She's in the garage, upside down and ready...

[ssshield]

I'm talking about my '76 fish. The hull is solic but has two 1/4" holes one on each side. I've sanded out the holes and will be doing some epoxy and glass work to fill those in and fair them.

My real question has to do with paint and hull prep. I have spider cracks in the gelcoat pretty much everywhere on the bottom. I sanded one down to the glass and it looks structurally solid. I don't think there are any integrity issues, just spidercracked gelcoat.

Do I sand all the gelcoat off the bottom, then prime/paint? Should I use some sort of West systems potion that will fill/fair the spidercracks?

I think the whole bottom will need to be painted or potioned to fair the spidercracks. Do I just rough up the gelcoat then paint over all of it or do I have to sand all the gelcoat off and prime bare fiberglass is my question.

I did some searching in the forums and saw that this guy shows he can restore rough/oxidized finishes with just some good glaze/wax etc. He linked this for products:

Also, I'm ready to order all the stuff (paint/sandpaper/etc). Is there a kit or something I can order to make sure I'm getting all the right stuff? I'd rather not spend a month waiting on every thing I realize I forgot to order show up.

Thanks very much! - Shane

 

[Warren]

I'm talking about my '76 fish. The hull is solic but has two 1/4" holes one on each side. I've sanded out the holes and will be doing some epoxy and glass work to fill those in and fair them.

My real question has to do with paint and hull prep. I have spider cracks in the gelcoat pretty much everywhere on the bottom. I sanded one down to the glass and it looks structurally solid. I don't think there are any integrity issues, just spidercracked gelcoat.

Do I sand all the gelcoat off the bottom, then prime/paint? Should I use some sort of West systems potion that will fill/fair the spidercracks?

I think the whole bottom will need to be painted or potioned to fair the spidercracks. Do I just rough up the gelcoat then paint over all of it or do I have to sand all the gelcoat off and prime bare fiberglass is my question.

I did some searching in the forums and saw that this guy shows he can restore rough/oxidized finishes with just some good glaze/wax etc. He linked this for products:

Also, I'm ready to order all the stuff (paint/sandpaper/etc). Is there a kit or something I can order to make sure I'm getting all the right stuff? I'd rather not spend a month waiting on every thing I realize I forgot to order show up.

Thanks very much! - Shane

I also have 1976 Sunfish....Great Boat. I would suggest, due to the age and large number of "cracks" in the gelcoat that you just sand off the "gloss' and pant with a good quality single part marine polyurethane (Interlux, Pettit & etc.). When its all said and well cured (end of season) apply two coats of Star-brite marine polish (with "PTEF") both top & bottom. That will last for an entire year.
Have Fun!
Warren

 

[ssshield]

Yup, decided to go that route. She's now patched (glassed), fairing puttied, sanded, and taped off. As soon as Jamestown delivers my backordered primer, she getting a coat of orange Epifane on the bottom. On the top, I'm buffing the nice existing topside back to former glory. Combing and stripes are getting the orange treatment also. Topside is white.

Primer should be in in two weeks supposedly. In the meantime, I'm on coat #2 of Pettit varnish on the daggerboard/rudder/tiller. Can't decide how many coats to do since it's going to be more practical than beauty queen on the wood. I probably should have laid up epoxy coats under a final of varnish. More resistant to rocks/beach I suspect.

I'm pulling the tiller off my keelboat after work and giving it some varnish love too, since it's worn down the the raw wood from use since the 70's.

Next I'll pull the combing off and sand/fair/sand so it's ready for prime/paint when it comes in.

For a guy that's never done any body work, I'm really pleased with how it's turning out so far. I'm no longer scared of epoxy, fiberglass, sanding, thinner, varnish, etc. I suspect I'll use this experience to build other cool things.

Thanks for the info the the Starbrite curing. I would have put it on right after painting.

 

[L&VW]

I also have 1976 Sunfish....Great Boat...

Warren

I've stumbled into ownership of two '76 Sunfish!

For a guy that's never done any body work, I'm really pleased with how it's turning out so far. I'm no longer scared of epoxy, fiberglass, sanding, thinner, varnish, etc. I suspect I'll use this experience to build other cool things.

It's like the new owner of a pressure-washer, everything looks like it needs cleaning!

 

[ssshield]

I've ended up with a lot of seventies toys.

Myself = Born '79. Keelboat = '79 Buccaneer 22' sloop Motorcycle = '79 Honda cb400 cafe racer Dinghies = '70 Dolphin, '76 Sunfish

Some things had to be newer though.

Wife = Born '85.

I'm afraid of getting a power washer. It leads to a lot of repainting. Then again, so does a wife.

 

[Gray]

I'm talking about my '76 fish. The hull is solic but has two 1/4" holes one on each side. I've sanded out the holes and will be doing some epoxy and glass work to fill those in and fair them.

My real question has to do with paint and hull prep. I have spider cracks in the gelcoat pretty much everywhere on the bottom. I sanded one down to the glass and it looks structurally solid. I don't think there are any integrity issues, just spidercracked gelcoat.

Do I sand all the gelcoat off the bottom, then prime/paint? Should I use some sort of West systems potion that will fill/fair the spidercracks?

I think the whole bottom will need to be painted or potioned to fair the spidercracks. Do I just rough up the gelcoat then paint over all of it or do I have to sand all the gelcoat off and prime bare fiberglass is my question.

I did some searching in the forums and saw that this guy shows he can restore rough/oxidized finishes with just some good glaze/wax etc. He linked this for products:

Also, I'm ready to order all the stuff (paint/sandpaper/etc). Is there a kit or something I can order to make sure I'm getting all the right stuff? I'd rather not spend a month waiting on every thing I realize I forgot to order show up.

Thanks very much! - Shane

Shane....We are in the same boat (just a diffrent year), I am starting on my 75 this week, It is also up side down in the garage! I also like the paint idea for the haul, how are you applying the paint after sanding and do you need a primer coat on first

 

[ssshield]

I had to fix two thumb size holes in my hull so I knew it was going to be a paint job for me. I repaired those with glass, faired with body putty (all West systems products).

I've sanded the hull three full times, starting with 120grit, and then up to 300grit before I primed. I've primed it with pre-kote, but I was supposed to use the thicker "prime-kote". I'm pretty sure pre-kote is just thinned prime-kote, but who knows. I'm doing a second layer of pre-kote to fair the last of the irregularities out of the hull.

I rolled/tipped the pre-kote and sanded with 220 grit. I'm going to roll/tip the second pre-kote primer coat then paint.

I'm just waiting on the temperature to get above 50f next week. It's been 30ish here in Oklahoma and a blizzard for the last week. I'm painting in my unheated/half exposed garage, so have to be a little more patient with the weather.

On the upside, I just got my new (to me) DRY-SUIT!!!! I'm so stoked. Now I can do some real winter sailing! I got it mostly for kite-surfing in the cold, but it's gonna be awesome for dinghy sailing also.

I'm painting the hull with Epifane orange, similar to Interlux brightsides. Going to match the orange on the combing and bow deck racing stripes. I'm guessing two coates. I just hope I don't screw it up with the polisher trying to get it shiny.