repair ?

acs026

acs026

Member
So I have cut away the damaged fiberglass for my repairs. My plan for the back hole is to do cloth patch, woven roven, and then marine tex on top of that. As well as using the marine tex to fill in some other small damage areas. My question and big conern is in the front. I have cut away most of the damaged fiberglass, but noticed that part of the front where it was damaged the hull was also seperated from the top? So in this instance do I want to use cloth all the way too the hull to reattach it? or what are my options. This is my first repair attempt so needing a little input. Thanks Alex
 

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Wow, tough job to do. You are going to need to bevel the edges of the holes and do some more cleanup. Then you will need something behind the holes to assume the shape of the missing fiberglass before you can fiberglass. You can make a wooden stem that spans the space between the keel and the deck. Expoy it in with gussets where it attaches to the deck. Then you will need to fill the gaps between the stem and the hull so you will have backing for the fiberglass. Do you have a hatch ahead of the mast? That will make it a lot easier.

You know, the way bow is damaged, if you could carve a foam block to the missing bow shape and attach it, then fiberglass over that, you miight be on your way to a perfect repair. Anyway, whatever your laying the foam over will determine how well the repair looks. Please clean up the areas to be repaired and post a picture of your clean up job.

I'm thinking you should start with the hole at the edge of the hull, it will be a lot easier. Thanks for the pictures, you're going to get a ton of advice on this one.:)
 
Yeah have 3 ports installed, that I did last year to start drying it out over the winter. It has gotten quite a bit lighter. I have one between splash rail and centerboard...one to change to a new style rudder in the rear. And one on the bow. The hole in the back I was thinking about going with the guitar string and brace method to hold the shape? The front my biggest concern is the coming apart from the deck. Yeah i knew I still needed to bevel the edge around the holes...dont have the right tool for that yet....any suggestions?
 
Probably a drill with a three inch sanding disk for the bow. You'll know if the disk is too big if you can't do the curves. I used a Dremel with a mini grinding disk on real small holes. I think you may need it for the hull edge repair.

There was a post with picture of a minifish where there was a edge of hull repair like yours. The inside edge was spanned with a square piece of wood. The wood extending inside the hull to rest on the undamaged fiberglass. It was drawn up tight when glued with a piece of wood screwed to it that spanned the outside of the hull. I think that the best way and provides strength to the repair.

Wish I had access to my boat right now. I'd love to try coating the bow with mold release agent and attempt to make you a fiberglass mold so you could mold your own replacement bow.

Can't remember if you removed the front metal trim rail yet, you'll need to do that.
 
yes the rail is gone....the only hardware left on is the drain plug in the cockpit. I have been looking at the blog for the minifish and the repairs done. That was my plan to do the side....it was the front that had me more confused. lol
 
Well, the good part of the bow is that it looks like the keel still remains. That means making a wooden stem is much easier. A straght run up to the keel then it has to curve under the keel. The tricky part is that you need to reproduce the lip that the metal rub rail slides onto. I'm thinking, instead of gussets, it you be much better to have the stem mounted into a notched wooden block that is the shape of the deck.
To put it another way, directly under the front of the deck, glue a 1/2 thick block that follows the bow outline. This will let you carry the fiberglass past the block and create a new lip that bonds to the upper deck lip. Then, between the shape of the stem and deck block, you can fill in the remaining hole with foam or balsa and sand the compound shape. Probably easier said than done huh?
 
That hole near the stern is no big deal. I repaired a bunch of holes like that on mine.

As for the bow, I would find a fish to make a mold of the bow then fiberglass it from the inside so you can have plenty of surface area for it to adhere to on the sides, underside of the deck and underside of the hull (if needed). Use filler for final shaping and paint or coat.
 
Can use my boat for a mold, I'm in southwest Michigan if you're in the area.

Never done a mold before. How do you keep the fiberglass from sliding off the boat if it's coated with release agent? Pretty complex compound curves, I'm guessing you would make the mold out of 4 pieces of overlapping fiberglass?
 
Webfoot said:
Can use my boat for a mold, I'm in southwest Michigan if you're in the area.

Never done a mold before. How do you keep the fiberglass from sliding off the boat if it's coated with release agent? Pretty complex compound curves, I'm guessing you would make the mold out of 4 pieces of overlapping fiberglass?
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It doesn't necessarily have to be out of fiberglass. You could make the mold out of that foam in a can stuff.
 
Simple enough, what type of release agent is used with the expanding foam? I can see where you could make a 'one time' mold that is destroyed after the fiberglass is layed inside it.
 
Basically, cover the bow of a goood SF with something to prevent adhesion. I've known people to use wax or oil (WD40), or some kind of mechanical film like wax paper for these kinds of repairs. Choose your favorite substance (Great Stuff, clay, plaster of paris, paper mache, etc.) and cover a sufficient portion of area to create a mold. When this is hardened, remove it carefully. Coat the inside of this mold with whatever to prevent adhesion. If you have access from the inside of hull (i.e., an access portal), you can simply put this mold over the end of the bow, thus creating a form to fill from the inside. This is certainly easiest as far as creating a strong bond between the old hull and the new repair, since you can lay up fiberglass along the inside of the hull to create a bond. But if you don't have such access, just use this mold to create a negative mold by filling it with expanding foam, etc. When that's dry, you can remove it (carefully break away the outer mold) and will have a model of a SF bow. At this point, the only tricky part is to trim the backside (which will go into the hull) so that the whole thing slips into the hull at just the right level, leaving a thickness equal to your original fiberglass & gelcoat along the outer edge. (Expanding foam trims very easily with a razor knife when dry, but whatever.) Cover the negative mold with fiberglass cloth and resin (not as tough as it sounds) and you're there. Of course, whatever you use for a negative mold will remain inside the hull, so give that a little thought. Also, you will need to do a little work on making sure you have a good bond between the old hull and new material when using this method. Tapering the edges of the broken hull to a slant so that you have the greatest surface area to adhere to is advisable. You could also coat the end of the negative mold with resin before placing it in the hull, leaving enough room around the edges for that resin to be joined/included in your lay-up for the repair (which would be done before the inner resin kicks, thus creating a mechanical bond). Resin-coated rods or something similar can be slipped in alongside the inner hull, extending out along the negative mold to create more structural strength. I'd use epoxy resin myself, but some swear by the polyester resin to match the original material of the boat. You can research those options online--more reading and opinions that I'd care to enter into!! (Gelcoat doesn't stick to epoxy, so you'd need to just paint the finished product if you do use epoxy. Still, the strength is worth considering.) But whichever, good luck with your repair. I've always found such challenges to be very rewarding if you think things through, try some mock-ups of different ideas, then proceed carefully with the actual repair.

Kevin
 
Thanks everyone.....I appreciate all the input. Will Gel Coat stick to marine tex? How important is it that I do re-gel coat the surface or just paint it?
 
Also is it easier to use epoxy or polyester resin? I have read the epoxy is stronger.....but didn't know if there is a difference in difficulty working with....or how much more strength it would be.

Thanks in advance
 
What with the major structural repair you're doing, I'd say go with epoxy all the way. You're going to have a whole bunch of time invested, might as well get a first class return on your investment. If you can pull off a perfect repair on such a difficult project you get a five star cool rating. :cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
 
acs026 said:
Also is it easier to use epoxy or polyester resin? I have read the epoxy is stronger.....but didn't know if there is a difference in difficulty working with....or how much more strength it would be.

Thanks in advance
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I've worked with both. They're the same as far as "working with". The kits I had made a difference. Some were much easier to measure the right amount of resin to hardener.

Epoxy is said to have a better mechanical bond which is the only bond you'll be utilizing regardless of using epoxy or polyester. The original polyester on the boat has already cured so the new polyester won't chemically bond with the old.

In my experience, I haven't had a problem with gel coat over epoxy. There is a wax like finish that will develop during the curing process that, apparently, is something polyester had difficulty bonding to (and gel coat is a polyester). I've had to sand all of my repairs, removing that wax like finish, and didn't have a problem with gel coat. My repairs are new so I can't attest to the longevity just yet.
West Systems has done some tests with their epoxy on the bond between it and polyester and concluded that it is fine as long as it is prepped properly (ie remove that wax like finish).


Good luck. Post the progress of your repair.
 
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