Gel coat applacation Q..

[YeLLowBoaT]

I am going to aply gel to my "blige" area. I was wondering if I could use a Airless. I have a old junk airless that is not worth fixing. It works ok, but its on its last legs. So I was thinking about using it to spray my gel.
1 Will it work?
2 Should I go with a small tip or should I put a 5 17 on it and just go to town.
I really don't care if the gel hardens in the airless. Right now all it is doning is taking up space in my garage.

[G-Body]

Mabey, when I sprayed my boat I tried an old crappy airless and it worked good for a couple minutes then started to clog. I had thinned it 25% :220v: with acetone. I had better luck with a sharp model 75 and cranking the pressure above 60psi, but I still could not get a full pattern. If your airless has a selection of tips you will probably have better luck than me, put the biggest one on, gelcoat is some thick stuff. A friend of mine gelcoated his bilge and he rollered it on, I have not seen it but he said it worked out great, he said he would think of doing the whole boat with a roller if it dried a little slower.

[RAMROD]

Being a "first timer", I would say roll it. You can buy some webbing solution and after rolling it, mix another color up with the solution and web it.

[phebus]

I would use Duratec.

[redneckcharlie]

make sure you use a 1.7 or larger tip in a conventional spray gun. a siphon gun is much easier to use than a gravity feed hvlp for a first timer. they do make special inserts for hvlp's that will allow you to spray at odd angles. also, check the cfm requirements for the gun you choose and make sure your air supply will keep up. :rollside:

[RAMROD]

With all due respect, this is a bilge area, not a topcoat. Sure, it can be sprayed, but going over a rougher pourous area such as this, it will probably peel eventually, unless you are willing to be down there with all the fumes and overspray and apply 10 or 20 coats to build up abouy 50 mils or more. I would roll it, get some good thick coverage, and be done with it. I mix wax in with mine for a little better drying time and a good hard finish. The webbing helps cover up any other flaws and gives it a nicer look. I only do this every day, and it's only my opinion like all the others. I'm not familiar with pics here but would be glad to e-mail you some of the underside of a rear deck I did yesterday and a stereo box. No muss, no fuss, no fumes to breathe, no overspray, no messy cleanup, simple.

[RAMROD]

That's damn nice. Would you like a job?
Awesome job.