[niles]

Start by washing the get down with a wax remover. Then "longboard" the gel first. You need to start with an the 18 in longboard. Your inclination that the body is flat and smooth is wrong. It is full of waviness etc that you wont believe until you been thru the process yourself.

I estimate maybe 150 hr total and that includes blocking the jell coat, 2 coats PPG epoxy sealer/primer-blocking again. Looking perfect! Figured one more coat of high build and it would be ready for final blocking. No way!! Everytime you get out the 3M guidecoat and block it; it just gets better and better and flatter and flatter.
I've just finished putting on 4 additional coat of primer and sanded almost all back off. BUT; it just keeps getting smoother!
All this priming and block sanding it easy; two suggestions: good gravity fed gun and lots of blocking; it takes about 4 blockings until you finally get the technique and all the different blocks(hard rubber, soft rubber, rubber hoses and spongs) figured out. I now can completely block the car in about 2 hrs. Only hard part is getting the doors and gaps right. This would take a hr to write up. Grive me a call (eve) 850 678-3306 and I'll walk you thru it. Not hard
grover