Gelcoat colours

[sambo]

I'm after people's thoughts about adding pigment to the gelcoat. I've heard that it's easy enough to do (eg, minimal extra cost) and I've seen quite a few pictures of gray gelcoated cars, namely here:



I reckon a gray gelcoated car looks a little more "finished" than the standard white, not to mention easier to touch up and keep clean. And yet nearly all pics of locally made Cobras seem to be done in white. Does it affect the way the car is painted further down the track? Any other reason? I'm leaning towards a dark metallic gray anyway, but what if I decide on a lighter colour, will the gray gelcoat come through?

[Paul F]

My Cobra is gelcoated red and has not had paint on it for 10 years. Looks great. No, it does not look like an expensive paint job, but I regularly get complements on the 'paint'.
When I first got the car, I had a lot of people tell me it would look terrible in a couple of years. Its looks have not diminished over time.
Yes, I would definitely get a paint job, but it's just not a priority for me. The gel coat looks more like a 60's paint job then today's clear coat finish.

[BMK]

I used my Cobra in white gel coat for the first 12 months as I could not decide if it was finished and needed pulling apart.

After this shake down time I painted it in the blue...

I ran tape down the body and sprayed the flat black stripes onto the white for a change. We bdid it in half an hour over a couple of beers.



And then blue....

[400TT]

Nothing wrong with black gelcoat either. Just give it a polish and throw some stickers on it:



The lighter gelcoat colours are easier to work on and I guess white is popular as it would be the cheapest and most abundant colour.

The colour of the gelcoat doesn't affect paint. Even most stone chips only go back to primer.

If you already know your final colour, certainly wouldn't hurt to get gelcoat to match as close as possible. Will help you match fittings/finishes to body colour as you can try them against the gelcoat colour and could help with stone chips.

[vettestr]

The color of gel is less of an issue than primer color. A Grey or red oxide primer is selected to reduce how bad a chip shows up after painted and to help with paint coverage. gels are purchased in the color and not tinted per application but a darker color tint could be added if a customer really wanted it. We choose the Grey for several reasons= most compatible with glide coat colors, easy to cover, shows well or does not make little imperfections stick out like a sore thumb like gloss black would, if chipped after paint hot pink might show through just a little, most available and less expensive for that reason and easy to blend if damaged in shop.

[sambo]

Cheers Jeff, that just about seals it for me. Thanks for the info.

[David Hodgson]

Mines been in grey gelcoat for 10 yrs now. G-Force supplied them grey.



I always wondered for chip disguise, if the same colour gelcoat as paint would be an advantage. Of course primer would need to be tinted.

You guys are probably sick of that pic by now. I will attemp to put some others in my gallery for these purposes. Most all the shots i have are on film not digital.

[BMK]

vettestr

Now I hope there are no stone chips after the magazine shoot.




You did let the 'Mulvsta' drive....he managed to stay out of the kitty litter on the bends...

[BMK]

SPLIPRY

Dave

The Cobra looks great in the contrasting stripes. Mmm I would certainly leave it in Gel coat if it looked as good as your car there..

[BMK]

Do DRB do the GT 40's in different Gel coat colours....

# # # #

Is plain old black available...

[400TT]

Originally Posted by David Hodgson

You guys are probably sick of that pic by now. I will attemp to put some others in my gallery for these purposes. Most all the shots i have are on film not digital.

Can never get sick of looking at your Cobra David. But those V8 Supercar drivers don't help the quality of the photo though.

Originally Posted by Bernie Knight

Do DRB do the GT 40's in different Gel coat colours....

# # # #

Is plain old black available...

All the Australian ones are Gulf Blue gelcoat.

The overseas orders are white from what I have seen.

I'm sure Peter Ransom would do a black one for you. I think there is still a 6 month waiting list for just body/chassis units, they are that popular. Who knows why?

[BMK]

400TT

Craig,

Now a Gulf blue doesn't sound that bad..

I did see one in the States in black gel coat that had a number of decals on it and decal stripes. It was hard to pick, as I looked carefully the owner indicated that he had sanded back the lines. He had it polished with a boat hull polish of similiar. He then hand polished the buff out.

It looked great - lemon yellow stripes in sign vinyl....

[vettestr]

Sambo, Bernie,
Sambo, the gel coat color is just not a biggie. As mentioned by others the paint and primer will rock chip but the body/gel coat is protected by the paint. If a cars finish is polished gel it will chip or get a frosted look from rocks and then tougher to spot finish than paint. I do like the looks of polished gel and it is very durable but it does get defects from rock chips too.
Bernie, Hope to be seeing you sooner than latter. The car made it through the testing just fine. We did take a few cones out but that just proves they were movable. The exhaust may have taken 1 of the 2 cones out as Steve was cutting them very close but with great style. Testing was the week after Hersh and Steve got back from Ca. Amassing he could drive that well with a hang over. The results of the mag testing will start in the September issue that is available in Aug I think.

[BMK]

vettestr

Jeff

After I travelled with Hershal and Mulv from Santa Barbara to Scottsdale I can assure you that Mulv was ready for the testing of your Cobras.



He uses the freeway as a warm up - long lap..

Cheers, I'll keep a loook out for the test results..

Bernie

[vettestr]

Bernie, Check your PM box when you get a chance.

[BMK]

vettestr

Tickets booked for the Run N Gun. Will check PM's.