scratch prevention

[Captain PegLeg]

I spent so much time on my ski this winter, then first couple of rides in Daytona I pearled like a mother and bumped the bottom with the rocker and it has a nice strawberry from the sand. After the first scratch all hope is lost. I just hope I don't break it in half this summer with the bigger power.

 

[Jakobi86]

http://www.gatorglide.com/


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It's a durable, super slick paint on coating that is meant to go on the bottom of airboats, mud boats etc. helps slide over grass and mud. If it's sliding over all that stuff id assume theres a level of scratch resistance to it as well. It's so slippery, guys have lost boats off trailers while backing in to the landing. They were un hooked ready to launch and they slid right off. This is a coating I'd look into. Not 100% if it's ok to go over gel coat/paint/fiberglass.

 

[Idok]

make the bottom too slick and it'll negativly affect handling.....


bottom should be ruff!

 

[zimmy]

Build it, take it out on the first ride, run it up on the beach as far as you can, the rest of the scratches wont matter.

We had a guy rhino line a ski in our group, I think it added quite a bit of weight. Wrap it from the bondline down maybe? the problem would be a small nick would likely end up ripping most of it off.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Build it, take it out on the first ride, run it up on the beach as far as you can, the rest of the scratches wont matter.

That's what I did with my Matrix ES, lol. You should have seen the look on my wife's face. I told her I bought it to ride it, not covet and showcase it.

My Matrix ES spoiled me though. I insisted that it be done in black gel coat rather than epoxy primer and Bobby used a tooling gel rather than a standard grade gel and it shows. The bottom has a few scratches from 5 seasons of riding but overall, it's one of the most durable finishes I have ever experienced. it still bothers me to see it because it just looks so great still. My 2 year old Matrix Pro looks like a POS next to the ES that is 5 years old.

I don't have the option on my Carbon hull but if I was working on a glass version again, I would prep the entire bottom and skin it with a tooling gel if that's even possible.

 

[Big Kahuna]

And yet it is a royal pain to remove the oem graphics on the bottom of the hull.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Ever heard of "heat setting" stickers and decals? It's the practice of applying heat after installation that "sets" the glue and increases the surface bond. It doesn't work for everything and the temp required differs with each product but it's worth experimenting with. Chances are, if you can't remove a sticker, it's been heat set.