Gel Coat Paint vs Normal Car paint

[nd4spd00]

I was visiting a web site, and they had there car painted in gel coat paint, it looks pretty nice.
Can anyone help, I dont know what the difference between gel coat paint and normal car paint? If someone can help it would be great

[flipper35]

Gel coat isn't paint. It is colored resin that is part of the body and then buffed/polished. It can be made to look very nice and it is easy to buff scratches out. Hard to match colors if you need to repair something. Stripes would have to be painted on anyway.

[casaleenie]

Wadesdad is running an AC with a yellow gelcoat on it that looks great... That was a nice option with AC... Can postpone a paint job indefinitely...

[grabber blue]

my LAX is has fantastic grabber/lilly blue gel coat. personally, i love it. saves money and worry. wipe it down just like a boat. put stripes over it so it doesn't too cheap. just make sure it is CLEAR COATED and waxed and covered outside. i hear gel fades really fast and looks chalky, then you have to break down and paint it. personally, since my car is not meant to be 100% accurate, i like it. i'm sure that accuracy seekers would choose paint.

[Wayne Maybury]

The first thing to go into a mold is the release agent, next is the gelcoat, then comes the resin and glass. Most fiberglas boats that you see have a gelcoat finish. Some have a poly urethane paint finish.

I have been playing with boats for quite a few years and I have to admit that gelcoat is not my favorite finish to maintain. While it is easy to touch up and to buff out scratches, it is not very UV resistant so you have to constantly keep it protected, did I say wax on - wax off. For a Cobra that will not sit in the sun an awful lot, the UV problem probably will not come into play.

I have noticed that the quality of the gelcoat finish on newer boats appears to be superior to the product of 10 years ago. Molds that are used over and over must be cleaned perfectly between uses and buffed since the quality of the mold will determine the quality of the gelcoat finish to a large degree.

There is also "sanding gelcoat" which is not meant to be left unpainted. It is designed to be sanded then covered with primer, then painted. It is not very shiney and is quite easily scratched.

Wayne

[Mr.Fixit]

colored gelcoat looks just like that, a gelcoat with pigment. Looks like the lunch tables they have at every high school. It looks nothing like a paint job. LA exotics used to be very popular in colored gelcoat, but they look MUCH better painted. There is no "optical depth" to gelcoat. What has been said about oxidation is definately true.

[Roscoe]

I've been on the road for over two years and still have the gelcoat. It still looks great. Sure it's not a paint job but it is good enough for me. Many cannot believe it isn't painted. Best thing is that it gives me time to not only save up for a paint job when I'm ready but to give alot of thought to color. I'm very happy with the quality of the gelcoat.

Works for me.



Roscoe
http://www.priveye.com/cobra.htm

[Ron61]

Roscoe,

That car looks a lot better than several of the painted ones I see around here. I have only seen one gelcoat car up close at a car show and it looked great to me. But it was brand new and the man that had it was wondering how it would stand up to our 115° heat in the Summer. I haven't seen it in over a year so I don't know how it fared.

Ron

[casaleenie]

Mr. Fixit,

Everything you say is true---

Your point is???

[Mr.Fixit]

casaleenie,

I was attempting to give my two cents to the person who posted the question about gel coat paint. His question was ,

"Can anyone help, I dont know what the difference between gel coat paint and normal car paint? If someone can help it would be great"
I am sure there are plenty of you who are more than pleased with a gel coat finish. There are also lots of you who prefer paint. Most of us would like to have the option for bare aluminum, but don't have the finances for that.

P.S. everything looks good in a picture, up close is another story. So a pic seen online should not be taken as evidence as how good a paint job looks.

[Double Venom]

Allright, we do both. Being a world class and award winning painter I prefer paint, period.
But Wayne IS the closest to the description or opinion you are looking for.

A gel-coated car with a quality color gel coat works and works well. Take Roscoes car for example. It is georgeous! How ever if he left it outside in the weather, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, much like a boat it WILL start to fade in less than two years. Some in less than a year.

What you do not get is that "Two Foot" shine depth with gel coat. But... let me insert a little secret here. If you have a professional painter take that same gel-coated car, regardless of color, wet sand it all over with 600 grit, back and forth only please! No circles! Then use the new catalyzed clear coat over it, the look and finish will win you many, many trophy's!

A&C, Antique and Collectibles, in my opinion has the best gel-coat, paintable or colored in the industry.

A colored gel coat will save you about 5K in our shop

DV...one who has just slammed dunked his own body men

[casaleenie]

Mr. Fixit,

Just tweaking you a little.. There is no comparison between a great paint job and a great gel-coat job. What gel-coat does offer is the ability to postpone a 3 to 5 thousand dollar paint job until funds become available, if that is a consideration.
A & C was a leading contender when I was trying to decide on a kit and that was partly due to the gel-coat option...

[nd4spd00]

I want to thank everyone for there comments

[petek]

DV,

I've often wondered if gelcoat + clear coat would turn out a nice finish ... thanks for the answer even before I asked the question!

[Double Venom]

Okey-Dokey,

I've had a lot of e-mail over this, expectedly so. A lot of it from guys that just cant believe you can "scratch up" a brand new shiny gel coat finish then clear coat it and it will come out.

Lets try an experiment. You guys pick the color. Any non metallic. I will call Sonny at A&C and ask him to send me a good sized new panel. I will then take pictures of it in the following order:

1.) untouched, 2.) half of it wet-sanded with 600 grit, 3.) I'll then shoot the sanded half with clear coat.

I'll let you guys decide!

DV... what's your color choice? majority wins! Ohhh Nobody pick black!

[Rick Bagley]

One thing that hasnt been mention, I have never seen a gelcoat body that is anywhere near perfect. They are not straight and the edges are rough where they have been trimmed and there's the little pin holes and low places. So were not talking appples to apples. A paint job that has been filled, primered, blocked and sanded, guide coat, blocked and sanded, no comparison to gelcoat.

[Roscoe]

Rick,
Apparently you've never cast your eyes on an A&C. I have no pinholes or rough edges. Their bodies are supurb and almost flawless.

However, you can touchup gelcoat with the same color, like touchup paint, and simply sand/buff/polish it out.

DV: I'd like to see that. I've wondered about sanding and clearcoating. Don't care what color you use.

Roscoe

[Mike Lopez]

it`s funny that this thread started back up.Right now im in the process of striping and clear coating my a&c.Let me tell you,these guys are right.My paint guy was shocked at the body from a&c.He thought the car was going to need a ton of block sanding,after he saw it he realized he need to do nothing.We talked to a rep from dupont and he said to scrub the car with comet,yup comet,than wash it down with dawn,this is to make sure the release agent from the mold was completly off he said this will prevent fish eye.We scufed it up with a scotch brite pad and I laid out the stripe.My paint guy still thought the clear wouldnt look good because the gel coat lightened up after scuffing and he thougt it would show through.So he took one of the doors and shot 1 coat of clear on it,when I saw it I got a ,well you guys now what I got.It was sweet,better than I had expected.It has depth just like a real nice paint job,when I compare it with the other door it`s like night and day.
I`ll take some pics of it tonight and post them in my gallery so you guys can see the before and after.No kidding by going with gel coat was the best move I made yet,I think it was only $450.00 and as for the clear coat and stripe go all I have to do is repipe the guys hot water tank and were going to call it a wash.Compare that to a ton of body work and than a show quality paint job and figure out the cost differance,as far as I can tell it`s a no brainer.Well thats my .02

[Mike Lopez]

Just to let everyone know I posted the pics I took of my clear coat and scuffed up gel coat.It`s a little hard to see any real detail at this resolution but trust me it looks great.If anyone wants a hi res shot e-mailed just let me know..Mike

[Double Venom]

Rick,
Just so you know, you're not comparing apples to apples. What you have seen are sandable gel coats made to be painted.

Do you think all those Cobra manufactures can't make a perfect mold, finish off their own mold lines, fill in all air pockets and pin holes.

Of course they can, but that costs a lot of money, and a lot more time.

When is the last time you looked at, even semi-quality boat? See any pin holes? Naaah. It's all in the prep fella, it's all in the prep.

We do more streetrods than we do Cobras. Take a look at Gibbons, Downs, Wescott's, A&C's, Redneck's or Outlaws body's. An airpocket is a rare thing, a pin hole or two is the exception! Body seams are NON EXISTANT! I only wish one of our Cobra family's would put that much quality into their cars.

Of course they would have to charge about 2 or 3K more for their kits!

DV...we do love quality