the deck popped in the argentina race and has rebroken and been re repaired a few times. i was planning on fitting 3 peices of oak or spruce with the grain running for and aft, that i will expoxy to the underside of the damaged area then repair the exterior with epoxy and fiberglass. it had 2 alum plates they used to fish plate the damaged area from the outside, i plan on using epoxy to reinstall the plates after the exterior fiberglass work is finished. what are your thoughts? keep in mind its cracked thru on the top of the upper lip the side of the raised area and thru the flat area of the deck itself. i plan in running the boat had in big water so want to do the strongest repair possible. thx for your input. rm

more pics

tear from the st pete race spinout

Battle Scars..........

Looks like you've got a project on your hands!!

Is the Deck/Hull glassed together? If not, it may be good piece of mind to glass it while you're at it!

the only problem area is the cracks pictured at the engine compartment bulkhead and deck. im wondering the best way ot reinforce this area. from the underside as its eveidently i highly stressed area. thx for any suggestions to the metodology of repairs. rm

I'm sure others will chime in but I'd repair it with Epoxy as well. Couple layers of Biaxial or Triaxial on top, then multiple layers underneath. If you have access underneath I would also see if a stringer can be glassed in place.

As for the side of the boat, it probably cracked when the hul flexed against the bulkhead. Did the bulkhead pull away from the side of the boat on the inside? To keep this from happening again, I've seen glassers make a 45* radius at the corners of the bulkhead so it's not a sharp 90* turn. I wish I had a picture to post to show what I mean cause it's hard to explain.

On the outside I would also grind out the cracked section at least 6-8 inches outside the crack, then fill it in with triaxial and epoxy, then gelcoat overtop.

Again, from my limited experience with fiberglass and boats this is what I would start with. There may be a better way and hopefully an expert will chime in here.

I agree with Panther's previous post but as for your idea of putting spruce or oak under the deck, I personally would not do that. You have to think of the physics involved; dissimilar materials flex at diferent rates. Something very rigid like oak is going to tend to split away from the fiberglass on the deck, because the deck flexes by it's design (as opposed to the transom which is basically fixed). I would sandwich Klegecell between layers of bi-axial and tri-axial. Being a foam core, the Klegecell will form well, give strength, and be flexible as well. This worked well on my old Top Gun and my old Coyote raceboat. You can get Klegecell from Fiberglass coating in St. Pete. 1-813-327-8117.

Barry

i bought what was advertised and ike told me and showed me the damaged area! he didn't try to sell me some junk. how you doing on selling those new 1988 1500 hp motors? or the old style small rotor psi's you tried to stick/sell knot right or lubejobs! your making friend all over the place paulie, look like you wasted your money on the book how to win friends and influence people... you not only need to learn how to read but also how to comprehend. if these words are beyond your limited vocabulay try a dicktionary. you are cordially invited to kiss my azz you pos, tell me how to make two male shafts fit together you homo, you think for a minute the people here cant tell your a loser. pleeeeeze mister 124mph apache ha ha, mister 1500 hp on pump gas, haha your so full of crap you eyes are brown. i guess only god can make more hp on pump gas than you! your a real lengend now pal you big winner you...not! did you ever work at tmp.lol btw if you dont have any to add to this thread regarding the repairs...kindly piss off. thx for your anticipated cooperation, rm