1967 coupe paint preparation problem

[John S.]

I am doing a 1967 coupe which has not been painted in 30 years. I had the body soda blasted and it has come out very rough and even gone through in a few places. Those places I know I have to fiberglass but then what? What is the best way to bring it back to a stage where I can begin primers etc. Someone told me gel coat would have to be put on but I have never done that. All the cars I have done did not have gel coat missing. What is the gel coat procedure. Is it hard to do? What are some suggestions for me to proceed. PLEASE HELP!!
John Smith

[Russ S.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

John, Did you do a search for gel coat? I believe I have posted what you need in the past.

[John S.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

I searched through Google. Is that what you meant?

[Rick A.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

John,

What Russ meant was do a search on the TDB. If yo go to the top of the page you will see a search box. I would type the following "gel coat" and see what returns you get. Should be quite a few as I know sandable gel coat, etc. has been discussed here any number of times

[Richard M.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

A friend had his '59 soda blasted. It was done incorrectly. What a mess. Much of the body was very rough as shown. Come to discover, they added blast media to the soda to keep the dust down! They did not use the water/soda mix process. I had gel-coat in mind but.....................

PB040017.jpg PB040018.jpg

To correct their mistake, I used a product called Duratec made by Hawkeye Industries in California. It is a high build 2-part(mek) polyester surfacing primer. I thinned it using acetone for better flow. I used a HVLP gun with a 2.0 tip. The product is very thick. It flows very well and fills in deep imperfections. It can be applied wet-on-wet for more build-up in those rough areas. It is easy to sand and can be reapplied again if necessary. It's ideal on fiberglass, as well as metal, wood, MDF, etc.

It was recommended by several Corvette restorers/painters that I know, as well as a boat and aircraft builder. All have used it with excellent results. This was the first time I used this product and I was very pleased. I used the 707-002 Gray. It dries almost black, and sands to a light gray.

Below are some photos after application and after sanding. The rough areas pictured above were built up wet-on-wet until the thickness was satisfactory. A commonality of Duratec is orange peel, but it ultimately acts as a guide-coat to help when block sanding.

P7230005.jpg P1010016.JPG


Rich

[Michael G.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

I used a product called Duratec made by Hawkeye Industries in California. It is a high build 2-part(mek) polyester surfacing primer.

Rich

Duratec sound identical to Slick Sand or Z Chrome, a polyester filler primer as well.

[Jim D.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

I will never understand why people continue to have bodies media blasted when all it does is create problems. Never done it, never will, never had problems using chemical strippers in over 40 years.

[Paul J.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

John, there is a lot of differing opinions about using gel coat. Here's some threads, and they're are a lot more in the archives.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=gelcoat

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=gelcoat

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=gelcoat

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...hlight=gelcoat

Paul

[Russ S.]

Re: 1967 coupe paint preparation problem

I will never understand why people continue to have bodies media blasted when all it does is create problems. Never done it, never will, never had problems using chemical strippers in over 40 years.

It all depends on the outfit doing the blasting. If they don't know what they are doing it can be a disaster. I have had ten or so done by the same company and have not had any problems. I love it as it gets into the hard to reach corners etc that are difficult to sand.