Black Gelcoat GRP kit car

[slomax]

Okay,
So my car needs a thourough going over. It has pretty bad swirl marks, as can be seen in the photo below...



There is also a bit of crazing and very light cracking, not dead obvious but can be seen close up.

Would i just take it in for a detail and all would be well? I know that Gelcoat is a lot harder than a paint finish, which makes me wonder if a standard detail would get the swirls out. Obviously the crazing and cracking would still be there, i'm not overly fussed about that, a proper going over with fibreglass filler and a full respray would be the best option, but i cannot afford, nor justify it at the moment.

What would you guys suggest?

[MattOz]

You should be able to refine the finish on the gelcoat as you would a normal "clear over base" paintjob. I'm not sure of the compounds and pads you would use as I've not done a GRP finish, but can't see it being massively different.

Matt

[Yazza54]

I've just ground a few crazes out of mine and re-gel coated them. Then spent hours flatting with wet and dry and polishing etc. Done a good job but you can see a slight shadow where the new meets old, I'm going to get some paint mixed and blend them in next. You probably wouldn't have such a problem having a black car.