloring if I were to touch up or repaint? Enamel, lacquer, epoxy?

I just painted up my rudders last summer as they were looking pretty beaten up already and i had to buy special boat paint. I had to special order it from the coast as I could not find it in our province and for a couple litres (half a gallon) it was like $100.00 so get ready for that shock. I went to all the paint stores and none of them even carried anything like it but they all said "if it is being totally submerged in water for any amount of time , you will need special boat paint or it will just peel right off." Maybe hurry and put it on your list for santa and he'll eat up the cost??? lol

LOL................100 bucks is the cheap stuff.

Maybe I should put on my "zounds" face!
My rudder is plastic, so I'm not worried about it, mostly the topsides that don't see water as much.....