Yamaha Fiberglass Boat Damage - Gelcoat Painted

[drewdaly]

My boat was hit at the marina and cracked the gel coat and fiberglass in several places. I have Yamaha SX240 (black) with fiberglass gel coat damage. I have been getting mixed information on how to fix it. Several shops want to re-gelcoat and the dealer wants to paint it with a "special paint". Has anyone had experience with paint verse gelcoat? With it being black I am concerned that it holds up over time and does not scratch easy.

 

[sfadchi]

Gel Coat! No special paint.

 

[Dixemon]

Have a Picture?

Gel Coat Search

YAMAHA 2004-2019 BOAT BLACK 2 CCP F177021-SC SPRAY CANS YAMAHA 2004-2019 BOAT BLACK 2 CCP F507021G STOCKING GALLONS YAMAHA 2004-2019 BOAT BLACK 2 CCP F507021Q STOCKING QUARTS YAMAHA 2004-2019 BOAT BLACK 2 CCP F557021K PATCH PASTE KITS

Spectrum Color Yamaha Boat Black 2 Ccp 04-21 Boat Gel Coat

<p><h3><strong>*This item is non-returnable*</strong></h3></p><div style="height:200px;width:200px;border:1px solid #000;background-color:#3E3F3F;float:right"></div> <p> <b>Boat Manufacturer:</b> Yamaha<br> <b>Years Covered:</b> 2004-2011<br> <b>Color Family:</b> Black<br> <b>Color...

www.iboats.com

 

[Canuckjetboater]

My boat was hit at the marina and cracked the gel coat and fiberglass in several places. I have Yamaha SX240 (black) with fiberglass gel coat damage. I have been getting mixed information on how to fix it. Several shops want to re-gelcoat and the dealer wants to paint it with a "special paint". Has anyone had experience with paint verse gelcoat? With it being black I am concerned that it holds up over time and does not scratch easy.

@drewdaly with no pictures I am speculating here but "spectrum kits" are IMO for very , very small areas of damage as in small nicks and chips. Some Yamaha PWCs have painted areas. After lengthy discussions with Yamaha USA and Riva Racing this Summer I was told that Yamaha boats are gel coat finished. I needed this information for a factory warranty repair of a mold chip on my 2020 Yamaha SX195 that had not been repaired at the factory before it was shipped to my dealer subsequently and sold to me. The dealer contracted a local gel coat specialist ( Marc "the wizard" Lemieux) to conduct the repair. Although he did not need a quart of gel coat material (Yamaha Yacht Blue) to conduct the repair that was the smallest quantity that was available for shipping. @drewdaly IMO you will likely need to have some of the areas ground out, repaired, prepped and spray gel coat finished. I am very, very experienced with fiberglass repairs and left this job to a pro as it also involved a colored hull - which are very hard to color match.

 

[Neutron]

Yamaha waverunners are painted. Not gelcoated.
I repaired a gouge on the hull and repainted with black epoxy paint. Wetsanded and buffed. Cant find the spot if you tried.
Yamaha boats wouldn't get the same results.

 

[marcham]

Since the fiberglass is damaged, large areas of gel coat will be removed to lay up new fiberglass (both inside and out). New gel coat is the only way to go. With interior access, it is possible to make the repair almost invisible from the outside.

 

[mgmfrp]

repaired a 2019 yamaha 195 with a black hull last year. Boat was brand new (only 7 hours). The owner hit the dock and put a 6" crack in the side. Wasn't near any decals and was in a nice flat area to repair. Dealer quoted over $4000 to do the repair and the customer was looking at options. I thought, No problem, easily can do it for $1000 or less. So, that's what I quoted. Turns out the dealer wanted to recoat the whole side and blend it at the contour to hide any transition marks. I thought, that's just dumb to re gel the whole side for a 6" repair. Turns out, they were right. Black gel coat changes tone when its applied over top versus into the mold. It kind of went to a super dark grey shade and no matter how many coats we applied, it always could be seen. I wound up doing the repair for free because I told them I could blend it and it was a new boat. Never again will I do that on black or any dark color gel.

 

[tdonoughue]

@mgmfrp , what gelcoat did you use? Was it a color-matched one like Spectrum or were you mixing to match? I did the red on my boat pretty successfully; haven't tried black yet...

 

[mgmfrp]

I used NAC. I buy in bulk. Typically black is black. There are no color matches for it.

 

[tdonoughue]

Thanks. Haven't done anything but Spectrum, but I have heard that color matching manually is quite an art and difficult. Didn't know about the 'black is black' thing. Just assumed there were little differences...

 

[drewdaly]

Thanks! This is all very helpful! I have not repaired it yet. I had several shops telling me they wanted to use gel coat and the dealership saying they would paint it. Sounds like Gel Coat is the proper way to do it.

 

[drewdaly]

repaired a 2019 yamaha 195 with a black hull last year. Boat was brand new (only 7 hours). The owner hit the dock and put a 6" crack in the side. Wasn't near any decals and was in a nice flat area to repair. Dealer quoted over $4000 to do the repair and the customer was looking at options. I thought, No problem, easily can do it for $1000 or less. So, that's what I quoted. Turns out the dealer wanted to recoat the whole side and blend it at the contour to hide any transition marks. I thought, that's just dumb to re gel the whole side for a 6" repair. Turns out, they were right. Black gel coat changes tone when its applied over top versus into the mold. It kind of went to a super dark grey shade and no matter how many coats we applied, it always could be seen. I wound up doing the repair for free because I told them I could blend it and it was a new boat. Never again will I do that on black or any dark color gel.

I will need to make sure that they do the whole side of the boat. I was afraid that black would be hard to just patch a few small areas. Thanks!

 

[Ronnie]

I had a hole about the size of a half dollar in the black part of hull near the anchor locker repaired by a shop a few years ago for about $2,500. I have a hard time pointing it out, the repair is that good. The owner told me up front that the materials (color matched gel coat, is expensive but nearly as expensive as the labor. They had listed over 24 hours of sanding/wet sanding to blend the color properly. At the time the boat was already 8 years old, 2 years later the repair is still all but invisible.
If is keel damage I’d just seal it and hide the damage with a keel guard, anywhere else, I’d file a claim with my insurance company and Let them pay a pro to repair it.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

@mgmfrp , what gelcoat did you use? Was it a color-matched one like Spectrum or were you mixing to match? I did the red on my boat pretty successfully; haven't tried black yet...

@tdonoughue .....the Yamaha Yacht Blue that my local gel coat wizard uses was shipped from the United States to Canada. It was a 100% match and even with a 2000 lumen led light I could not find the repaired area. He is considered one of the best in Ontario and he said no way could he match the color by eye. It was a bit more expensive as he had to buy a quart which I believe was $180.00 - not sure if that was USD or $CDN and whether it included shipping or not. I have had four boats with hulls that were black from the waterline down: a 24' a 32' a 38' and a 2018 Yamaha SVHO FX Cruiser. The first three were gel coat and when small factory blemishes and shipping chips/nicks were repaired it was the same color of black because they were all from the same manufacturer. I say all the same color as I was told there are a number of different shades of black depending on the manufacturer and depending where the repair is made the color differences would be quite noticeable. The Yamaha PWC was Yamaha 2018 black color paint. There was a chip in the hull by the intake grate that had to be repaired. THAT was an interesting discussion as Yamaha Canada and Yamaha USA had different advice as to whether what was on my hull was paint or gel coat. In fact when I called each one back several times and got different departments they contradicted the department in their own location. I never got a definitive answer from either Yamaha Canada nor Yamaha USA. Finally I consulted Riva Racing who gave me their opinion (which proved correct) and they also referred me to a second opinion - both said for MY PWC it was paint - BUT - that Yamaha has used gel coat, paint and even gel coat on hulls and paint topside on a number of different models due to hull compositions that varied. So there is NO one set answer and to be sure my gel coat guru tested the two Yamaha hulls with various solvents to make sure before ordering - which I would recommend. I may have pictures of my three boats and the PWC that have all black hulls (rub rail down). The 24 footer and Yamaha SVHO FX PWC are both still in Canada. The two cruisers were both sold to Americans living in the Chicago area and when the owners (who I had extensive conversations with prior to the sales) met for fun to discuss their boats and meet for a weekend at a marina/casino complex near Chicago they took pictures which they posted on a "cruisers" forum and sent me personal copies of those rare (special order) full black hulls on my former cruisers. My bottom line....check carefully you may have paint you may have gel coat depending on whether or not it is a Yamaha PWC or Boat and if PWC what hull composition it is. My 2 cents FWIW. P.S. couldn't find any pictures of the 24 footer. Will look some more, just for fun...... Okay, found a couple. LOL...Now you have pictures of all four of my black hulls....plus threw-in the 2010 SX 195 Yacht Blue Yamaha just for fun....with the new Stoltz bow roller (can you spot it?) thanks to recommendations on the BEST Jet Boating forum ever......THIS one!!!!!!

 

[Ibeflyinhigh]

My brand new 190 has 3 spots where it looks like gel coat chipped and the dealer put paint on it. Should I leave it alone or try to fix with gel coat. Here's a picture of one spot on the swim platform.

 

[tdonoughue]

I would take that back to them and have THEM fix it with gelcoat. That paint stuff is not permanent (and looks like crap). On a brand new boat, they should fix that the right way. In a proper gelcoat repair, you will not even know where the spot was.

 

[Ibeflyinhigh]

I would take that back to them and have THEM fix it with gelcoat. That paint stuff is not permanent (and looks like crap). On a brand new boat, they should fix that the right way. In a proper gelcoat repair, you will not even know where the spot was.

Unfortunately I bought it 2 states away. I have done some gel coat repair on my sea doos so I feel fairly confident I can do this myself. Thanks for the input!

 

[tdonoughue]

Oh, yes, very self-doable. Get the color-matched stuff from Spectrum. Eliminates one of the difficult parts. Lots of writeups here on fixing dings, etc. Just take a Dremel tool and re-make that a ding and fill it. Easy peasy.

 

[anmut]

Unfortunately I bought it 2 states away. I have done some gel coat repair on my sea doos so I feel fairly confident I can do this myself. Thanks for the input!

Tell them you'll have it repaired locally but they're picking up the bill. Or you could call Yamaha and see what they suggest.

 

[Jane305]

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