Disaster...

[AshG]

stick a picture up lets see how bad it is, then we can suggest the best way of fixing it

[MarkB]

Don't panic is the first thing. Then what you need to do is clean up the edges where it's broken, feather them so the new repair has a chance.

Then clamp the side panel gel coat face down to as smooth a surface as you can find making sure all the damaged area is over this....then gel coat the missing bits and lay up two layers of 450gm....leave it to go till it feels rubbery then trim any oddness off with sharp knife. Leave it over night and pop it off your board and bingo you have repaired your panel.

Make sure there are no gaps between the side panel and the board though as the gel coat WILL bleed through no matter how thick and gloopy it looks.

As for matching colours well that is all but impossible unless the gel used is from the same batch that was used to make it in the first place, and then that only applies to ready pigmented gel coat as mixing it yourself leads to variations.

Hope that helps in some way but like Ash said, pictures of the damage would help.

[MarkB]

Also you should never use sharp drill bits or holesaws to cut grp as it snags and chips plus it tends to "drag itself" thru just as it's breaking through.
The best way is to chain drill then open up using a whizzy(dremel type thing)

[robo]

Trouble with a large hole saw in grp is the pilot hole getting bigger as you drill then the hole saw starts to walk, thats when they start to snag. The method I use is to rivet a small plate in the middle of the hole <anything will do> mask the area you are drilling and drill from the gel coat side inwards. Never had a problem doing it this way even with a 130mm saw. The masking tape is enough to stop the plintering of the gel coat and the small plate will stop the drill walking. Oh and go slowly with a variable speed drill.

Bob

[shh120m]

If you know the ral code, i can have a look see if there is any pigment kicking about. Might not be the same batch and there may be a slight variation but its better than nothing. If ive got the same colour il pop a bit of gel/resin/pigment and a bit of matting in the post.

nathan

[alga]

The prototype car in the book did not have the front wishbone area covered at all, and it's barely noticeable. So I'd bet any reasonably tidy repair won't be noticeable unless you're looking for it.

You could buy a glossy sheet of Lexan or some other plastic as a background for the repair. MarkB, what are good plastics for that purpose?

[MarkB]

Originally Posted by alga

The prototype car in the book did not have the front wishbone area covered at all, and it's barely noticeable. So I'd bet any reasonably tidy repair won't be noticeable unless you're looking for it.

You could buy a glossy sheet of Lexan or some other plastic as a background for the repair. MarkB, what are good plastics for that purpose?

No need to buy anything expensive, an old double glazing unit will do the job these can be found in most skips or down the dump as long as it's big enough of course. Wax it to make sure gel won't stick then clamp side panel to it and off you go....simple really.