Around the sun roof and on the window pillars the gel-coat has flaked off of my 86 GT leaving the bare fiber glass. What's the best, quickest way to repair this stuff so it will last? I don't really want to replace the roof skin.

They have kits you can by with the glass fibers and the epoxy at most auto parts stores but its nasty stuff and a little time consuming. hope this helps.

I've used Bondo brand Fiberglass repair resin. It has the fiberglass hair in it and works wonders and it's easy to use. Remove any loose material, mix it up like bondo, and work it into the cracks/crevices until it's in place. Once it's dry, sand it down until your contour is good, and if you still have a little too rough of a surface to prime and paint over, you can then skim coat it with regular Bondo plastic filler for a smooth surface. Sometimes it works without the regular Bondo, sometimes it doesn't.

Mark

Thanks guys.
I will be painting this car in the near future and will post some pic's when Im done. I think I'll apply a brush coat of fiberglass resin before I used the bondo-glass just to stick all the fibers back together.

Please post good pics.

My coupe has rock damage at various points around my sunroof. I fixed it up one year. I used a firbeglass repair and I learned one thing. If the damage is at the edge of the sunroof, water would get back underneath at thaose points. Not a big deal untill the first good freeze. First snow we had here and the repaired area lifted and cracked. Back to square one. I really don't want to change the roof assembly either.

I figure the only smart way to fix that is to pull the sunroof seal and ensure the repair is sealed properly down inside. I'm not sure if this makes sense or not. Maybe someone else will chime in and show me the way.

88Ironduke

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Pilots with out maintainers are just pedestrians with a cool jacket and sunglasses.
I.Y.A.M.Y.A.S.

Skidmark,
For the damage you're talking about, I would use FeatherFill or a similar product. It's a sprayable polyester filler similar in composition to Bondo, but you would not be likely to have the moisture penetration/lifting problem described above. Also, since fiberglass is also made from polyester resin like Bondo and FeatherFill, it should adhere well provided the surface is clean and grease free. Be sure and clean your gun THOROUGHLY after you finish spraying it; if it sets up in there...well, your paint gun will make a good paperweight.

A side note here for ANYONE planning to paint your car: avoid silicone lubricants like the plague. It's a royal pain to get rid of, it gets everywhere, from just a tiny spray, and virtually no paint will stick to it. (Unless you just like the fisheye effect.) Most body shops will not even allow them on the premises.

You might also do some research on boat repair; gelcoat on those has gotta be fixed from time to time too, and it isn't a nuclear secret or anything...

Tony

[This message has been edited by Vonov (edited 05-08-2004).]

A problem with glass hair in can bondo (hair bondo) is that some hairs are orientated perpendicular to the surface. This makes finishing almost impossible. You must use a skim coat of bondo over hair bondo to get the proper smoothness. You have to factor that in when you do the repair. Otherwise, hair bondo is great stuff. I have found that the hair bondo used as a base sticks better, especially in high heat enviorments, than regular bondo.

A quick coat of fiberglass resin and a couple thin layers of that bondo-glass and it all looks pretty smooth and sturdy. When I started prepping the area I ended up chipping off all of the gel-coat and whatever else they used as a finish layer all the way up the window pillars. The only thing left was the crumbling fiber glass. I used the resin to glue all the fiberglass together and firm things up a bit, sanded it with 80 grit and applied 2 layers of bondo glass. This made it all real sturdy. I will coat it with a good 2 part urathane (SP) primer, sand it with 400, and it should be ready for the base coat/clear coat paint.
Thanks for the help guys. Again Pennock's is an invaluable resorce.

Forgot to mention I broke the windshield too. No big deal because It was cracked and I plan on replacing it anyway. I had to remove that weather strip around the windshield to do the glass work properly.

[This message has been edited by SKIDMARK (edited 05-09-2004).]