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I have a very old 1973 16' model which is in OK condition. The original gel coat was in really bad condition so in 2003, I gel coated the inside. With Heat, Cold sun and rain, the application which i put in the boat is now spider cracking and basically in bad shape. Since this is a 1973 and I have no desire to sand the crap out of it for new application of Gel coat, do you think I could use a media such as sand or Beads to sandblast the inside just to make rough enough for an epoxy coat? I was thinking with all the small areas it would be just so much easier to hit it with a blaster then 80 grit for 100 hours.
Any ideas would be help full as I would love to make this nice but really don't have the time to do a proper restore.
I just need the epoxy to have something to adhere to?
I know this is a foul to those who have the time and money to fully restore her, but I don't have either and this is just a weekend boat.
The problem with sandblasting will be ensuring an even removal of the gelcoat to leave a flat surface you can re-coat. It's not like blasting paint off a car, where you have a relatively soft paint over relatively hard metal - both the gel and the underlying resin are about the same hardness, so an operator would need a great deal of skill to keep from making a hash of it.
You're better off getting a big sander and a bunch of 80 grit paper (maybe even 60) and just sanding down to the glass. Then I'd be inclined to go with a barrier coat to keep water out, and then something like Line-X bedliner.
