Grady Gelcoat

[ElMar]

What is the best way to get factory Grady gelcoat ?

My boat is 1999 vintage.

Thanks.

 

[steveditt]

Spectrum Gel Coat Kits

 

[Fishtales]

its likely faded quite a bit. may need to match it up.

 

[seasick]

I agree with Fishtales. Your gel-coat is probably either faded or darkened depending on what it has been exposed to or covered with over the years. The spectrum in all likelihood won't be a perfect match.
If you have patience and an good eye for color ( Believe me I don't!) many have had success with a generic gel coat repair kit ( best for small cracks and nicks) by adding a very very small amount of brown tint to the white base. Through trial and error a good match can be achieved but you have to measure accurately, mix well, apply to a test base like an old piece of fiberglass or even painted metal, let the test area completely dry and then compare to the specific spot on the boat. Doing larger area gel-coat repairs is not something I would attempt. That stuff is an art and I am not an artist

One thing to keep in mind if you are going to try to fix small areas and you plan on polishing and or compounding the hull, make sure you do that before you color match since the color will be different after oxidation is removed.

 

[ElMar]

Very familiar with tinting gelcoat. I never works.

I have found over the years that factory gelcoat, even if faded works the best. It will fade to match. Spectrum has not worked well for me with whaler and Parker and Tiara.

Do dealerships normally stock Grady gelcoat? When I had a Parker they did. I’ll gave to call around.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Any dealer can order the gelcoat. You'll fall over when you see the price for a tiny bottle.

 

[ElMar]

Any dealer can order the gelcoat. You'll fall over when you see the price for a tiny bottle.

Lol. I’m sure. My local Parker dealer was at $35 a quart a few years ago.

 

[Doc Stressor]

They charged me over $50 for the little 2 oz bottle of paste. You can get the same product from spectrum matched to your year Grady White color for $32. As far as I can tell, the color match is the same and they appear to be the identical product. It matched up very well with my 6 year old (at the time) gelcoat after wet sanding.

Grady White Gelcoat

 

[Rustygaff]

I used the Spectrum $32 GC kit to patch some screw holes on my hull. My boat is a bit newer but the color matched perfectly. I thought I read somewhere here that the dealers actually re-sell the Spectrum kits.

 

[slcarley]

I bought a quart of "factory" gel coat off of ebay - doesn't match my 20 year old fade but does match a heck of a lot better than my custom tinting efforts

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WHITE-GELC...h=item46868ce6a7:g:r8sAAOSwJQdXAUt8:rk:2:pf:0

 

[Fishtales]

That ought to be enough... Tough to match due to the color washout, but as long as you have it on.