Does anyone know how I can locate a supplier of the Dark Teal gelcoat for a 1994 Hydrodyne XP Comp inboard? I need to have the Teal color across the entire transom gelcoated with the original color.
You may have to cut a sample out of some good gelcoat on the boat, and sent it to a Gelcoat company that does color matches. Two companies I know of: http://www.spectrumcolor.com/default.asp http://www.minicraft.com/ Spectrum is is Seattle, Minicraft is in Florida. I have used gelcoats from both companies, and been pleased with the results. When you cut a sample, be sure to find an area of the boat that has not been exposed to a lot of sunlight, if possible. You will want to sand the top layer of the gelcoat, and rebuff it back to a good gloss. On some colors, if this is not done, you will get a color match when the gelcoat is fresh, but as the new gelcoat fades, the color match will get worse, because the old gelcoat has already faded, and the hew has not.
Daniel, thanks for the reply. Do you have any experience with products called Imron or Awlcraft 2000? Apparently these are options to Gelcoat though not sure how suitable they are to my needs. Also would like your opinion on what a local marine fiberglass repair shop is proposing for my repair. I have a couple of large blemishes in the gelcoat on my boat transom. Someone has attempted to repair them and match the color but failed miserably. This shop is recommending that they shoot gelcoat on the transom and match the color as closely as possible realizing that an exact match is very unlikely and also fading issues as you mentioned will be inevitable and will be obvious where the transom meets the sides of the boat. They then are proposing spraying over the gelcoat with paint and clear coat. Their contention is that they can get the color to match very closely with paint and fading will not be an issue with the clear coat. And in the event that a scratch or chip occurs in the paint the underlying gelcoat they will shoot as a first step will be all that shows underneath. I have always heard using paint on a fiberglass boat is a no-no but not sure in this day and age of the improved paints and clear coats.
From what I have heard, Imron is about the best option for paint on fiberglass. I believe it had it's start on airplanes. Our ski team has a 20' that was repainted with Imron around 200 or 2001. It has taken a severe beating being a ski team boat on a river with new drivers every couple of years. Yes, it has been scratched and chipped, but for the abuse it has had, I would say it has done a remarkable job of holding on. It is pretty expensive though. I have not heard anything about the Awlcraft.
I was taking Auto body and paint classes at a local community college when Dupont introduced Imron. It is a very good paint, extremely durable, but you absolutely must wear an approved respirator or have a fresh air system when applying it. It is not used as much on automobiles any more, but I understand it is a very popular paint to use on airplanes. I would wholeheartedly recommend it for those applications. I would not recommend it, or any other paint on gelcoat. Here is why. You can get gelcoat that matches the color of the boat, and on a properly prepared surface, gelcoat sticks to gelcoat, without primers, or undercoats. Gelcoat thickness is typically .020 to .040 thick. Paint thickness is .002 to .008 thick. When you do some sanding, or even buffing on a boat, it is much easier to go completely through the paint. Gelcoat is much more forgiving. Gelcoat had to be sanded, and buffed to a good shine. paint can just be sprayed, and left alone. Most auto body shops do not want to take the time to sand and buff gelcoat, that is why they want to just paint the boat. Additionally, they might not be as familiar with the different techniques used in applying gelcoat, and they know paint. I do work on my ski teams 1992 Hydrodyne. It does have areas on it that were repaired, and painted. I have had some of the paint chip off. I also had to do some more repairs on it, and I have had to "chase" the paint and primer repair about a foot and a half away from the area I originally repaired to hide the primer line that shows up every time I buff the boat. Here is a dirty little secret. Very few paint jobs match exactly. You use a body line to hide the difference in color, or you "fade" the repair into the old paint. If you are talking about having a good match on the vertical part of the transom, the straight area that the engine attaches to, you can use the lines where the hull extends farther aft of the transom, and curves around and rejoins the transom, to hide the minimal color mismatch that may exist. I also do not have any experience with Awlcraft. I am guessing it is still a paint, and has the same limitations that paints have.
I used Imron on my Dyne with great results. It takes a beating (coolers on the Rail, people stepping on and off ect..) and it holds up extremely well. The only area that I have wear is on the keel from beaching it, (But then again the gel coat was worn off on that area anyway) Daniel
I realize I'm responding to a 6 year old question, but I thought I would respond anyway in case it helps out someone else in the future. I've been researching color codes myself for a project boat. I have a 96 Comp Elite inboard closed bow. The factory called my colors Plum, Emerald, Pearl, Sandstone. The bottom half of boat & deck are Pearl, the Sandstone is the thin accent stripe between the Plum & Emerald. I could see this (Emerald) being thought of as a dark teal, but I think emerald is correct. There was a light green available, which was regular teal. Color codes & pics below. ps. I ordered my boat in fall of 1995. I visited the plant in Fort Wayne twice while I was picking my options. This was going to be a once in a lifetime purchase so I asked a ton of questions while there. They were great! I got a tour of the plant, was able to see several boats in their various stages of build. I was quite impressed with the level of detail Hydrodyne put into these boats. Even with this era of Hydrodyne, which was then owned by a group of investors, they produced a top notch boat! They even let me work out a deal where I let them use my boat in the 1996 Chicago Boat Show at McCormick Place in exchange for no delivery charge. It went home with me after the show. That was fun to see on the show floor! Gelcoat manufacturer- Lilly-RAM Chemical Co. Ontario, CA www.lillyram.com Plum GG3-5120 Emerald GG2-5117 Sandstone GG7-5099 Pearl GG1-5306 Black (not legible) used around windshield base. 310 ? perhaps a clear for Rosewood Dashboard? Not sure. I hope this helps down the road. Pete
