Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

[detchon]

Hello,

I am going to be doing some fiberglass repair on my 2004 Seaswirl 170 but have no experience in it and would like some guidance.
The bottom of the hull is scraped all along the middle and the PO tried to do his own repair which was shoddy. I would like to fix it up make sure that it won't cause me any problems.
Please see the attached pictures and let me know where to start.
Thanks in advance.

 

[carribbean soul]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

get a grinder and start grinding that white glass is dammaged. you will need to feather the edged back to a 10:1 ratio for the new glass glass it with 1708 and epoxy paint to match.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Uhhhmmmm.... There's a little more to it than that. Detchon, I'll give more details in a bit or some of the other experienced guys will come along.

 

[detchon]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Is nobody else going to chime in and give me some advice? I'm a real rookie at this and have no idea where to start.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

WOW!!! Sorry I did not get back with you. My BAD!!! You need to grind or sand of all the old repair area and also the damaged area. You will need to lay new CSM glass mat onto the damaged area for sure and depending on whats under the goop the PO put on will determine what needs to be done to it. For the Grey looking damage that we can see, for sure you need to sand it all down using 40 or 60 grit removeing the gel coat back approx 2" all around the area until you can see glass. Wash it all down with acetone and then apply 2-3 layers of CSM each one bigger than the previous one. Make sure and wear a mask and goggles while working on this. Use a good laminating Polyester resin and 1.5 oz CSM. When done sand and fair and then you can brush or roll on some gelcoat, do some final sanding and buffing and she'll look almost as good as new. Sand off that goop and post some pics so we can see what's under there.

 

[detchon]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Excellent. Thanks for the input. I hope to get to it next week so as soon as I have the old stuff sanded off, I will post some pictures.

 

[Shife]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Read this:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/HowTo-Publications/Fiberglass-Boat-Repair-and-Maintenance.pdf

Then read it a few more times. The West System website has a huge technical library that covers just about anything you would ever need to know regarding composite repairs.They have an entire staff of technical advisors that will guide you step by step over the phone if you call them. I'm always amazed at how obscure it seems to be on the iboats forum. Every answer is there, and it will help weed through the onslought of iffy advice that is common here.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Detchon, some of the best advice you will ever get, pics, descriptions, details, will be right here on iBoats. I did not give you specific point by point details because you did not ask for them and you are not ready for them. When you are ready you will get all the help you need. Not sure what the other poster's issues are but, again, you the assistance you will receive here far exceeds what you would/could get at the site he listed. They really push their epoxy product and you cannot use epoxy on your boat if you want to gelcoat it. They will tell you that you can, but every PRO that does this for a living will tell you that you can't. Of course it's all a matter of personal opinion but this is the largest boat repair internet site in the world. Your best friend will be the advanced search tool. to take you to sites of those who have similar issues and have had similar issues and repaired them. You will get an education.

 

[Shife]

Re: Need Help With Fiberglass Repair

Epoxy and gel coat works great together as long as the proper tie coat is used. I have no issues, just bizarre amazement at the gullability of some of the people here and the gall of some of those who call themselves "pros". Plenty of hot shots on this site stopped learning a long time ago and refuse to see there might be better/new ways to skin the proverbial cat. There is a lot of information here; Some good and a lot not so good. It can be difficult for a novice to seperate the wheat from the chaff. The link I posted is full of information to help someone gain a better understanding of fiberglass repair.