10/16 - C-Dory Gelcoat Class

J

John S

New member
Hope someone can help.
I'm getting ready to tackle some repairs and holes from all the different projects I've done on my boat. I've bought the Bennett DVD on fiberglass repair. I also bought "The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual."

I thought this gelcoat thing would be easy. I have the C-Dory Owners manual with the numbers written in it for my gelcoat. WRONG!!

No one can match these numbers up. My boat is in Alaska, so there is no UPS ground for hazardous shipping. It would be best to buy my gelcoat in AK.

One of my colors is listed as "Roberts Grey" Cook number 953AA440. the other color is listed as "white" 953WA441.

I realize that gelcoat mixed today exactly the same as was applied to my boat 10 years ago would no longer match. It would sure be a good start though.

Plaschem of Anchorage is going to give me some charts to compare to my boat. They will match my color if I bring a chunk of my boat in. The Roberts Grey is on my hull and theres nothing to unscrew and bring in of it. It's a 6 hour trailering ride to take it there and they cure some gelcoat up. So they said it would take all day.

What are others doing??

Thanks
 
John,

Have you tried Spectrum Color? They have C-Dory colors on file. Their website used to show the different colors but it has been "down" for some time. I just phone ordered some small gelcoat bottles from them last month to take care of my chips and dings.

Would those little glass jars be considered hazardous shipping? Hmmm.

Here's the link: Spectrum Color
 
I don't know what is going on with them. (Spectrum) I've called them previously and they haven't answered. The WA state location seems to be closed. The website is missing pages. I'll try them again, I think the location that the phone is ringing to is on the east coast and I may have been calling too late.

Did you have to adjust the gelcoat they sent you to match any changes over the years to yours? (fading, sun, etc.)
 
They can ship you the jars but not the hardener. That is what is considered hazardous. You have to go to someplace like TAP Plastics to get the hardener. Last time I got some jars though the fiberglass guy had a hard time using it as it had dried out.
 
I got a hold of Spectrum today. They read off my Cook gelcoat number from my C-Dory manual before I even told it to her. Both my colors are stadard stocking items.

Not that easy though. They said the gelcoat to Alaska has to go overnight or two day service AND the price is $95.00 a quart before shipping.

Our local supplier in Anchorage is running $25.00 a quart. I think I need to try matching some up.
 
I have used Specturm color in the past, but in much smaller amounts. A quart of gel coat is a lot!

You can get tints which will allow you to come very close to matching. Usuallyl a little black, a little yellow and or a little brown will bring the white near. The grey--probably with black pigment--but you find close grey.

White is often one of the hardest colors to match.
 
thataway":1cjc3drx said:
I have used Specturm color in the past, but in much smaller amounts. A quart of gel coat is a lot!

You can get tints which will allow you to come very close to matching. Usuallyl a little black, a little yellow and or a little brown will bring the white near. The grey--probably with black pigment--but you find close grey.

White is often one of the hardest colors to match.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob,
She said 1 Qt was the minimum quantity. They do the putty kit for only $20 some dollars though. I think things have changed there. I believe the Auburn location has closed down. They refer to their catalog often, but it isn't online now either.
 
John, Plaschem did a real close match for me just a few weeks ago. Since then I have found a small bottle of factory color gel-coat patchpaste (putty) from Spectrum that is even a closer match. I thought I would give it to Plaschem Supply and have them make a guart of gel coat. There will be more than enough to split with you if you are still interested. I live in Girdwood. Let me know.
Chuck Dorius, C-Dorius
Playin'Hooky
 
Chuck, hey that sounds great! I think your grey is not the same as mine, so I'm assuming you're talking about the white. Do you have your owner's manual? If you do, does your number for the white paint match mine? If the numbers match I'll PM you some contact info for me.

This could work great!

Thanks
 
Here's a quote I received this morning from Spectrum Color. I told her UPS Ground was available to Anchorage business addresses, but she said they still had to ship a minimum of 2 day service at $159.57 :sad Yes you read that shipping price correctly.


C-Dory Roberts Grey item # F50-17000 $95.51
C-Dory White item # F50-17000 $95.51
Shipping & Handeling to Alaska $159.57
Total for shipment is $350.59
 
Hey John, that's ridiculous! Area code 253 which is what they show for a phone number is around Tacoma WA. If I were there, I'd drive over there, pick up your order, put it in a flat rate USPS box and send it to you for about $30 or so. Any Brats in that area willing to do that for John?

You might have to fudge it a little when they ask you what's in the box but I'd have no problem doing that myself.

Charlie
 
Captains Cat":rjqyt0f7 said:
Hey John, that's ridiculous! Area code 253 which is what they show for a phone number is around Tacoma WA. If I were there, I'd drive over there, pick up your order, put it in a flat rate USPS box and send it to you for about $30 or so. Any Brats in that area willing to do that for John?

You might have to fudge it a little when they ask you what's in the box but I'd have no problem doing that myself.

Charlie
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Charile, they seem to be in Auburn by phone number only. It appears as if they closed that location and are working from somewhere in FL. They still have a WA number too, but when the answering machine comes on, they tell you that there operating hours are on the Eastern Time Zone. I'm going to work with the Anchorage shop that sells gelcoat for $25.00 a quart. Thanks for being my advocate though!!! :smile
 
Hey John,

I got the little jars from them last fall; perhaps they have closed in the meantime, but if they're still around I think the 1 qt. thing is wrong. I want to say I paid about $20 each for the small quantities. As someone else mentioned, there are a bunch of us in the Seattle area, and I'd be more than happy to arrange post for you.
tx,
bmc
 
John, I jumped into the gelcoat matching arena this past week. Found out there is an alternative to Spectrum called MiniCraft.com and interestingly, it's also in Florida and though it's far more comprehensive, it seems to duplicate Spectrum in many ways.

I ended up emailing Scott at Triton Marine for some color numbers, not expecting much because the C-Brat is 17 years young, but he thinks the same white has been pretty much standard. Cook Composites # DX-963-506 should be close to my white, and the dark blue color should be Cooks Composite Products # 953-LJ-110 "Tailgate Blue". A good start, anyway. Kudos to Scott. He really is dedicated to building a relationship with C-Dory owners past, present, and future. Not bad marketing either....

Spectrum prices suck for sure. $112 for a quart of the white used on 1998 C-Dorys and $102 for the 2005-2008 dark blue. I'll be contacting MiniCraft tomorrow to see what they say about the factory numbers Scott gave me.

It might be a good idea to open a thread dedicated to color matching gel coat with pigment amounts per oz etc., if available, but my suspicion is that very few of us are willing to DIY such a cosmetically critical task.

Don
 
I recently got some gelcoat that is supposed to match the TomCat from these folks.

The color code I used was: CCP963WK506. I got this number from Scott at Triton, who was happy to look it up for me.
---
mike
 
Good morning all,

I am not able to ship gelcoat however I have had good luck with Gel-coat products out of Seattle, they ship in small quantity and have access to multiple manufacturers. If you have questions about your colors just send me an email with your current colors and year of boat. I will do the research for you and hopefully come up with the part numbers for your colors, or at the very least a close starting point.

Scott
 
Sneaks":1yxxz3h2 said:
It might be a good idea to open a thread dedicated to color matching gel coat with pigment amounts per oz etc., if available, but my suspicion is that very few of us are willing to DIY such a cosmetically critical task.
Click to expand...
I'd be more than willing to pay a reasonalbe fee to attend a block of instruction from a professional on how a DIY'er can handle small cosmetic repairs to the gelcoat and achieve professional results. Maybe a one-day class put on by the factory or something...


Just throwin' that out there. 8)
 
C-Dawg":2zn6sx2t said:
Sneaks":2zn6sx2t said:
It might be a good idea to open a thread dedicated to color matching gel coat with pigment amounts per oz etc., if available, but my suspicion is that very few of us are willing to DIY such a cosmetically critical task.
Click to expand...
I'd be more than willing to pay a reasonalbe fee to attend a block of instruction from a professional on how a DIY'er can handle small cosmetic repairs to the gelcoat and achieve professional results. Maybe a one-day class put on by the factory or something...


Just throwin' that out there. 8)
Click to expand...

Me too. If the factory isn't interested, maybe we should create a pool of people to pay Dr. Bob (Thataway) to fly out this way and teach a bunch of us (or to hang out in the PacNW for an extra few days next time he comes this way).
 
I will gladly offer to show anybody who wants to know how to properly repair gelcoat scratches and/or gouges. Maybe we can plan a day in October and I will open the shop on a Saturday? Let me know if there are any interested parties or if advice via email is sufficient.

Scott
 
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