TexomaPowerboater

Picked up this little gem for $500. Even came with a 35hp evinrude. This is my first fiberglass project. I've never so much as fixed a single crack. I did repower/repaint/restore the bilge of my 28 apache, but didn't do any fiberglass work. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I'm a big boy so if I'm doing something stupid just tell me.

I need help on how to take care of all the little cracks. This boat has more cracks then I can count. Literally hundreds maybe thousands of them. I want to get ride of them all and make the hull and interior like new again.

I want to repaint the entire boat using awlgrip because I've used it before. I'm comfortable using it and I'm happy with the results. I also think that what it would take to re-gell coat this boat I might as well buy a new one.

From what little research I've done I'm thinking I will be using an epoxy resin. Either west system or MAS. For all the cracks I was going to sand into every one of them with a dremel drill, then apply a filler/epoxy mix, then sand out the epoxy , then paint with awlgrip. Is this a reasonable approach or does anyone know of anyway to do it faster and still get good results?

For the damage done to the bow area I was going to use fiberglass cloth and resin. Is there any thing else I need to do there.

For the non-skid repair I was going to use MAS non skid repair system. Probobly take a while but would be easier then sanding it all away and starting over IMO.

Not sure what color to use on the hull or inside. I would like to retain the original blue liner and white hull. Not sure if snow white will be too white for the hull. Any suggestions?

TexomaPowerboater

Some pics of the damage

TexomaPowerboater

More pics

TexomaPowerboater

OK, how much work am I getting into?

areyouliving

Tex I have one of these boats, mine has a console on the right side. They're pretty neat. I use it for a dinghy on my sportfisher. I'm no pro, but I've never seen fiberglass or gel crack like this. Has it been painted and the paint is cracking?

Bill

TexomaPowerboater

Thanks Bill, nice sportfisher. I'm leaning towards a yacht in the future. This would be my dinghy for it.

I've still got whats left of the console and the seats. The rubrail has been removed.

It looks like its just the gelcoat cracking. I've sanded into a few of them and the fiberglass underneath is solid, wood is solid. I know the hull has been painted a few times. Its a 1970's Whaler so its got some years on her. I've beat on it pretty good and it feels real solid.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

looks like ya got your work cut out for ya there Tex. There arent to many shortcuts when dealing with this much repair. For the most part your going to have to re fair the entire surface. With the amount of cracks you have there you may need to surface grind the whole thing to get to a point you can re shape the surface. Its extremely labor intensive and will require many many hours. If it was mine i would "buff" the surface with a grinder till i hit raw glass, or very close to it, then dump on a bunch of waxed gel. Fair that out then lay out a few coats thinned with Duratec and pull a final gloss out of that.

TexomaPowerboater

Thanks a lot Glassdave!.

Will a sander work OK instead of a grinder?

Are your saying use a waxed gelcoat instead of a resin with filler additive?

As for the paint - are you saying paint it with duratech instead of awlgrip? I assume because the shine would last longer?

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

well with the work ahead of ya there i would just do the thing in gel and be done with it, or at least the running surface then Awlgrip the top side.

theres a bit of an art to removing the gel coat in order to make the fairing process a bit easier. I use a grinder like a buffer and keep it in long smooth motions and stay away from sharp edges, those should be done carefully. The trick is to take the surface down as evenly as possible with a combination of three and seven inch grinders as well as some edge work done by hand. You can use whatever sanding/grinding method feels most comfortable, over the years i have gotten pretty accurate with the ruff stuff lol. I would shoot raw gel with only a waxing agent to get the highest possible build then sand/fair that out to preserve the shape. Do a topcoat of Duratec/gel for a final gloss and you wont need any paint. There are far to many cracks in that surface to do the individually.

You could also use Duratecs vinylester VE fairing primer instead on the waxed gel. It builds well and sands easy but i think in the long run straight gel will outlast it (that is only a guess on my part as i have not used VE to this level yet).

areyouliving

I wanna see this thing when it's done. Sound like it'll come out nice. Keep the pics coming