Older glass glider refinishing question

[Gus Rasch]

Group,

I am considering the purchase of an older glass bird in my local area.
It has sat for quite a while and the finish is not the best.
Specifically, someone shot Imron over the original gelcoat at some
point in the past. (rather than take it down and refinish it
correctly.) The Imron is now lifting/flaking in a few areas. (mostly
the wing tips/upper surfaces)

Obviously one option would be to completely refinish the glider in
gelcoat. I doubt the glider is worth putting 15K worth of gelcoat on
though.

I figure the next option is to sand it down really well, do all the
surface prep, filling and smoothing I could and then shoot more paint
on the old gal. My concerns with this option is just how well I could
expect the paint to hold up or look good over the gel coat.

Third option....sand her down and fly her UGLY. I could put a bag
over my head everytime I pulled her out and waited in the tow line.
Of course this option costs nothing and I think it would be a
perfectly flyable ship with a well sanded gelcoat and showing her age.
Kinda like going to prom with your mother.

Any thoughts, ideas or opinions? (About the glider not prom or
mother.)

Many thanks,

GR

[Peter Seddon]

You don't say what the glider is, Slingsby Vegas are painted with acrylic as
standard.

Peter S


"Gus Rasch" > wrote in message
om...
> Group,
>
> I am considering the purchase of an older glass bird in my local area.
> It has sat for quite a while and the finish is not the best.
> Specifically, someone shot Imron over the original gelcoat at some
> point in the past. (rather than take it down and refinish it
> correctly.) The Imron is now lifting/flaking in a few areas. (mostly
> the wing tips/upper surfaces)
>
> Obviously one option would be to completely refinish the glider in
> gelcoat. I doubt the glider is worth putting 15K worth of gelcoat on
> though.
>
> I figure the next option is to sand it down really well, do all the
> surface prep, filling and smoothing I could and then shoot more paint
> on the old gal. My concerns with this option is just how well I could
> expect the paint to hold up or look good over the gel coat.
>
> Third option....sand her down and fly her UGLY. I could put a bag
> over my head everytime I pulled her out and waited in the tow line.
> Of course this option costs nothing and I think it would be a
> perfectly flyable ship with a well sanded gelcoat and showing her age.
> Kinda like going to prom with your mother.
>
> Any thoughts, ideas or opinions? (About the glider not prom or
> mother.)
>
> Many thanks,
>
> GR

[JJ Sinclair]

Hi GR,
It's winter, what else you got to do. Start refinishing the sucker. All the
urethane must be removed and any lose, cracked or pealing gel-coat, also. Get
an air supply and an air-board (2.5 X 18) Jump on her with 40 grit, when your
new air-board is completely worn out, you should be about ready to prime and
then contour, by hand with 60 grit on a 2.5 X 18 board. Tidy up the 60 grit
scratches with some 120 free hand work (those scratches give the paint *tooth*)
Now your ready to shoot acrylic urathane. Give her 3 medium to wet coats and
then contour with 600 wet followad by 800 wet. Now jump on her with your wool
buffer and liquid buffing compound. Buff out at least twice. Put your numbers
back on, stick-on are easiest, then wax, after the paint is at least a month
old.

By now it should be spring. Take your nice little cutie out and let all the
other guys drool.
JJ Sinclair

[Bill Daniels]

"Gus Rasch" > wrote in message
om...
> Group,
>
> I am considering the purchase of an older glass bird in my local area.
> It has sat for quite a while and the finish is not the best.
> Specifically, someone shot Imron over the original gelcoat at some
> point in the past. (rather than take it down and refinish it
> correctly.) The Imron is now lifting/flaking in a few areas. (mostly
> the wing tips/upper surfaces)
>
> Obviously one option would be to completely refinish the glider in
> gelcoat. I doubt the glider is worth putting 15K worth of gelcoat on
> though.
>
> I figure the next option is to sand it down really well, do all the
> surface prep, filling and smoothing I could and then shoot more paint
> on the old gal. My concerns with this option is just how well I could
> expect the paint to hold up or look good over the gel coat.
>
> Third option....sand her down and fly her UGLY. I could put a bag
> over my head everytime I pulled her out and waited in the tow line.
> Of course this option costs nothing and I think it would be a
> perfectly flyable ship with a well sanded gelcoat and showing her age.
> Kinda like going to prom with your mother.
>
> Any thoughts, ideas or opinions? (About the glider not prom or
> mother.)
>
> Many thanks,
>
> GR

I don't know how bad the finish is on your prospective purchase but the best
advice may be, "ignore the finish and fly it the way it is." The advice I'm
getting is that it won't hurt anything if you keep it dry and protected from
UV. Others may giggle at your ugly glider but you will be enjoying the
performance for a LOT less money.

The gel-coat on my Nimbus 2C is probably worse the glider that you are
looking at but it flies fine. I had the chance to fly in close with another
beautifully finished Nimbus 2 for a couple of hours and any difference was
undetectable. I may still want to re-finish it but improving the
performance alone doesn't seem a good enough reason to do so.

Following up on the re-finish ideas, I'm thinking of stripping the old
gel-coat myself as JJ suggests but let an expert do the rest of the job.
Anyone have thoughts on that? How much money can you save?

Bill Daniels

[Gus Rasch]

(JJ Sinclair) wrote in message >...
> Hi GR,
> It's winter, what else you got to do.


I got a Pitts to fly a house to work on and a wife and kid that all
want a piece of my time.


> urethane must be removed and any lose, cracked or pealing gel-coat, also. Get
> an air supply and an air-board (2.5 X 18) Jump on her with 40 grit, when your
> new air-board is completely worn out, you should be about ready to prime and
> then contour, by hand with 60 grit on a 2.5 X 18 board. Tidy up the 60 grit
> scratches with some 120 free hand work (those scratches give the paint *tooth*)
> Now your ready to shoot acrylic urathane. Give her 3 medium to wet coats and
> then contour with 600 wet followad by 800 wet. Now jump on her with your wool
> buffer and liquid buffing compound. Buff out at least twice. Put your numbers
> back on, stick-on are easiest, then wax, after the paint is at least a month
> old.



You make it sound sooo easy. Having looked at past posts and
discussions on refinishing gliders I must admit that I am not willing
to step up to that plate. Thats a big TIME committment more than
anything else.


>
> By now it should be spring. Take your nice little cutie out and let all the
> other guys drool.
> JJ Sinclair


I am leaning towards just sanding and flying it UGLY for the first
season. I can always paint or redo the finish properly NEXT winter.

GR

[Gus Rasch]

"Bill Daniels" > wrote in message >...
> I don't know how bad the finish is on your prospective purchase but the best
> advice may be, "ignore the finish and fly it the way it is." The advice I'm
> getting is that it won't hurt anything if you keep it dry and protected from
> UV. Others may giggle at your ugly glider but you will be enjoying the
> performance for a LOT less money.
>
> The gel-coat on my Nimbus 2C is probably worse the glider that you are
> looking at but it flies fine. I had the chance to fly in close with another
> beautifully finished Nimbus 2 for a couple of hours and any difference was
> undetectable. I may still want to re-finish it but improving the
> performance alone doesn't seem a good enough reason to do so.
>
> Following up on the re-finish ideas, I'm thinking of stripping the old
> gel-coat myself as JJ suggests but let an expert do the rest of the job.
> Anyone have thoughts on that? How much money can you save?
>
> Bill Daniels



Bill,

I am leaning towards sanding off the old paint to get it reasonably
smooth and flying it UGLY. I can always paint or refinish it next
winter after getting a season under my belt.

GR

[Eric Greenwell]

>>By now it should be spring. Take your nice little cutie out and let all the
>>other guys drool.
>>JJ Sinclair
>
> I am leaning towards just sanding and flying it UGLY for the first
> season. I can always paint or redo the finish properly NEXT winter.

Or maybe do it progressivley: One wing this year, do the other one next
year. It will look a bit odd with one beautiful wing and one ... not so
good.

Or do just the elevator and see how it goes, so you can judge the amount
of time better!