12' Fiberglass Boat Restoration Project - Newbie in Need of Advice

[prescott_anthony]

12' Fiberglass Boat Restoration - Newbie in Need of Advice

Hello Everyone,
My name is Anthony and I am an expat who stayed in Germany after leaving the military. I am also an extreme fishaholic. I recently purchased an old 12' fiberglass boat which I have pulled into the shop with the intention of fully restoring it. The boat had some fiberglass damage to the bottom of the hull (mainly just rot and damage from being dragged around). My buddy removed the damaged portions and patched the hull up pretty well. I am now sanding the hull in preparation for primer and paint.

At the bow of there is a small door that opens to a storage area inside the bow. I currently have the boat sitting on saw horses with the hull facing upwards. After sanding most of the hull I was underneath the boat just checking out that cavity in the bow and noticed that on some portions of the bow that I have sanded I can see light coming through the fiberglass patchwork that my buddy did. There is no old paint or primer on that portion of the bow any longer and I am wondering my seeing this light is simply the refractive properties of the fiberglass or do I need to get a fiberglass repair kit and put more layers on? On the portions of the hull where the fiberglass was not previously repaired I do not see light coming through but of course there is still old paint and primer there so I wouldn't expect to see light leaking through.

On there areas where I do see light the boat still feels and sounds solid so I am just not sure whether or not I should be worried at this point.

Pictures attached.

Thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to provide!

 

[roffey]

I'm no fiberglass expert but it looks good to me, maybe a little thin but you will have experts along shortly. I wonder if you turn it up right and put a little water in the bottom (not much as there is no support) and if it leaks out mark the spot and fix it when it's dry?

 

[prescott_anthony]

Hello Everyone,
My name is Anthony and I am an expat who stayed in Germany after leaving the military. I am also an extreme fishaholic. I recently purchased an old 12' fiberglass boat which I have pulled into the shop with the intention of fully restoring it. The boat had some fiberglass damage to the bottom of the hull (mainly just rot and damage from being dragged around). My buddy removed the damaged portions and patched the hull up pretty well. I am now sanding the hull in preparation for primer and paint.

At the bow of there is a small door that opens to a storage area inside the bow. I currently have the boat sitting on saw horses with the hull facing upwards. After sanding most of the hull I was underneath the boat just checking out that cavity in the bow and noticed that on some portions of the bow that I have sanded I can see light coming through the fiberglass patchwork that my buddy did. There is no old paint or primer on that portion of the bow any longer and I am wondering my seeing this light is simply the refractive properties of the fiberglass or do I need to get a fiberglass repair kit and put more layers on? On the portions of the hull where the fiberglass was not previously repaired I do not see light coming through but of course there is still old paint and primer there so I wouldn't expect to see light leaking through.

On there areas where I do see light the boat still feels and sounds solid so I am just not sure whether or not I should be worried at this point.

Pictures attached.

Thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to provide!

 

[prescott_anthony]

Thank you for your response! I didn't realize that I posted this in the "General Topics" section so I recreated it in the "Restoration" section and will delete this one to avoid any confusion and double posts. Thanks again!

 

[wrvond]

Most resins, unless intentionally colored, are fairly clear, and most fiberglass cloth is translucent, as well as having a fairly broad weave, so it's not unusual for the finished product to allow light through.
If it feels solid, it probably is. You could turn it over and put water in it for 24 hours to see if there is any seepage.

 

[southkogs]

prescott_anthony I merged everything over into one topic. Posts ahead of this one will read a little outta' synch ... but after that you've got it all in one spot.

Welcome aboard and good luck with it.

 

[prescott_anthony]

Thank you southkogs !

wrvond thank you so much! You've put my mind at ease with this I am so happy to have found a good place like this to ask questions to knowledgeable folks! I am sure I will have more questions in the future.

southkogs I do have another question relating to this topic but it is in regards to spray foam as opposed to fiberglass. Should I begin a new topic or continue posting in this thread?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[southkogs]

It's actually your choice - no rule governing it anyway. In this topic, you've got a little traction and people are going to look and see ... If you start a new topic with "spray foam vs. fiberglass" you'll get a little more attention to the question, but not your restoration as a whole.

Personally - I'd just ask here and see how it goes.

 

[prescott_anthony]

southkogs will do.

roffey wrvond or anyone else who may be able to help: I have pulled several large chunks of what seems to be some type of spray foam from inside the hull that were loose and just lying inside the boat. Judging from the pieces of foam that I still see internally it seems as if when the boat was built the foam was sprayed inside to add buoyancy. Do I need to replace this foam and if so, is there a special type of foam for use in marine environments that I should use?

 

[roffey]

This is not an area of expertise for me so I am going to stand down and see what those in the know will say... opcorn:

 

[southkogs]

Sounds like floatation foam. If then hull has space between the sole/deck/floor and the hull itself - stringers and cavities between - then the boat likely had floatation foam in it. Yes, you'll want to put some foam back in.

We have a couple of rowboat styled fishing boats that don't have foam in them - but they are single hulled boats. Got any photos of the inside of your boat?

 

[prescott_anthony]

southkogs Thanks for the reply! The boat is exactly as you described with space between the sole/deck/floor and that is where the foam was pulled from. I will take some photos of that portion of the boat this evening and post them here later tonight. Thanks again!

 

[wrvond]

The upshot is that any foam you use should be closed cell. You've got a couple different options. My recommendation is to review some of the excellent restoration projects in this forum for ideas.

 

[prescott_anthony]

wrvond Thank you! I will do that.

 

[gm280]

PA, Post some pictures of your boat inside and out. Then we can get an idea what you are dealing with and offer the best suggestions and ideas to get you fishing again. Pictures convey so much more then typed verbiage some times.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Anthony, without seeing what you see, we can only guess (not good). Take a lot of picture and annotate what concerns you.

 

[prescott_anthony]

​gm280 Thank you for the response! southkogs wrvond gm280 Attached are pictures of the cavities I puled the foam from. gm280 I'll try to get a good group of pics of the entire boat together in the next few days and will post here.

 

[prescott_anthony]

DeepBlue2010 gm280 I posted some pics on the original post and a few more above. I'll try within the next few days to get the vessel thoroughly documented photographically and will post here so that you guys have a better understanding of what I am dealing with. Thanks again everyone for your assistance!

 

[prescott_anthony]

Forgot to mention those photos are from both port and starboard sides and are direction bow to stern.

 

[prescott_anthony]

Here are couple of pictures of something else I noticed while crawling around in that cavity I mentioned before. Structurally this seems to be the only problem and I am not sure how big of one it is. The topside of the bow does not seem to be misshaped at all because of this. However, I don't know how I will be able to clamp this down to repair it. Any suggestions?