Shes Gotta HOLE after 48years!

[Rollinunknown]

Well guys ... This is a real river rat boat... Shes hit rock dikes huge trees at 30mph trailer to over 6 different states...

Well the trailer got her finely after all these year due to me rushing... This is my 1966 MFG Beachcomber .. So many night catching big o blue catfish from 1lb to 80+lbs ... Shes not as pretty as the new rigs but shes mine and i dont owe one cent on her ...

Well about amonth ago i was in a hurry installing new bunks and the boat was down on the river and i wanted to go fishing so i unloaded the boat and did the bunks at the boat ramp ... well i lost 1 nut and i figured id put in on later and forgot.Well amonth later i have a dime size hole in the hull ... Well it was just a crack and i started getting water in the boat ... I never ever have water in the boat unless im throw netting for bait so threw the water hose in the hull and less the 20 seconds i found the leak and cussed my self from one end of the drive way to the other .....

Ive completly rebuilt the motor after throwing a rod ... Done all the led lights rod rack seats yada yada .... And to think i let 1 dang bolt take this boat out im still upset at my self.

I need some help on how to fix this ... The Deck is 100% SEALED ... my floor is made of fiberglass with fiberglass boxes with zero wood in my floow .. Its all Fiber glass and they are strong as heck. soooooo i need to fix this and it has to be without cutting the floor up...

Started out with http://imageshack.com/a/img838/3474/yg1h.jpg after picking away some damage...
i ended up with this .... http://imageshack.com/a/img843/6686/h37ip.jpg

Its a little smaller then dime size.. How should i go about repairing this ? I have marine 2oz grey on the way .. I have air compressor all the tools in the world .. I just dont want it to leak ... I was thinking about just filling the hole with marine tex and covering it with tape for a few days and come back and peel the tape off... Its on the bottom of the hull i could care less how it looks at all i just dont want to keep letting water in and sink my boat . Please help me out guys ...

In this forum ive learned how to paint a boat ... Rebuild a motor ... and learn that its alot of work to own something old but it comes with a since of pride that i have something that not many people have . Im sure i can fiberglass ... but i dont wanna remove the windows motor and rod rack .. Is there away to do this with out flipping it over? Is marine tex that thick that i can plug it in there and cover it with tape ?

Thanks Rob.

 

[Rollinunknown]

No Title

 

[sphelps]

Gotta love those old MFG 's ! I know mine is built like a tank ...
I would grind the gell back a few inches around the hole . Make some filler/pb with poly 'cabosil'and 1/4" copped fibers . You could also just shred up a little csm instead of the fibers . Fill the whole after a good acetone bath then lay a layer or 2 of csm over that . A little white gell or paint and your back on the water .
Others may have a different fix .. Good luck !

 

[SCduckhunter]

I would do what was previously stated with one difference..I would use a drill to make a hole in each end of the crack..If you don't the stresses on the hull will allow the crack to travel..straighter lines and breaks continue to crack..a clean drilled round hole will stop any future cracking from travelling..And just fill and coat as stated above

 

[mercurymang]

Wow, that is a beautiful boat.

 

[Rollinunknown]

Well just a update ive not touched the boat ... My truck blew up the day after this ... Then the dump truck broke down so ive been chasing my tail . Things are settling down again im gonna grab a newer pickup next week sometime. Ive still not deiced how im gonna do this ...

This is what im gonna do . grind away the glass and drill the small cracks with a small bit. .. Chop some CSM up use the strands and some thickened resin acetone the hole real good then fill the hole and put some clear tape over it to let it cure ... remove the tape then light sand and it then.... Put 2 layers of CSM over it then sand after full cure then just use some good paint or sealer to cover it ..

Im going to do some keel repairs and throw a keel guard on ..

I swear this thing gets more damage loading and unloading then anytime on the river lol...