Gel coat or AwlGrip

[Eric McNiff]

Ken,

I just had the same question with my '77. I decided to gel coat it. I had a local shop spray it on. That is the easy part....now I have to wet sand the whole hull.

Here is what I have heard:
* Gel coat is more durable than Awlgrip - just what I heard.
* Gel coat takes longer to gloss up - meaning you have to wet sand down to 1200 grit (starting with 600 grit) which takes some time. Then you have to compound it, then buff it. It will probably take me 40 hours to get it to look good.
* Awlgrip does not require as much "post spray" work to get a nice glossy finish

The main reason I gel coated was because I wanted a real durable finish that didn't fade out and or scratch as fast. I'm sure that there will be varying opinions on this, but I just felt more comfortable with gelcoat. Plus, it is easy to repair. If you have the time, I would go with a gel coat. If you want quick results that might not look as good in 5 years, go with Awlgrip.