Fiberglassing Front Engine Mount

[RinkerMane]

Hello all, I have been a reader for years and now I have a question. I had to cut out my front engine mount to replace the wood. It's a 3.0lx. I have prepared the area to fiberglass over the new wood but my question is will epoxy resin stick to the grey paint used in the bilge. I have removed a lot of it and it its very coarse and it took a lot of work to remove what you see in the pic (I hope the pic loads). I think it is an epoxy paint they used on the entire bilge area. The area has been sanded down with 50 grit. Thanks for taking a look.
I don't think this pic is gonna upload....

 

[ondarvr]

If it's paint, it all needs to be removed, but if it's gel coat the epoxy will bond well if the surface has been sanded. It's always best to get back down to fresh glass before doing a structural repair though.

 

[RinkerMane]

I have no way to know if it's gel but I guess it could be. It sands like gel. The glassing will be for waterproofing. The wood is mounting to a thick piece of fiberglass underneath so that is where the weight would will be transferred. I wish the pic would work to better explain. I'm at work so I can't use a pic hosting website.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Post one more time, it doesn't matter what you say, and then in your 4th post the picture will work. The site will not allow you to upload picture until you post 3 times before the upload.

 

[RinkerMane]

I like turtles.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Good, so do I. Now, post the picture

 

[Woodonglass]

Put some Paint thinner on a rag and lay it on the gray stuff. After a while pull it off. If the gray stuff is soft and wrinkles then it's paint. If not then it's prolly Gelcoat. But either way, it's still best to sand down to fresh glass.

 

[RinkerMane]

Yeah, it's not going to work. I guess I will try when I get home.

 

[RinkerMane]

No Title

Wow, something went right. I'm now a Cadet so maybe that's it.

 

[Woodonglass]

How big is the mount? Does it cover the entire area shown in the Pinkish color?

 

[RinkerMane]

Yes sir, it will be just like I took it out. Two sandwiched 3/4 ply filling that whole pink (which is a thick fiberglass sheet on top of bottom wood) area. I just need to peanut butter it all in and drape with fiberglass to seal it in. I am going to try the thinner idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that. If the paint/gel comes up that way, I'd just have to rough it all up with the 50 grit.

 

[Woodonglass]

If the mount is the same size as the pinkish area then you'll need to grind more area. I'd recommend another 3-6 inches all the way around. You'll glue the mount down and then fillet the edges and then tab the glass out onto the hull. First tab 3" last one 6".

 

[Scott Danforth]

your no whay preped enough

throw away your 50 grit sand paper. get 24 grit hard discs in your grinder and remove some of the material. make sure to wear the proper PPE.

 

[RinkerMane]

I went at it with a 36 disc on the grinder. That's good to go now. I don't know if it's possible to hijack my own thread but I think this is a quick answer and easier than starting a new thread. I have an inch and a half total thickness of laminated ply to drill pilot holes into for the front engine mount and it is super solid. Would you use a 3/8" (softwood) or a 7/16" (hardwood) drill for the pilot holes for the 1/2" lag bolts? I know lags aren't the best but that's what I have to use. Thanks all.