Trouble shooting pics of gelcoat paint finishes
Discussion
Hi all, Lotus paint quality came up in an earlier post and inspired me to get some old notes out. For those who are interested / concerned about what has caused some of the problems in paint work, I have gathered up some pics from work that you may be able to identify with.
This is from trapped air not being able to get out due to poor rolling techniques.
This is called alligatoring for obvious reasons. This is caused from raw catalyst, water, solvents or overspray.
Blisters. This is caused from from unreacted catalyst or under cure. Also from solvent and water.
Cracks - Stress. Due to flexing, laminate too thin, pulled too green, sticking in the mould, excessive gel coat thickness.
Cracks frontal impact. Mishandling parts using force defect in the mould.
Cracks reverse impact. Impact from laminate side, poor techniques/handling
Dimples. Caused by contamination. Most foreign contaminant will cause this even a little dust!
Fibre pattern distortion and dimples. Insufficient curing process. Gelcoat too thin, contamination.
Just a few there. I have hundreds of examples of what can go wrong when doing this stuff. Sorry its not to put people off from attempting home jobs but as people can see it is an art form that takes a while to perfect. I give Lotus full credit for choosing to go down this path and making success.
Hope this helps you all.
Cheers
Kylie 89 Esp Turbo
This is from trapped air not being able to get out due to poor rolling techniques.
This is called alligatoring for obvious reasons. This is caused from raw catalyst, water, solvents or overspray.
Blisters. This is caused from from unreacted catalyst or under cure. Also from solvent and water.
Cracks - Stress. Due to flexing, laminate too thin, pulled too green, sticking in the mould, excessive gel coat thickness.
Cracks frontal impact. Mishandling parts using force defect in the mould.
Cracks reverse impact. Impact from laminate side, poor techniques/handling
Dimples. Caused by contamination. Most foreign contaminant will cause this even a little dust!
Fibre pattern distortion and dimples. Insufficient curing process. Gelcoat too thin, contamination.
Just a few there. I have hundreds of examples of what can go wrong when doing this stuff. Sorry its not to put people off from attempting home jobs but as people can see it is an art form that takes a while to perfect. I give Lotus full credit for choosing to go down this path and making success.
Hope this helps you all.
Cheers
Kylie 89 Esp Turbo
Solar, sorry not sure why you cant view pics. If you drop me your email I can post them there if you wish.
When I purchased the car I bought it as a little hobby car. With being an old car I knew that there were bound to be lots of little things needing replacing or refurbishing. Yes the paint job is a little dicy and getting it redone perhaps end of this year sometime.
I am a big fan of these cars and always will be, dints cracks whatever, they still look the business to me.
KS
When I purchased the car I bought it as a little hobby car. With being an old car I knew that there were bound to be lots of little things needing replacing or refurbishing. Yes the paint job is a little dicy and getting it redone perhaps end of this year sometime.
I am a big fan of these cars and always will be, dints cracks whatever, they still look the business to me.
KS
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