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#11
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Lew Hodgett wrote: so the finish of the repair can basically be slim or none; however, the repair should do a proper job. Very true My solution will be prejudiced since I run an epoxy shop. IMHO, polyester is for shower stalls, not boat repairs. Since the rest of the boat is polyester, why should a patch be stronger than the rest of it? I do use WEST for little things, but a patch should be the same material the rest of the boat is made of. Step 1) Since the boat was built from the inside, I would just do the repair on the inside. This way there's no finish work on the outside. Steps 2-6) Grind, mat, roving, mat, roving, gloves, resin, hardener, roller, don't make a mess. . . 7) Get a beer, maybe 2. Admire your work while drinking beer. 8) Allow inside patch to cure about 72 hours, then relaunch boat and enjoy. Notice the lack of labor intensive finish work? Jim |
#12
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Jim wrote:
Since the rest of the boat is polyester, why should a patch be stronger than the rest of it? I do use WEST for little things, but a patch should be the same material the rest of the boat is made of. It's not an issue of strength of the material itself, but of bonding strength. What you are making is called a "secondary bond" meaning that it's trying to stick to something that's already cured. Polyester is OK for lay-ups but it's bonding properties are poor, even to polyester. It is cheaper, but unless you are really dedicated to squeezing pennies, and have already wrung the expense out of everything else on the boat, and don't have any other little projects that epoxy would be best for, then it's false economy IMHO. Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
#13
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Yes, visible from the outside. From the inside I can't see due to the floor
being in the way. I have an outboard on this boat. My intent is outside repair only. "Bowgus" wrote in message ... You didn't say visible from the inside, or the outside, or both. Or if you intend to patch from the inside or the outside. And I guess at 16' it' an outboard? I've got some visible cracks at the bottom of my hull on my 16ft runabout. |
#14
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I'm not sure how deep the cracks are at this point. but, I believe they
should be dealt with rather than ignore them. In regards to the paint / gelcoat, that's an area I still have to investigate. What was on the old boat I suppose is a 30 year old gelcoat that may have been shined up a couple time 20 years ago. The sun and the weather have worn it down pretty good. I was thinking of simply doing a paint job with something that'll work. This isn't a show boat by no means. "Terry Spragg" wrote in message ... Chris wrote: Howdy all, I've got some visible cracks at the bottom of my hull on my 16ft runabout. This past summer when using the boat I was getting a bit of water in it after having it sit for a while in the water (the bilge pump easily took care of it). I'm now thinking that these cracks may be the cause and water slowly seeps into the boat. Now, my question about how I should attempt to fix this giving the following considerations 1. It's an old boat. 2. I use it a 4-5 weekends a year. 3. I don't want to spend a lot of money as its not worth it. My ideas have been the following: 1. The ugly job - rough up the area around the crack and put a few fiberglass patches on it (poly resin & cloth) - paint over it 2. Cleaner job - grind out the crack and a bit of the area around it (make a V) - fill with fiberglass resin, or epoxy resin using a filler - not sure if a cloth patch on top of this would be necessary. - paint over it What do you guys think given the considerations? Close, no cigar. Grind the Vee on the outside, feathering out 5 times the thickness of the glass, leave it rough. Wash it with acetone. Laminate several layers of glass, starting with a narrow strip, covering with wider strips until you fill up the Vee. Smooth and paint / gelcoat. Wet the glass, but try to use more glass and less resin. Squeeze the bubbles out (don't mix the goo too vigorously, just thorougly) using a serrated roller made from 2 sizes of washers loose on bent threaded rod with locked nuts. Clean tools with acetone. You should also do the same on the inside, or could just lay a couple of wider strips on the roughened inside, where you can, washing the cleaned inside with acetone before laminating. You will find polyester strong enough, if you get enough thickness and surface area covered and well bonded. Epoxy would be stronger, but is overkill, and will make the question of refinishing the exterior gelcoat into a can of worms, because poly gelcoat doesn't stick to epoxy, so you would need to redo the entire hull with epoxy paint to achieve a Bristol appearance. Polyester Gel coat is just catalyzed polyester resin with pigment and a little thickener, like silica gel, or, I am sure others have their favorites. You can brush it on with several / many thin freshly mixed coats applied while the hull is still tacky and buff it flat and smooth. It is self levelling, especially if you can turn the boat so you are painting on the level. If you get a good colour match (on the bottom? who cares?) you won't be ashamed of it. Don't use bondo, it just isn't as good as it could be, with automotive fillers, etc. Are you sure the cracks go right through? If so, gring the crack a little beyond the torn glass. You may only want to redo the gelcoat, if that is as deep as they go. Water collects in boats, even condensation can get inches deep, and rain could be getting in, too. Terry K |
#15
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I was actually hoping never to have to rip the floor to get down are redo
the stringers. You could be right about all of this. I'll dig into the crack to see what I can see. "Ron White" wrote in message .. . Before you get too carried away on what type of patch job, you might ought to find out why it cracked. Plenty times hull cracks on fiberglass boats are due to some type of structural failure of the hull's support system. This type of problem could be something like a failure in the tabbing of the stringers and or bulkheads. Also a broken or rotten stringer or bulkhead. For instance if the is crack running transverse to the hull's length it could be caused by bulkhead damage. If the crack runs lengthwise, then maybe its a failed stringer causing the crack. If your boat has a hull liner which covers all the these structural things, you will have to remove the liner to make the repair. This is usually a big job so do some poking around thru the hatches or other access to it's hidden parts and get an idea of where the stringers are (these are the ones running lenghtwise). Then take a rubber hammer and tap up and down thelenght of the hull bottom about where you think these stringers are. If you find areas where the hull flexes along the stringers then you probably have some structural problems causing the problem. You might want to get some good fiberglass boat repair books. -- Ron White Boat building web address is www.concentric.net/~knotreel |
#16
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Hmmm ... if was me, I'd file it under "health and safety", and consult with
an expert. If there's no safety problem, maybe mark the extent of the cracking (indelible marker), leave it as is, and check the bottom of the boat once in a while ... and maybe you and your passengers should wear those PFDs at all times :-) I'm just thinking that if the hull is seriously cracked, and safety is an issue, patching is imo not the solution. "Chris" wrote in message ... Yes, visible from the outside. From the inside I can't see due to the floor being in the way. I have an outboard on this boat. My intent is outside repair only. |
#17
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crack fix - fiberglass
I'm planning to evaluate the crack further... I really don't know how long
its been there.. and the rollers don't seem to touch that area.. "Bowgus" wrote in message ... Hmmm ... if was me, I'd file it under "health and safety", and consult with an expert. If there's no safety problem, maybe mark the extent of the cracking (indelible marker), leave it as is, and check the bottom of the boat once in a while ... and maybe you and your passengers should wear those PFDs at all times :-) I'm just thinking that if the hull is seriously cracked, and safety is an issue, patching is imo not the solution. "Chris" wrote in message ... Yes, visible from the outside. From the inside I can't see due to the floor being in the way. I have an outboard on this boat. My intent is outside repair only. |
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