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Jim
 
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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   Report Post  
DSK
 
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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   Report Post  
Chris
 
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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.





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Chris
 
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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   Report Post  
Chris
 
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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   Report Post  
Bowgus
 
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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   Report Post  
Chris
 
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Default 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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