2001 Moomba Outback LSV Paint

[darjo]

I have a red 2001 Moomba Outback LSV that has a spot that needs fiberglass repair and then gelcoat.

Does anyone have any starting point recommendations for a pigment for doing a self-match.

I understand that I will have a much cleaner look if I pay for a professional repair or if I do the Spectrum Paint. But, I am not interested in paying the very hefty premium for aesthetics here -- I'd rather save the money for a future boat down the line vs investing in a 20 year old boat that is probably a small number of years away from needing a repower. My fallback is just to patch it with white gelcoat if I end up not being able to get reasonably close with a self-match.

Thanks,
-Clint

[haknslash]

Spectrum makes $30 paste repair kits. That's not expensive in the grand scheme of things if looking to do minor touch-ups. You'd likely pay way more than that if you took it to a shop.

[sandm]

iboats.com is the main vendor to order spectrum gelcoat thru. spectrum doesn't sell to consumers. they carry oem and should have something close to your original finish HOWEVER keep in mind they will have the factory color but you have 20 years of sun fade so it'll be close but not exact. their $30 kits are designed to fix quarter sized patches. sounds like you have more than that? so likely more than the $30 kit and that will add some challenge to the repair as they told me the larger kits require them to be set up, not like the small $30 premixed kits.

it's a somewhat slow ordering process as I've been waiting 4 weeks for my blue and white kits. iboats just got bought out by a private equity firm so they are a little behind in production from having to set up new accounts with their vendors from the sale. my kits finally shipped a few days ago. keep that in mind if you decide to order and shelf life is only 6 months.

red is going to be one of the hardest colors to match. depending on the condition of the rest of the boat if it's mint, I'd consider paying for a professional patch. if the boat is not mint and a slightly off repair won't matter in the overall condition I'd do it myself.