Fibrefab Jamaican - any in UK?
Discussion
In place of the sprayers, you can use rollers but be careful to use solvent resistant ones. I found short pile ones are best. You will find that the surface of the gel coat is sticky. This sis because the reaction is inhibited by oxygen. Gel coat is intended to go off against the mold and remain tacky to bond to the lay up. An additive is available that is a wax that floats to the surface and seals it against the air whilst it goes off, but I have never used it. I worry that it would contaminate the surface and mess up the paint. An alternative approach is to spray the surface with PVA and wash it off afterwards, again I haven’t tried that.
I used a roller to apply gel coat then rollered a layer of surface tissue to the wet gel and a further coat of gel as it was going off. I then rubbed back with 60 grit after a couple of weeks. The abrasive does get clogged but if you have a big roll of it you can just Chuck it away and keep going. This loses the sticky surface and leaves a good finish..
I started trying to do it with a paint brush but the amount of rubbing down involved was torture.
I used a roller to apply gel coat then rollered a layer of surface tissue to the wet gel and a further coat of gel as it was going off. I then rubbed back with 60 grit after a couple of weeks. The abrasive does get clogged but if you have a big roll of it you can just Chuck it away and keep going. This loses the sticky surface and leaves a good finish..
I started trying to do it with a paint brush but the amount of rubbing down involved was torture.
Edited by Astacus on Friday 2nd December 05:49
Astacus said:
In place of the sprayers, you can use rollers but be careful to use solvent resistant ones. I found short pile ones are best. You will find that the surface of the gel coat is sticky. This sis because the reaction is inhibited by oxygen. Gel coat is intended to go off against the mold and remain tacky to bond to the lay up. An additive is available that is a wax that floats to the surface and seals it against the air whilst it goes off, but I have never used it. I worry that it would contaminate the surface and mess up the paint. An alternative approach is to spray the surface with PVA and wash it off afterwards, again I haven’t tried that.
I used a roller to apply gel coat then rollered a layer of surface tissue to the wet gel and a further coat of gel as it was going off. I then rubbed back with 60 grit after a couple of weeks. The abrasive does get clogged but if you have a big roll of it you can just Chuck it away and keep going. This loses the sticky surface and leaves a good finish..
I started trying to do it with a paint brush but the amount of rubbing down involved was torture.
Thanks for all those suggestions. I have flow-coated the outside of mouldings using a paintbrush in the past but it does require considerable sanding back to get smooth. Flowcoat also never seems quite as hard as gelcoat. I have some work to do on a boat I bought recently so will be trying out some of your suggestions.I used a roller to apply gel coat then rollered a layer of surface tissue to the wet gel and a further coat of gel as it was going off. I then rubbed back with 60 grit after a couple of weeks. The abrasive does get clogged but if you have a big roll of it you can just Chuck it away and keep going. This loses the sticky surface and leaves a good finish..
I started trying to do it with a paint brush but the amount of rubbing down involved was torture.
Edited by Astacus on Friday 2nd December 05:49
I was browsing an Australian car search website for another car, and spotted Fibrefab.
There is one for sale in Victoria. AUD$24,000
https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/detail/fibrefab...
There is one for sale in Victoria. AUD$24,000
https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/detail/fibrefab...
mark387mw said:
I was browsing an Australian car search website for another car, and spotted Fibrefab.
There is one for sale in Victoria. AUD$24,000
https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/detail/fibrefab...
With the Triumph 2.6 engine!There is one for sale in Victoria. AUD$24,000
https://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/detail/fibrefab...
healeyneil said:
The Bonhams auction at Goodwood sold the car seen racing in the very first picture - for £36k.
Just Perspex for side windows ( with no seals ) and rather large gaps on one side.
https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27523/lot/308/1959...Just Perspex for side windows ( with no seals ) and rather large gaps on one side.
Slightly different to how the owner was trying to sell it when I saw it in 2019
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