Fiberglass cracked

[unhip_crayon]

I'm slowly restoring my 77 mark twain and I've now came to tackle this...

A crack in the fiberglass where my engine is mounted. The transom we made was bigger than the old one and never realized that it would be to big for the cap (top half of the boat...not sure what its called). Anyways, when we mounted the engine and took it for a test spin, the fiberglass crack and Im not too sure of how to fix it.

I've got west system epoxy and 1.5 oz matts and I want it to look good as new.

Thanks!

 

[unhip_crayon]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

bump

 

[109jb]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

What crack are you talking about??? I don't see a "crack" in your picture. If you are talking about the joint between the hull and the cap then that is another story. If so, you could always grind the gel coat off the outside and then glass the joint shut. Or put packaging tape over the joint and then lay up several layers of glass to make a fiberglass joint cover that is removable. If you make a removable one be sure to seal it with 3M 5200 when you put it on.

 

[unhip_crayon]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

Sorry...it was late when i posted this but yes, you are correct. Its more of a "chunk" missing from the top cover.

 

[unhip_crayon]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

how much would I need to grind to remove the gellcoat

 

[oops!]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

not much....the gellcoat is only 35 thou thick.....

however....you need to rebuild that edge....

there is an alum trim that covers that area.....

do as suggested above.....then dont worry about re gellcoating the area....just paint it and replace the trim.....

but you cannot use the epoxy with the fiberglass matt....

the binder in the matt....needs styrene to dissolve it.....epoxy has none....so use poly and your matt.

also make sure you run your epoxy over that actual hull at the joint to seal the area BEFORE YOU RE JOIN THE CAP TO THE HULL....

you dont want to epoxy the cap down....just repair and seal the hull portion as well.

cheers
oops

 

[unhip_crayon]

Re: Fiberglass cracked

Thanks a lot oops!