On Sunday, December 8, 2019 at 12:57:56 PM UTC-8, Cookie wrote:
I just got word that "vinyl wrapping" has been approved in Europe for many makes and models of gliders.

To cover crazed gel coat...IMHO...not a good choice.

Two reasons. 1080 has an outdoor exposure life of maybe 4 years....so maybe if a glider is kept inside most of the time it would be OK.

Also vinyl wrap gets almost impossible to remove if it is left on for 4 years...
In most automotive used it is sort of semi permanent, removed and replaces periodically.

As for covering the crazing...it won't really...the vinyl take on the shape of the under surface so I am afraid that the crazing will show through somewhat. Also the crazing may continue to get worse under the wrap.

I just did a wrap on my car roof, to cover up blistering and peeling clear coat...BUT I had to wet sand 400 grit and remove all traces of the clear coat before applying the wrap.

Wrapping is not all the inexpensive.

Cookie


My 2003 gelcoated glider is showing first faint signs of gel crazing. It's only out in the sun when I fly it. Seriously, I'd to know if refinishing with vinyl wrap would be a better choice than a $30K refinish in PU. As I understand it, refinish is only for cosmetic reasons. Is there any data that shows older crazed gelcoat reduces performance?