Damaged bow

[JSavage]

Ok, I've been lurking around here on and off for a while and now I have a project to take on.

Last year I bought an 85 Glastron with a sweet running Merc90, original. It goes like a bat out of hell but, when I got it, it had been bow hit, HARD. (It also needs a new skeg but I got that covered) It cracked the glass (well above the water line) and mashed the rub rail. I'm a fair hand with Bondo on a car and, not knowing any better, filled and sanded to a fairly nice finish. Figuring I would put off the rub rail project until this year, I screwed it back together. I know, I was dumb, the whole repair cracked into little pieces.

Now, how do I fix this right this time? I can work glass. I can work filler. I'm not expert, I'm just one of those guys that can get good real quick. How do I make this look right? Oh, and how do I match my gel coat?

Thanks for everything.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Damaged bow

Someone's gonna ask, so it might as well be me. Have any photos? That will help a lot to get the right advice.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Damaged bow

Welcome to iboats! Where are the pictures????

Yup bondo (the body filler not our resident Bond-O ) really does not have a place on a fiberglass hull to be used. Far too much flexing and unusual stress.... it just fails.

Now go with some fiberglass resin (or epoxy) and some cloth. Grind out the area and go to town. For filler to fair out the edges you can use resin mixed with cabosil or micro spheres..... do a search here for peanut butter

Lets work on getting the repair accomplished first then we can move onto matching the gel coat.

 

[JSavage]

Re: Damaged bow

Ok, Here are the pics I have been meaning to post

I can get more if they will help. Whe I first got a hold of it, the area was raw glass. I assume the first thing to do is grind out the bondo. After that, I start to fade out.

 

[danond]

Re: Damaged bow

There are some really good tutorials online, but the basic concept is - grind and cut out all the damaged glass, feather it with a grinder out so it's sharp at the center of the damage and gets thicker as you go away from the damage.

If it's all the way through, get something in behind it to form a contour, and lay gradually larger pieces of resin-soaked fiberglass into the damaged area until you're a little higher than the hull. Do the same for the inside, but to finish put a big piece or two in there to back the whole thing.

Then sand to about 1/32" or less below the gelcoat, brush on a dye-matched gelcoat layer, sand, buff, boat!

 

[JSavage]

Re: Damaged bow

Saw this kit http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=6121&familyName=Bondo+Fiberglass+Resin+Repair+Kits You think this might be right for a repair like this or should I count on alot more glass? Looks like a pretty complete kit from what I can tell. Any thoughts?

 

[Duckseason]

Re: Damaged bow

I would appreciate an opinion on the damaged bow I have Admiral .. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=315997

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Damaged bow

One step at a time.

Establish if the damage is deep or only surface. Look at this recent bow damaged repair.... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=314713&highlight=bow+damage

Once you get to the poit where the gel coat can be matched....... there are kits for that. Since your boat is a 1985 BEFORE you attempt to match the gel coat ....... make sure the rest of the boat gel coat is polished or you will have wierd patches.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Damaged bow

Hello savage..

I would not use the kits m8..

All you need is some 1.5 oz mat for the fiberglass.

YD.

 

[JSavage]

Re: Damaged bow

Ok,

I've fixed the damage, all the way through and alot of glass and filler later. It shaped it to match the existing profile EXACTLY, and then took it down a bit more, like the smart man suggested. Now, gel coat. Still, any tips? I've not bought any product yet but did read that Evercoat's gel coat repair kit wouldn't work over raw epoxy. Any tips on matching the color would be great too. Worse case, I could re coat that whole band between the rub rail and the flecked portion of the gel if it isn't a real good match.

Also, any tips of re-shaping that rib rail? They want an arm and a leg to buy new rub rail and the profile is pretty obsolete.

Thanks to all.

 

[danond]

Re: Damaged bow

I bought polyester gelcoat (came with activator/hardener) and some dyes from jamestowndistributors.com. The dye is incredibly potent, you don't need much at all.

It'll stick to the epoxy, just make sure the epoxy surface is very clean and scuffed up.

Good luck matching the original color. Chances are you won't be able to

 

[JSavage]

Re: Damaged bow

Mkay,

Im went to the jamestown site and there was a lot to choose from. Any further info on the gel coat you used would be great. I've come too far to see a failure. Also, anyone else on the rub rail? It's the last plague of my otherwise great boat. I swore I would get that fixed before the thing went in this year. I'll have the seats finished in a couple of days and really want to get this thing moving. I keep waking up to the sound of those three carbs on my 90 merc slurping down gallons of 50:1 while I wet my panst, sliding past 50 mph.

Thanks for the help

 

[J. Mark]

Re: Damaged bow

Take the rub rail to an automotive body shop and let them straighten it, They are good at reworking metal and will probably be able to do it cheaply.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Damaged bow

Here's the next bit of the puzzle, gel coat won't sick all that well to epoxy, so now you should really use paint. You may run into the same issue with the surface cracking and falling off in an area that may take some abuse like around the rub rail.

 

[JSavage]

Re: Damaged bow

It's going to stick OK over Polyester resin though, right? I've half a mind to paint it anyway. I don't care to Gel the entire area and I could almost get away with changing the color in that band. Maybe a close match or a complimenting color. Any advice? I don't want to do something I'll spend a week undoing.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Damaged bow

Yes, gel coat will stick to polyester resin very well. Paint will work well.