Gel coat, does it need spraying
Discussion
Guys,
Excuse my ignorance, but on the factory site showing the new red demonstrator, well I know the car is not new, but the pics are, as you scroll down the pics, it shows various cars, green, red and yellow and the heading states, "UNPAINTED GEL COAT"
I was under the impression that the gel coat was a final coat, do you now need to spray the gel coat with normal paint or what is the gel coat for anyway?
Is it just flexible as the GRP flexes and the gel coat flexes with it.
Do you reckon if you had the GRP not gel coated, then the factory would sell the GRP unsprayed and you could then spray it seperately, or do you need a base coat of this gel coat.
I very much like the silver demonstrator they have at the factory, but Ted said it costs around £2500 to have them sprayed in the colour of your choice, which seems a bit high to me, as all body panels are removable and would be much easier to be sprayed before build time, than when the car has been built, as you would have to remove most things, or has anyone had their car sprayed afterwards in a different colour in situ without removing all panels.
Very interested in this, as if not gel coated, this must save quite a bit anyway and would offset the charge for spraying in the colour of my choice.
Any advice or suggestions very welcome.
I`m still learning!!
Dave
Excuse my ignorance, but on the factory site showing the new red demonstrator, well I know the car is not new, but the pics are, as you scroll down the pics, it shows various cars, green, red and yellow and the heading states, "UNPAINTED GEL COAT"
I was under the impression that the gel coat was a final coat, do you now need to spray the gel coat with normal paint or what is the gel coat for anyway?
Is it just flexible as the GRP flexes and the gel coat flexes with it.
Do you reckon if you had the GRP not gel coated, then the factory would sell the GRP unsprayed and you could then spray it seperately, or do you need a base coat of this gel coat.
I very much like the silver demonstrator they have at the factory, but Ted said it costs around £2500 to have them sprayed in the colour of your choice, which seems a bit high to me, as all body panels are removable and would be much easier to be sprayed before build time, than when the car has been built, as you would have to remove most things, or has anyone had their car sprayed afterwards in a different colour in situ without removing all panels.
Very interested in this, as if not gel coated, this must save quite a bit anyway and would offset the charge for spraying in the colour of my choice.
Any advice or suggestions very welcome.
I`m still learning!!
Dave
Dave
All glass fibre mouldings have a gel coat.
The mould is the opposite of the finished part. The process is:-
· Clean and polish the mould.
· Apply a release agent so that the part does not stick to the mould.
· Apply gel coat. Gel coat is hard but is only a thin coat sprayed into the mould.
· Apply the resin and glass fibre matt. The matt is usually a woven glass fibre cloth which is worked into the resin with a roller to remove all air bubbles and ensure the resin is worked into all the fibres. In boat building they use a gun which chops up short lengths of fibre from a sort of ‘rope’, mixes it with the resin and sprays it into the mould.
· Pop out of the mould when cured.
The gel coat is hard and durable but would crack if it were not so thin. The matt and resin are strong and flexible so the combination work well together.
Few kit car companies produce a finished moulding that is good enough quality to use just in gel coat so have to be sprayed.
If you want something other than the factory standard gel colours then you will have to have it sprayed but this cannot be done until after you have made all the holes for lights, hinges, locks Etc. so sad as it may be you have to build the car then take it apart again.
The £2500 for a metallic paint finish (silver being one of the most difficult) is probably not far off the mark.
Steve
All glass fibre mouldings have a gel coat.
The mould is the opposite of the finished part. The process is:-
· Clean and polish the mould.
· Apply a release agent so that the part does not stick to the mould.
· Apply gel coat. Gel coat is hard but is only a thin coat sprayed into the mould.
· Apply the resin and glass fibre matt. The matt is usually a woven glass fibre cloth which is worked into the resin with a roller to remove all air bubbles and ensure the resin is worked into all the fibres. In boat building they use a gun which chops up short lengths of fibre from a sort of ‘rope’, mixes it with the resin and sprays it into the mould.
· Pop out of the mould when cured.
The gel coat is hard and durable but would crack if it were not so thin. The matt and resin are strong and flexible so the combination work well together.
Few kit car companies produce a finished moulding that is good enough quality to use just in gel coat so have to be sprayed.
If you want something other than the factory standard gel colours then you will have to have it sprayed but this cannot be done until after you have made all the holes for lights, hinges, locks Etc. so sad as it may be you have to build the car then take it apart again.
The £2500 for a metallic paint finish (silver being one of the most difficult) is probably not far off the mark.
Steve
Gassing Station | Ultima | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff