I actually asked about this a few months back, I was planning on letting someone take care of it for me but due to recent budget constrains that night not be an option and I may need to tackle this one myself.
Original Thread:
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...lear-coat.html

I have a pretty nasty chip all the way down to the glass, but nothing structural, I think. My question is what can I use for a filler to build up the area that needs to be gelled? I have a few pictures that I can email if someone would be willing to post them for me. I'm thinking I could grind out the rough edges, use something like 3M premium Marine Filler (or something similar), then use a gel coat repair kit on top of that... I've never attempted gel coat work before and the guys at West marine keep telling me to add fiber glass and resin to fill this in. I'm not sure why this would be better than using a filler. Any ideas would certainly be appreciated.

Thanks,
Aaron

Chips that arent deeper then say an eighth to three sixteenth your ok with the 3M Premium (very user friendly stuff) but my preference is to clean out the chip with a ball end carbide on a die grinder and do the bulk of the fill with some poly or vinyl resin and West Systems 404 High Density, rough it down in 80 grit then do a final pull of the 3M Premium filler. That way you have a good stable base for the repair and it shouldnt move around on ya. This method is good for individual repairs up to maybe the size of a quarter beyond that it may be better to toss some mat on the repair.


got any pics?

I do have a few pics but I can't post them... Can I email them to you?

no prob I'll PM ya my email and celly number dont hesitate to call if have questions beyond here. The tech line is usually open from nine to noon daily

pics, yep looks like some minor glasswork

Looks like a good place for a fuel fill, vent.......

Thanks for posting Dave... I was going to start on this this weekend, but I went out to start the boat yesterday and found out I have a crack in my fuel rail and I'm shooting gas all over the bilge... I guess that's going to have to take priority. I'll probably end up starting another thread but if anybody has a fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator that will work on a 1999 7.4 Volvo GI I'm in the market... Stupid boat.