Fiberglass repair question

[goodoleLund]

I searched through the archives and found some answers to my questions but I had a few more. I just inherited a 79 or so fiberglass "Bomber" bass boat. The boat has not had a lot of use but along the keel on the bottom it has sort of been roughed up. In one spot water leaks through a crack in the front along the keel. The crack is not very big. I know that it can be fixed but what would the integrety of the boat be like. It is just a boat for little lakes, it won't see rough water or river bottom. <br /><br />Here are my questions. Which method of fiberglass repair is the best for this situation? I don't care what it looks like and I will put one of those keel guards on after I am done. Will an average job of repair fix this problem?<br /><br />Sorry about the rant...thanks for the help

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Fiberglass repair question

I recommend the following:<br /><br />Grind the damaged area until you see clean fibers in resin. Grind around the damaged area about 2 inches or so. When you do your grind try to create a dished effect, where the middle is the deepest and it gets shallower as it goes out. Depending on the crack, you can start laying cloth. If the crack is wide, you may want to use epoxy thickened to the consistency of peanut butter and force it into the crack and smooth it out. Then you will want to use epoxy and woven cloth. You lay it in layers, starting with a small piece, and each piece gets a little larger, filling in the dished area. The final layer will be roughly level with the hull. I fixed a 1"x8" gash in my hull below the waterline like this and not a single drop of water makes it through. The repair will be as strong if not stronger than the rest of the hull. Thats all you need since you don't care about cosmetics. There is a pic of my repair on my Sanky Beast website. Good luck.

 

[goodoleLund]

Re: Fiberglass repair question

Thanks a lot for your help. I will get to this project as soon as possible. If I get into this and run into a problem do you mind if I post a question or two for you? Thanks again.

 

[ssanddemon]

Re: Fiberglass repair question

Jason, Kudos to you for the Skanky page. Gives us 'back yarders' hope when all looks lost.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Fiberglass repair question

Goodolelund, ask away. There are a lot of well informed helpful folks on here. If I don't answer, someone else will. Good luck..<br /><br />Sanddemon, thanks. This site was inspirational for me when I did my project, that is why I made the web-page, to show others that it is within the realm of possibility to fix junky old boats on a budget. We all would like the new boats, but our bank accounts never are in agreement, so we make do with what we have...

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Fiberglass repair question

Youll allways find someone here on the forum to give you a hand! Just about anything you can think of asking there has been someone here who has been there done that!<br /><br />Welcome to the forum and keep posting!