Gouges

[Saddlehorse]

Got about 3 small gouges, 2 on bottom and one on bow . Looking to patch them and have been looking at Marinetex or Loctite Marine Epoxy . Which is better? Biggest one is maybe 3/4" wide and to the fiberglass from my son loading a little fast and hit bow on trailer. Have been reading good about products but want to hear yalls thoughts.
thanks in advance ..

 

[Scott Danforth]

got a pic?

is the gouge just in the gel, or is there a chunk of fiberglass missing as well?

 

[Saddlehorse]

I can get some in about 30 minutes. Looks like just the gel is gone on down to glass but no glass is gone.. was gonna use a gelcoat repair kit but nobody sells them local , but can find the marine tex and loctite both local . Either way would be a temporary fix till this fall.

 

[Saddlehorse]

[No message]

 

[MTboatguy]

That is not just a gelcoat gouge. You are into the fiberglass as well

 

[Saddlehorse]

Yeah didnt look that bad when i glanced at it the other night . So what should i do about fixing it?

 

[chevymaher]

Grind a Vee into it. Make it a few 3-4 inches wide tapering out. Fill it with CSM. Grind it flat to where the hull should be. Gel coat over that. Sand Buff go boating as someone here says.

 

[Saddlehorse]

Total newbie to fiberglass repair, whatcis CSM?

 

[chevymaher]

Chopped Strand Mat. Anglehair in the autobody world

 

[kcon]

CSM is chopped strand mat, it's a sheeted matting of shredded fiberglass held together by an adhesive. What you'll need to do is get a basic fiberglass repair kit, 3m makes a decent one (or you could use an epoxy based kit). You need to grind down the damage a bit and make a grinded bevel about 3-4 inches around the damage, then using fiberglass + resin patch it up with a few layers of this Chopped Strand Mat, then you can sand it and apply gelcoat over that. It's not as complicated as it seems.

Here's a great video showing you the ins and out of this type of repair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zka0i0SOGd8

Here's a helpful series as well, but it's geared more toward structural damage type holes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hfpOCnzEs

 

[Saddlehorse]

Ok, I know what you are talking about now, i have used that in making custom fiberglass speaker enclosures . Thanks for info and help . Thanks for links as they will be helpful as well.

 

[Saddlehorse]

Are the Bondo brand fiberglass kits anygood for this? Have used that brand before on non structural speaker boxes and is all i can find local wanna get it fixed this weekend to be ready for the up coming holiday to hit the lake.

 

[Woodonglass]

No Bondo!!! ALL Bondo Fiberglass Products use Talc for a thickening agent and there for have Poor water resistance. IF BIG IF the exposed glass is just fuzzy and NOT spongy feeling when you press HARD against or poke it with a screw driver, You could use the Marine Tex OR my preference is PC-11 (Ace Hardware has it or Some Big Box Stores) You only need to do a full glass repair if the underlying glass structure is soft or spongy when poked hard OR if the Damaged area is bigger about 3 times larger than yours

 

[Saddlehorse]

Woodonglass- it isnt spongy at all , still really hard . Thanks for the heads up on the Bondo brand. Never been a fan of their body filler and only used their glass for speaker enclosures. Thanks again

 

[Scott Danforth]

Iboats sells gel repair kits

 

[Saddlehorse]

Any way to find out what color blue gel coat my 1987 Avanti is? As we all know the company is long gone so contacting them isnt an option. Thanks again

 

[Scott Danforth]

doesnt matter what color your '87 avanti was. 32 years in the sun pretty much changed the color.

start with either the mix-n-match kit or start with some black and blue paste and mix until its close

 

[Saddlehorse]

doesnt matter what color your '87 avanti was. 32 years in the sun pretty much changed the color.

start with either the mix-n-match kit or start with some black and blue paste and mix until its close

Guess you got a point there. It is pretty oxidized and cant decide to try and bring it back or just Vinyl wrap it. For now that kit IBoats sales should get it close enough since it has the colors you mix yourself.

 

[Saddlehorse]

Fixin to order some pc-11 that was recommended by local marine store. My question is can it be gel coated? Have read online some say no but say marine tex can be. Both are epoxy ,so why can one but not the other?

 

[Woodonglass]

Yes you can gel coat epoxy IF you scuff it with 80 grit and clean we’ll with acetone If it wad s large area...then it might be an issue.