Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

[ledzeppelin135]

Hello, so I finally got the pictures for my questions asked about the condition of my paint and what I need to do to prep it for gelcoat. You can see in the picture with the white pinholes which is on the hull of the boat that there are many little "divets" in the paint/gelcoat. I am not sure why and it is not all over but it is in some places on the hull. As far as the crazing goes I ground down to fiberglass and it did not look as if it was going thru the fiberglass, as I sanded it it slowly went away. I have been doing some transom cap repairs and have layed two layers of glass over the cap and down about six inches on either side. My question is what is the best way to smooth out the glass and resin to blend in with the rest of the non repaired area as I have been sanding and it is still a visible ledge. I am also experiencing some pinholes now and am wondering what the best thing would be to use on something like this to prep it for re gelcoating. Please let me know as in three weeks I will be prepping to gel it. Thanks guys...

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

The biggest problem I see is in the 3rd pic, all of those white spots are air bubbles, they aren't hard to hide short term, but after a while they tend to break open and look terrible.

The easiest way to prep the surface is to make sure it's been sanded well so the gel coat will stick, then use a squeegee and some gel coat to skim the surface to fill the low spots, sometimes this needs to be done twice, maybe more. When i say low spots I don't mean to use the gel coat as a fairing compound, you just want to fill the minor imperfections and pin holes.

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

any other ideas?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

Heard of someone, somewhere, drilling small holes into the bubbles, Blisters? and injecting some resin into them, but I don't know how good of a fix this is...

As for the divits, unless you sand them out properly, nothing will stick in the recesses and whatever you skim coat them with may end up popping out later...If you want to do a permanent repair there is no substitute for proper preparation, sand, clean, fill, sand, etc. till smooth, then recoat/refinish...

As far as "blending" in with what is there, that can be a hit or miss proposition. Really depends on how old or worn the original finish is and how well you can match it.

If you mean by blending to fair it into the rest of the hull, then you will definitely need to prep the areas to be faired then treat it as any other fiberglass repair.

Just my drop in the bucket...:redface:

Best of luck,
GT1M

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

thanks for the help, what are the proper products to use to fair the hull and fill any of these divets and to blend in the repair on he back with the rest of the transom to be smooth? Also when I fair the boat I do not need to do the whole thing right? Just the areas that need filling?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

Not an expert at this kind of stuff, but basically you need to sand the divits completely out, then you can prep the area you want to fair out. No it doesn't need to be the entire hull, just the areas you are going to work on.
Sand it down until you just get to fresh glass, no further.
Cleaning after sanding is best done with acetone.
If you want to fair an area, say 3" wide, you could cut some CSM into strips that are 1", 2".and 3" wide and as long as the repair needs to be.
Using poly resin, wet the hull and the first 1" strip, apply it to the hull, get all tohe air out of it using a resin roller, brush, hands with gloves[preferably disposable ones], wet the second 2" strip, and the same with the 3" strip, and apply them...this will give you almost a 1/4' thick buildup that when it is cured, you can sand down to fair.

You may be able to do just one or two strips, depending on how much you need to build up. This is not a structural repair, just a cosmetic one.

I will try and explain a little better with a crude sketch.

Hope this helps,
GT1M

 

[ledzeppelin135]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

If I am not mistaken, fairing is basically to fill low spots or uneven spots to make the surface even correct? The only spot that will probably need to be sanded down and faired is the transom because of the repairs, but as far as the divets I thought there was some sort of filler that you could use that would fill them and then gelcoat over the top of it?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

If I am not mistaken, fairing is basically to fill low spots or uneven spots to make the surface even correct?Yes The only spot that will probably need to be sanded down and faired is the transom because of the repairs, but as far as the divets I thought there was some sort of filler that you could use that would fill them and then gelcoat over the top of it?I 've read somewhere that you could use peanut butter, thickened resin[using cabosil and chopped strands], or a product known as "Gorilla Hair", also known as "Duraglas", basically same as peanut butter, but premixed in a can...there are other types of fillers available, check the Iboats Marine Store under " Boat Paint, Repair, and Maintenance

Whatever you use you should still make sure you sand down to the divits, because if they are not sanded, nothing will stick to them.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Pictures of fiberglass repair and gelcoat questions (Finally)

For small gouges and chips on the outside of the hull, you can either use gelcoat paste, or 3M Premium Marine Filler. Sand and Acetone wash first. Your transom needs to be sanded down a lot more using 60 grit to get rid of those bubbles, and if needed another layer of CSM layed down. You can then sand and feather it in to blend to the rest of the transom.