Have some glass parts, boards and fenders, that have been left out in the weather for many years and you can see where the weave looks to be on or near the surface. Is there any coating or resin one can use to renew them? They are a bit "chalky" on the surface to where glass dust rubs off easily. Custom made so not easily replaceable.
Go to the local paint store and buy a quart of Penetrol,made by Flood,pour some on a rag and wipe over the surface....you will be amazed and can thank me later! HRP
I don't know about Penetrol never used it but Danny's word is usually pretty good. We got a first gen Vette into the body shop once that someone had sanded through the gel coat, no way it could be painted which is why it landed with us. I went to the boat place and bought some gel coat and brushed a generous coat all over the car then when it was set we set about smoothing it out for paint.
Fit the parts to your car. Then hard sand (36 grit) the whole outer surface and get some gel coat like Beaner said and brush a nice coat over them. After cured sand the new surface to a semi smooth shape, and apply bondo if needed. Then paint just like you would any other fiberglass.
Evercoat makes a reinforced polyester primer that is designed for these exact situations. Vette restoration guys really like it because it locks down any repair or gelcoat checking from bleeding through to the top coat. http://www.evercoat.com/product-detail/part-number/100736/us/
If they were outside long.....remove all the surface rust and repair the rust holes BEFORE smoothing the surface.
Back in the day we used some stuff called "Feather Fill". https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/evercoat-feather-fill-g2-polyester-primer-surfacer-p-12797.aspx
You can use a hot air gun to straighten fibreglass if needed. I've done this a few times on racecar body panels.
This reply gets my vote for "shortest attention span" just after reading this https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...l-31-coupe-or-a-glass-32-five-window.1076707/
Pictures on the fibreglass parts and their damages might help alot. For an application such as this, applying a coat to a already made piece of fibreglass reenforced polyester plastic, you use topcoat, not gelcoat. Gelcoat is what you put as the first layer in the moulds before moulding the fibreglass/resin on top of it, if you want a painted finish on the other side too you use topcoat there. Gelcoat is mostly the same, but the gelcoat surface does not cure completely in contact with air, often making it slightly sticky and giving it a perfect surface for the polyester resin to stick to when the glass/resin is applied later. Topcoat completely cures, giving it a nice, hard surface. (Gelcoat can be turned into topcoat by mixing a special wax solution with it - the wax floats to the surface and makes an air tight barrier letting it cure all the way through.) Imagine the poor fellow who wanted to repaint the inside of his boat, he sanded it all down and painted it with gelcoat. All of it remained sticky weeks later, forcing him to sand it all down again (NOT fun sanding away sticky stuff that just gunks up the sand paper) and doing it right with topcoat. Easy mistake to make when you don't know the diffrence.
Well lets not tell the fella with the Vette. That was in the '80s and he is still enjoying his paint job.
Many manufacturers of true GelCoat products (not Gelcoat repair products) do say something like this - " Gel coat is air inhibited and cures tacky on the surface to bond with the lamination. For top coating with gelcoat you will need to use Duratec High Gloss additive or Surface Agent to get a tack free cure. " http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Gel_Coats/gel_coats.html https://www.seahawkpaints.com/gel-coat-application/ http://www.bottompaintstore.com/blog/gelcoat/how-to-apply-gelcoat/ https://www.tapplastics.com/product/fiberglass/gel_coat/tap_gel_coat/39
A friend of mine who did boat repair in the distant past, said he used plastic garbage bags to seal the outside surface from air, n the gelcoat hardened ok. He built the damaged areas from the inside towards the outside. Don't remember what he said about all the waves you'll get, but he did say he used more than one coat before sanding smooth n buffing. However, he was only doing smaller sections of the hull, (although some of the holes were big enough to walk through...) instead of the whole thing. FWIW. Adding the spl wax, or using the topcoat sounds like the easier way out. Marcus...
After spraying or brushing the gelcoat spray a coat of PVA (release agent not the glue !) before it cures. It gives you a perfect tack free surface to sand,with no repaint problems as with waxed gelcoat.
I see the OP has not returned but if he would load some pictures it may be helpful in trying to determine the best way to go. I have played with fiberglass molds, repair and making panels for over 50 years. In fact as soon as I get done here I am going to make a couple of rocker a panel pieces for a 62 Vette project I have been doing in my spare time (weekend fun). I will be using partall (PVA) and some waxed polyester, with two different weighted mats (one for flat surfaces and one for the doorjamb area- as one is more pliable than the other). I will not be using any gelcoat as C1 Corvettes never used gelcoat and it is not necessary at this stage. Even though the scientific community does not readily support gelcoat over already cured surfaces (as the normal adhesion is by a chemical bond and not mechanical methods such as scuffing the surface) there are times when I think it is appropriate. The project I have is a bunch of misfit pieces I have laying around and am building a car out of them for the fun of it and I will probably use some gelcoat when I am done,even though my normal advise is against it-long story. There are all sorts of tricks with this stuff and it would be better to see what has to be done and then give my .02 cents. There are other knowledgeable people on here that will have some useful advice as well. Also playing with this stuff can be tricky (certainly not difficult) and it is wise to either do a bit of research first or load some pictures and see what advice you will get over the forum-doing both would probably be best.. If the parts actually have some value it is best and easiest to do it right-pictures would surely help.
HRP had it right. I have made 40 year old oxidized boats look new with penetrol. Wipe on, Wipe off. Amazing.
Penetrol was originally designed as a additive for alkyd enamel (oil based) paints,basically to help with the flow without thinning the product. Anyone that has ever tried buffing and waxing old glass knows it's a lesson in futility. Years ago it was found that fiberglass gel coat ,especially the metal flake finishes that had lost it's shine and was dull and cloudy as simple wipe down with Penetrol made it look brand new and gave it new life. HRP
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