Gelcoat hull repair

[ranger481vs]

I am planning to repair this damage to the hull of a new-to-me boat during this off-season. The previous owner used Marine-tex or similar material as a patch, but I would like to grind that out and do a proper repair. Part of the marine-tex chipped off. I was able to feel the fiberglass underneath felt very solid. I am enclosing pics prior to the marine-tex repair, which appear to show the fiberglass being intact and only gelcoat damage. The spot is about 12" long or so. You can see there is a crack line running west and east of damaged area along the chine too. Hoping to get a game plan for doing this repair. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Scott Danforth]

that is a big damaged area

do you have access to the inside of the hull at the damaged area.

you have fiberglass de-lamination which is more than simple gel coat damage.

 

[AShipShow]

At a minimum you will need to layup at least one or two layers of CSM over that area before fairing and gelcoating... But as Scott says, you really should try to get access to this from the inside to see if the delamination is from a structural issue/impact damage or if its just bad lamination... If its just a bad lamination you can probably go forward with the external layup of CSM and fair and regelcoat, but if theres structural damage, the repair is going to be much more involved.

 

[emoney]

It's that crack that's making us all suspect to how involved this repair is going to be. You definitely want to work in this from the inside out, or you'll be staring at the same problem next off-season. While you're at it, what's up with those bolts to the left going through what looks like the bottom of the hull?

By the way; if this is in an area where you the boat manufacturer didn't allow you have to access, you can always cut a hole and then install an "inspection plate". Half the inspection plates you see on boats are there just to give the owner access.

 

[AShipShow]

While you're at it, what's up with those bolts to the left going through what looks like the bottom of the hull?

Those are the bunks
I thought the same thing til' I looked at it again.

 

[ranger481vs]

Ok, I will need to cut a hole to gain inspection access. Then, I will update my findings on here afterward. Thanks for the quick first steps!

 

[ranger481vs]

I jumped into the boat tonight. I have a ski locker in the floor, which seems like would be a nice spot to cut an inspection hole. Is there anything I should be concerned with underneath? This is a 96 Bryant 192. The gas tank is up in the front of the boat.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Measure 4 times.... Cut only once

 

[ranger481vs]

Winter got in the way of this boat repair project, but I finally had a chance to come back to it. I made an inspection hole in the ski locker only to find this hull area is filled with floatation foam. Assuming I need to remove the foam, I'm thinking of getting hot wire cutting tool to make the process less tedious. I would need to enlarge my inspection hole a fair amount to be able to start removing the foam. I wanted to check in here first for any guidance. Thanks.

 

[Scott Danforth]

go to fleet farm or menards (since you are in southern cheesland, get a 1/4" drill extension and chuck a wire brush in the end. chuck it up in your cordless drill and simply wire brush the foam away and suck up with the shop vac

easy peasy, takes 2 minutes to do.

 

[racerone]

You have to do the structural repairs on the inside.-----Then you can do the cosmetic work on the outside.----By doing it that way your cosmetic repair on the outside will cover a smaller area.----The West System ---epoxy people have some " how to " booklets that have similar repair jobs in detail.---Do a job you will be proud of.

 

[ranger481vs]

Thanks, Scott. Glad I asked. I have those tools already, so hopefully, I'll have time to dig into this weekend, and get a good look at things on the inside.

 

[ranger481vs]

Finally had a chance to grind out a bunch of foam and saw no evidence of fiberglass damage inside the hull. So, I plan to repair the outside only and follow the how-to "there's a hole in my boat" boatworks today videos. Plan to use polyester resin with CSM, and then gelcoat.

Now, I will need to lift the boat off the trailer on just one side, enough to remove the left middle bunk board and gain full access to the repair area. Not sure what is the best way to do this. Wondering if I could rest the boat on stacked/screwed together 2x6s which would act as a temporary, elevated bunk board that just rests on two trailer cross braces. If that seems reasonable, then I could use advice on how to raise the boat off the bunks by a couple of inches in order to wedges the boards in place. I have a 2 1/2 ton floor jack to help with the process. If it was worthwhile, I could probably get a 2nd floor jack to use, as well.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'm almost 1000% certain you didn't look well enuf. Your hull IS structurally compromised and DOES need to be repaired on both inside and out. Please do a LOT more searching and you'll find it.

 

[Sleeper-6]

I'll default to Woody on the structural issues, He's much more experienced than I am. For lifting the boat, you could probably use a bottle jack between the trailer and the hull to lift it. Make sure to use boards or something to spread the load out on the hull and pick a spot under the keel or a stringer, or you'll be repairing another hole.