Gelcoat chipping away
 

So my son and I working on restoring a 1987 Formula 242 LS. Engine is now removed and wanted to clean up the engine compartment. There appears to be 2 coats of what I assume is Gelcoat. The top layer is white with a gray under it. Both layers are chipping off. So we are working on scraping and sanding it all off. Question.... Whats the best next procedure to prepare the fiberglass for a few coats of new gelcoat??

Welcome!! We are getting quite the collection of 242 owners here lately so great to see another! I'm assuming you have the motor out already and all the other rigging?

I bet the top layer of white is some sort of paint...the gray is probably the gel. And if the gray is able to be scraped off then it may have been a bad batch or not cured properly....it shouldn't be scraping off. Sanding sure but not scraping. Anyway if you just have localized chips of the gray but overall its holding on strong, i would just repair the chipped parts and give the rest of the gray a sanding to scuff up the surface for some good bite and spray a new coating on. Either paint or gel. Paint will be easier and cheaper. Gel will be more involved all the way around.

Yes the motor is out. Glad to be here.

I would like to gelcoat the entire engine bay. I will be making some polyester repairs in there as well so my thought was to strip away all old paint and gel coat, make my repairs, finish the repairs with polyester resin with wax. Next wipe it all down with acetone then brush in a few coats of gel coat also with wax. Would this be a correct way if doing it?
Thanks