Gas tank finish

[Mike Horton]

Is it ok to use bondo to repair small chips etc. in the gelcoat finish on the tanks or is there a better solution? The areas are small, but I would like the tank to look as good as possible. I will be painting it with Krylon spray bomb.

Thanks Mike Horton

[DKWRACER]

Mike, there is bondo specially prepped for fiberglass, it has micro chips embedded and is avail from most specialty auto paint stores, should be a bit stronger than standard bondo. Once you have the area prepped, can use a blow nozzle to remove debris, then clean with acetone, if you have the time and a gun, you can improve the overall result with epoxy primer (scuff with red Scotchbright) then wetsand until you are satisfied with the surface....A lot of quality comes in hours of prepping the surface. Spraybomb can be your friend, but it is formulated to dry fast, so orange peel can become an issue, if you get a reasonable finish to the final color you can wetsand with 600, before applying clearcoat, another neat trick is to use a small brush with hardener around the gas filler spout, I do this only with auto type paints (catalized)...Best of luck!!!! Tom.....

[James]

Tom you bring some good points-but you always do. After banging fenders and spraying for a few years, I too found that you can get some good results with spray bomb/extensive prep. The orange peel is a real sour note to me-but again you can sand and clear or..I have found that spraying a few coats-then wet sanding the paint with 600, and respraying helps mitigate the orange peel.
Also, you may be able to get a "spray-val" sprayer-a chraged canister powering a glass container of whatever paint you want to mix.
I have spray bombed some parts that people refused to believe were not sprayed with an automotive grade paint. Like the frame on Bob Brizee's 250-or the clamps. I do need to try to spray his fender better. You recommended scuffing and clearing the glass rear MC5 piece. I was think of a white base/satin clear. Have you had good results doing this?
Thanks, and BTW Bob's shoulder is better now.  James

7" and 4" travel? Hmm-that makes 11" Hey! I can live with that.

[DKWRACER]

James, thanks for the reply.
Not an expert, but have met with good results thru trial n error. The sprayer you are referring to can be had at Home Depot (Pre-vail) me thinks; holds about 3 or 4 oz. paint. The scuff technique mentioned was only used to prep the rough base for application of epoxy primer. Red Scotchbright is pretty abrasive and I don't use it if I am doing multi-layers of color, I usually wetsand. In another post, I think BigMac used PJ1 Satin clear over a base color to dull the sheen. I found a really decent gun (Sharpe Finex FX 100) for under 100.00 and works down to 15 psi....not for primer tho.....
See Ya, Tom....

[DKWRACER]

Mike, there is bondo specially prepped for fiberglass, it has micro chips embedded and is avail from most specialty auto paint stores, should be a bit stronger than standard bondo. Once you have the area prepped, can use a blow nozzle to remove debris, then clean with acetone, if you have the time and a gun, you can improve the overall result with epoxy primer (scuff with red Scotchbright) then wetsand until you are satisfied with the surface....A lot of quality comes in hours of prepping the surface. Spraybomb can be your friend, but it is formulated to dry fast, so orange peel can become an issue, if you get a reasonable finish to the final color you can wetsand with 600, before applying clearcoat, another neat trick is to use a small brush with hardener around the gas filler spout, I do this only with auto type paints (catalized)...Best of luck!!!! Tom.....

[James]

Tom you bring some good points-but you always do. After banging fenders and spraying for a few years, I too found that you can get some good results with spray bomb/extensive prep. The orange peel is a real sour note to me-but again you can sand and clear or..I have found that spraying a few coats-then wet sanding the paint with 600, and respraying helps mitigate the orange peel.
Also, you may be able to get a "spray-val" sprayer-a chraged canister powering a glass container of whatever paint you want to mix.
I have spray bombed some parts that people refused to believe were not sprayed with an automotive grade paint. Like the frame on Bob Brizee's 250-or the clamps. I do need to try to spray his fender better. You recommended scuffing and clearing the glass rear MC5 piece. I was think of a white base/satin clear. Have you had good results doing this?
Thanks, and BTW Bob's shoulder is better now.  James

7" and 4" travel? Hmm-that makes 11" Hey! I can live with that.

[DKWRACER]

James, thanks for the reply.
Not an expert, but have met with good results thru trial n error. The sprayer you are referring to can be had at Home Depot (Pre-vail) me thinks; holds about 3 or 4 oz. paint. The scuff technique mentioned was only used to prep the rough base for application of epoxy primer. Red Scotchbright is pretty abrasive and I don't use it if I am doing multi-layers of color, I usually wetsand. In another post, I think BigMac used PJ1 Satin clear over a base color to dull the sheen. I found a really decent gun (Sharpe Finex FX 100) for under 100.00 and works down to 15 psi....not for primer tho.....
See Ya, Tom....

[Chakka]

Mike,

Just my 2 cents on tank repair. I just did a watermelon tank that was total trash, had old glass patch repairs, gelcoat crazing and areas where the gel just cumbled away. I used West System 2 part Epoxy availible at marine outlets. Mixed with microballoons it makes a filler the consistancy of runny cake frosting. It sands super nice and is much tougher than bondo when dry. I've never had it come off once i have applied it. I can email pics if you want of the repair.