mfgniagara
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2010
- Messages
- 92
I looked at a second MFG today, this one slightly larger than my Niagara which measures 15' 8" long.
The boat looks like a time machine back to 1960 something, the upper and interior is like new other than the lack of seats.
The bad part is that the trailer is crap, the boat is sitting on roller bunks with wooden rollers, and the keel rollers have all but turned to mush.
Here's where the problem lies. The keel has been dragged over the bad rollers for some time, there's some sort of patch spackled all over the length of the keel which has again been scraped off by the bad keel rollers. The rollers are so far gone that the bracket edges are higher than the rollers.
I'm not sure what they used to try to fix the damage but it looks like wall plaster or cement. Its white and chalky and scrapes off pretty easy. The good part is that the damage hasn't dug into the fibers, its just removed the smooth finished layer of the hull, I guess that's called the gel coat.
I can get the boat for next to nothing, it runs, and the trailer can be fixed or replaced. My question is what is a proper repair and how much of a hassle is it to handle. I was thinking just using epoxy to fill and smooth out the damaged keel, tinting the epoxy with white pigment to make it less noticeable? Then add a keel guard for future protection. The hull is light, has no water in the lower hull, and ran and floats fine. I'd say I'm at least 90% certain its just cosmetic, damaged area is about 1/8" to 1/4" wide and along the entire hull back to about the second from the last cross member on the trailer. There is no other hull damage at all.
Although it's cheap, I certainly don't want to bother with a leaky hull or a hull which has been strength compromised in anyway. The motor is only an older 50hp, electric shift, which would no doubt be upgraded but it does run fine for what it is now. The trailer is painted and surface rusted, and needs tires, springs, rollers, and paint work. I'd most likely just put the boat on a new galvanized trailer.
The boat looks like a time machine back to 1960 something, the upper and interior is like new other than the lack of seats.
The bad part is that the trailer is crap, the boat is sitting on roller bunks with wooden rollers, and the keel rollers have all but turned to mush.
Here's where the problem lies. The keel has been dragged over the bad rollers for some time, there's some sort of patch spackled all over the length of the keel which has again been scraped off by the bad keel rollers. The rollers are so far gone that the bracket edges are higher than the rollers.
I'm not sure what they used to try to fix the damage but it looks like wall plaster or cement. Its white and chalky and scrapes off pretty easy. The good part is that the damage hasn't dug into the fibers, its just removed the smooth finished layer of the hull, I guess that's called the gel coat.
I can get the boat for next to nothing, it runs, and the trailer can be fixed or replaced. My question is what is a proper repair and how much of a hassle is it to handle. I was thinking just using epoxy to fill and smooth out the damaged keel, tinting the epoxy with white pigment to make it less noticeable? Then add a keel guard for future protection. The hull is light, has no water in the lower hull, and ran and floats fine. I'd say I'm at least 90% certain its just cosmetic, damaged area is about 1/8" to 1/4" wide and along the entire hull back to about the second from the last cross member on the trailer. There is no other hull damage at all.
Although it's cheap, I certainly don't want to bother with a leaky hull or a hull which has been strength compromised in anyway. The motor is only an older 50hp, electric shift, which would no doubt be upgraded but it does run fine for what it is now. The trailer is painted and surface rusted, and needs tires, springs, rollers, and paint work. I'd most likely just put the boat on a new galvanized trailer.
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