Ugly Find – How Do I Fix This – Thru-Hull For Seacock

[Natchamp]

Well, I’ve been working on the port engine, stripping the “bolt-ons” off the motor, getting ready to clean/inspect/replace stuff. One of the items I know I’m going to replace is the seacocks. Yesterday I removed the port engine seacock and what I found wasn’t pretty.

The main project thread is here:
http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... trojan+10m

Below are pictures after I removed the port engine seacock. I suspected something wasn’t right when the backing board moved freely. I expected it to be sealed/bonded to the hull. When I removed it, all of the area below it appeared to be “crystallized”. I poked around with a screwdriver and it was loose and flaky. I removed what was loose and some pretty big chunks came off. What’s odd is there aren’t any visible fibers in the affected area. Below the bad layer you can still see the fiberglass woven cloth. Is this what salt water does to resin and fibers after a long period of intrusion? Is this “delamination”?

So, what’s the best way to fix this? Obviously I’ll remove all the affected area and get to clean un-affected fiberglass. Should I use epoxy resin with fiberglass cloth/matt and layer it up and sand smooth? If epoxy based resin, is there a particular type that will bond better? I’m assuming the hull is polyester resin based. Any guidance greatly appreciated!

[aaronbocknek]

delamination pure and simple. water got between the layers of glass and created a bubble. as for a fix, i'm stumped on this one. perhaps some of the guys that have done fiberglass repair will chime in.

what's the condition of the starboard seacock?

[Natchamp]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what the condition is of the startboard side seack is yet. I just did the port side yesterday as I'm working on one side at a time. I'll pull the starboard side off shortly to see and will fix both of them at the same time if needed.

[vabeach1234]

Paul "prowlersfish" redid the fiberglass around his rudder after his little mishap. You may want to check it out.

http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... ght=rudder

Another member on here posted this How to page as well that might be helpful.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

Good Luck.

[Natchamp]

Thanks Ken, much appreciated!

[prowlersfish]

Grind and glass

[todd brinkerhoff]

Grind out the bad and check out West's Systems Epoxy. They have a pretty good sight. Sounds like you will need to pull every though-hull to check you hull.

[rossjo]

Lots of grinding (get well out into any areas that look bad. Layers of glass and resin - might be worth getting someone with experience (aka - a PRO) to help, as this is NOT an area to learn on!

Anyone been boating lately? Too busy here - went out on my old Montauk-17 Sunday (restoration 80% complete). Trojan hasn't left my dock in a long time ... but cooler weather is beginning to show up ...

Cheers!

[prowlersfish]

Been doing a lot of boating

[Natchamp]

...might be worth getting someone with experience (aka - a PRO) to help, as this is NOT an area to learn on!

no worries, I have a ton of fb experience. Although it's been a few years and I'm getting old so I forget things sometimes

[prowlersfish]

Nice work , just one question , what is it ??

[Natchamp]

They are carbon fiber air intake plenums for a Porsche motor. I milled the plug on my milling machine to make the mold out of. I also made a bunch of cart racing bodies and stuff back in my racing days but I don't have any pics of those. Too bad cuz they were really cool!

[rossjo]

Nice work - you're definitely qualified.

How many Porsche motors can you put in a Trojan?

[Natchamp]

How about a couple of these? This was the last iteration of my motor when I went from supercharged to twin turbos.

[prowlersfish]

sweet