Keel repair

[chris0061]

I bought this boat last month and I noticed today that there was a couple drips on the keel under the gas tank compartment. It is a Fabuglas boat. Crawling under it I noticed cracking were the drips were and forward the keel is down to the fiberglass. I am going to purchase a keel guard and I think the upper keel can just be glazed with resin Right? The spot were water is dripping threw, Can anyone tell me a procedure I need to use to fix this and what I need to use? I have not done any fiberglass repairs before so any help will be very greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance, Chris

 

[oops!]

Re: Keel repair

welcome to i boats!
happy new year!

what a drag!
no big deal tho. but it will be if you dont fix it.

any question you want to ask has probablly been covered at one time on this awesome forum, just hit search (just under your welcome sign, upper right.

the guys here will gide you thru everything.

i personally havent done that repair yet so take everything i say with a grain of salt. a moderator called tashasdaddy has done it a zillion times.

my understanding is you must grind out the area, feather back a bit and re glass. there is a bit more to it than that but that is the very short version. the search button will take you very in depth.
be sure to let the area dry out.....
no use fixing it if theres still water in there.

uh ....wheres the water comin from??? gotta check that or your repair will fail

cheers
oops

 

[chris0061]

Re: Keel repair

Thank you and Happy New Year to everyone. I'll check the forum out indepth. I don't know were the water came from, It is outside but covered very good. I noticed water and grudge in the tank compartment when I took the tank out to drain and clean so maybe I better take it back out and coat that as well. I have till it warms up to investigate and make my plan. I live in IL. so might as well be well planed before I start. I'll keep checking back and Thanks alot... Chris

 

[oops!]

Re: Keel repair

hey chris
dont wanna scare ya or any thing.
but u might want to check under the floor.
just drill some small inspection holes in an inconspicous spot. and get a good look at what shape the stringers are in. you can easelly repair the inspection holes.
and try searching "core sample"
hope fully all will be good.

any how the repair process is very gratifing.
have fun!

oops

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Keel repair

The actual process to repair the glass is simple... I'd recommend overdoing it a bit if possible, the keel isn't a good spot to have a failure.

First off though, you need to work out exactly why it cracked. Cracks at the keel, which is an area of the boat that's not supposed to flex at all, can be indicators of something else wrong. Are your stringers rotten? What's supposed to be supporting the hull at that point?

If you know the damage was caused by an accident or a specific problem that you've corrected, you may be ok.

If it's just randomly started leaking and there are cracks, look for a bigger problem. Where's the water/liquid coming from?

You can grind back the cracked glass and cover it with epoxy and cloth to fix the actual cracks. I'd recommend you use the 12x rule... go as deep grinding as you need to, then go out 12x the sides to give the glass and epoxy enough space to grab on. IE, if you grind out 1/2" of glass and resin to get rid of the crack, then go out 6 inches on all sides and re-glass that area.

I'd use epoxy instead of poly resin, because you're not going to get as good a bond with poly (it's called a secondary bond - you're not able to chemically bond to the old material with new poly). Make sure the area you're repairing is dry before you start.

Erik

 

[chris0061]

Re: Keel repair

OK, I'm gaining more information now. When I pulled the gas tank out there was water in the compartment. the compartment goes from a foot forward the transom about even with the back of the back seats up to the base of the lounge seats and takes the entire middle of the boat the forward of that in between the seats up to the bow section is a ski locker which looks good. The tank compartment didn't look so good but either side seemed strong. Are those the Stringers you speak of? I have just had the boat a little over a month and have not gotten to take it out but one time then I noticed a bad piston on compression check. basically though the length of the keel is down to the fiberglass with a couple good sections in between the worn spots. Its not cracked it didn't seem like but just smooth. So I guess I don't know were the water is coming from as I have had it covered since I got it unless that one time I took it out to test run it the water is from that. To let anyone know who buys off EBay, The boat was covered under there fraud protection and I think there going to pay for engine. I'll keep you posted. Thanks all, Chris