On Mar 23, 7:42*am, Bruce wrote:
On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:33:17 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:





OK, I posted this over on rec.boats, but there's to much politi-bs to
wade through, event though some people will give me some good advice.

I have a 1977 Marquis 23 ft'r which I'm wanting to sound out to make a
good river cruise this late summer/early fall, and I'm asking all
kinds of questions about GPS, radios charts etc. but that's beside the
point.

So here's my question to those experienced in hull and fiberglass
repair:

OK, in my never ending quest for info, I thought I'd look at my big
boat's hull. *I haven't' found any blisters, but the hull has had
something repaired on it in times past like to cover a gouge, or *hard
nicks. *Nothing big, but some type of a tanish-colored *'epoxy repair'
which has been applied to a couple spots on the port side, which are
anywhere from the size of your thumb print to no larger than a
"Kennedy half".

I've tapped around on the hull from about bow to stern and all sounds
solid with no dead thuds and nothing spongy. So I feel the integrity
of the fiberglass is in good shape.

I looked down the keel of the hull from the bow, and there have been
several nicks that though seem to be on the surface, I feel they need
to have some attention payed to them . I didn't see any sign of
fiberglass core actually showing through, however there were some
nicks that
have gone deep enough to look like they've gone through the gell coat,
to the green underlying fiberglass resin.

I don't think that the boat has been abused, but sometimes hitting a
good stick can cause such nicks, but this looks like it's tapped
against some hard heavy rocks like what you might find lining a dock
loading ramp or at a spill way.

I don't think that water has infiltrated the fiberglass or at least
nothing to cause blistering, but I am concerned a bit about it, that
it needs some repair.

One guy who likes to think with his mouth and not his mind looked at
the nicks and suggested that I dab some fingernail polish on it.

For pete's sake

I know there's lots of fiberglass repair products out there but seeing
I don't know much about it, I'd like somebody to recommend to me the
choicest products and repair procedures. I don't know much about it,
but am willing to try.

Thanks for the consideration.

Tim

I just went through a fairly extensive blister repair and basically if
you use epoxy and fill gouges with chopped mat and epoxy the repair
will likely be stronger then the original hull, assuming that the hull
is polyester. Feather the gouge out and pack it with epoxy saturated
mat. If you are worried about osmosis, after you have made your
repairs grind the entire underwater area down to a good solid surface
and roll on two coats of epoxy. Put the first coat on and let it set
up until it isn't sticky but you can still mark it with your finger
and then roll on the second coat. *After the second coat sets up, but
still not hard, roll on a coat of epoxy high build primer and leave it
for a day or so.

If you don't wait long enough after the first coat of epoxy the second
coat will be very heavy as you have to slop it onto a sticky surface
and if you paint the primer too soon it will craze - tiny cracks all
over the place. The reason for all this hoopdi-do is that if you let
the usual epoxy set hard it will have an oily film on it called "amine
blush" and then you have to wash the whole thing clean, let it dry,
wipe it with thinner, and repaint.

*Finish sand and two coats of two part polyurethane. You'll be good
for ten years or so.... However it is more costly then polyester and
barn paint.

Cheers,

Bruce- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank for the replys. I've gotten a few good responses "over there'
too!