Dear All,

I have acquired an old fibreglass kayak.

I was wondering the best way of breathing new life into it for my Dad
to use.

It floats and paddles well.

A little water gets in through the split line where the two mouldings
are joined. This is covered by tape.

Is this tape supposed to be there or has it been bodge repaired at
some point. How should I remedy this?

I was planning on coating it in gelcoat. It is at present red. He says
he fancies yellow. Would this be easily achievable or would we be
better sticking to the red pigment. I don't know how well the gelcoat
will cover.

Should I gelcoat inside too?

Any other thoughts or advice gratefully received.

Thanks for your help.

Best wishes,

Nick

wrote:
Dear All,

I have acquired an old fibreglass kayak.

I was wondering the best way of breathing new life into it for my Dad
to use.

It floats and paddles well.

A little water gets in through the split line where the two mouldings
are joined. This is covered by tape.

Is this tape supposed to be there or has it been bodge repaired at
some point. How should I remedy this?

It sounds like a Mickey Mouse repair job. The seam should be joined with
fiberglass tape and epoxy or polyester resin.

I was planning on coating it in gelcoat. It is at present red. He says
he fancies yellow. Would this be easily achievable or would we be
better sticking to the red pigment. I don't know how well the gelcoat
will cover.

Should I gelcoat inside too?

If you're trying to change the color, DON'T even think about messing
with gelcoat, as all you'll be doing is setting yourself up for an
immense amount of work (multiple coats plus LOTS of sanding and buffing.
Your best bet is to cover it with a high-build primer, sand it until
it's smooth, then paint it. In the long, it's a LOT less work.

I have photos of fiberglass and gelcoat work, along with instructive
captions at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately my work set up will not allow me to view your pages.

I didn't think changing the colour would be a good idea. I was going
to use some gelcoat with a similar red pigment.

Should I gelcoat the inside?

Sounds like I'll need some cloth and resin too then.

Best wishes,

Nick

wrote:
Thanks for that.

Unfortunately my work set up will not allow me to view your pages.

I didn't think changing the colour would be a good idea. I was going
to use some gelcoat with a similar red pigment.

Should I gelcoat the inside?

Sounds like I'll need some cloth and resin too then.

Best wishes,

Nick

Again, I would not recommend messing with gelcoat. It's fine if all
you're doing is some minor repairs, but complete re-coating is a major
amount of work. Gelcoat is not like paint; it doesn't self-level well
and it tends to run and sag on anything other than a flat surface. If
you're going to be doing the entire boat, priming and painting is a much
better way to go. As for the inside, there is no need to apply gelcoat
unless it's worn through to the fiberglass. If you want a nice finish on
the inside, primer and paint is your best bet.

Thanks.

On Jun 20, 4:38 am, Brian Nystrom wrote:
wrote:
Thanks for that.

Unfortunately my work set up will not allow me to view your pages.

I didn't think changing the colour would be a good idea. I was going
to use some gelcoat with a similar red pigment.

Should I gelcoat the inside?

Sounds like I'll need some cloth and resin too then.

Best wishes,

Nick

Again, I would not recommend messing with gelcoat. It's fine if all
you're doing is some minor repairs, but complete re-coating is a major
amount of work. Gelcoat is not like paint; it doesn't self-level well
and it tends to run and sag on anything other than a flat surface. If
you're going to be doing the entire boat, priming and painting is a much
better way to go. As for the inside, there is no need to apply gelcoat
unless it's worn through to the fiberglass. If you want a nice finish on
the inside, primer and paint is your best bet.



Bill is it really that hard to do? Ive done several fish holds,
freezers, showers and have never had any problems with gel coat. but i
have to qualify that with i was building them on a ship way north of
the circle so the drying conditions where way different than here in
the lower 48, and have never done a glass kayak.