Trojan Boat Forum

On today's show of "This old boat" I will show you how I would repair a damaged fiberglass hull.

Some of the tools required

Start by grinding out all of stress cracks first as they can be hard to find as the process get more involved

After removing the old repair, which was very poorly done. This is what's left. Next will be to repair the damage inside the boat first so your outer repair will be stronger, that is if the damage was bad enough to penetrate both side as this did.

Inside the cabin

materials

cut out peices before brushing in

brush in , make sure that the corners are meshed in tight and allow to dry

I used left over resin to fill any cracks or holes on the out side before I mesh. It adds a little back bone and uses waste resin. you have to sand this down before you make your repair though.

Ok temps ate under 50 here today again, this resin does not like it, so time for extreme measures

OK ready to go, we have resin all sanded down again, looks like we didnt do anythink but it was worth the wait

Again cut your mesh peice first, I find it easier to tape it up and start from the bottom

remove tape and finish brushing, this does not have to be pritty just make sure that your mesh is tightly sealed. it likes to move around alot so you have to brush back and forth to make sure it is in the correct place, then use a hard edge to make sure your angles are completly seated, if not when you sand this down the mesh will try to come apart.

Time to wait again, after it is dry we will sand and apply short strand fiberglass

i used long strand glass to top coat

then used an air file to get stright lines

when it warms up ill go back with a lightweight polyester filler to fill in any lower areas, pin holes etc and clean the body line up. Then she is ready to prime

ok dude you win!!! thats more then I would dare tackle based on the tools required alone. And I'd like to hijack for a moment and rate the visual surroundings. I would rate the background a 9.5 as most folks may have a flower garden and possibly a yard ghome or two I see yourlandscape choice is a pair of valve covers and some misc. boat parts that look as though they were cast aside during an intense gut job. bravo ! This is a good workshow keep the pics coming as I wanna see how this turns out after the final sanding. hmmm ever fish the st lawerence river ? come on up and in between landing e'm we'll smear some of that sh*t on my ole boat.

Please be seated sir! This show does not allow back stage passes or hecklers. The show will finish as weather permits LOL to funny, come on man we just got started, it actually isn't that bad, little pricey but not bad

Cool Jeff. You have really been making some progress these last couple weeks. At this rate you will have it ready for Memorial Day. Best part about it is it will totally be 'yours' and you will know every square inch of her when you are done. Keep it up!

Commissionpoint wrote:Cool Jeff. You have really been making some progress these last couple weeks. At this rate you will have it ready for Memorial Day. Best part about it is it will totally be 'yours' and you will know every square inch of her when you are done. Keep it up!

Amanda said im pushing it. I had some material here today but I spent 200$ at the paint store. Damn doctors got us for 600$ in past 10 days. Im getting yelled at but I will prevael, there is alot of free work I can do.

She might be feeling the cash crunch a little right now, but all of that will be forgotten when you get out on the water with the family for the first time.

I think that this is going to be one of those threads that will be searched over and over again for years to come.
thanks for the instruction and pics

WOW! Jeff, I am impressed. Can't wait to see the end product.

Glad you guys like it, I thought it would be neat to show, temps are lower than 50 today so I will have finish tomorrow. But it will be complete and should give anyone a good idea of how to repair a minor hull damage

time to wait again, west systems doest like the cold air, today should be better, but its almost done

Jeff,
I freakn love the hair dryers!!!! The antifreeze jugs were also a great choice! Two thumbs up!!!

yorklyn wrote:Jeff,
I freakn love the hair dryers!!!! The antifreeze jugs were also a great choice! Two thumbs up!!!

It's just how I roll

Jeff,

I was looking at the picture of the repair you are doing to re attach the bulkhead to the hull. I think the thickness of the roving that you are using in this spot is a little thin. (by little I mean way to) Check out the roving used to form the hull, I would recommend that size or fairly close.

Hope this helps,

Yes I agree, they used a much thicker mesh inside, as this drys I will over lap. With another coat of mesh, but on the other side of the head wall they did nothing, so thickness of structure is not a true concern, but I am also not done with showing the repair, you can trust that my new repair will be stronger

Jeff,
Just a FYI when using west system. If you let it set up overnight you need to take a rag and alitte soapy water (couple drops of dish soap is all you need) and wipe the epoxy down then wipe with clean water. West system gets what called an "amine Blush" which is nothing but a film that created after it cures which creates a bond breaker if you don't wipe it off. Wipe it before you scuff it so you dont "grind it in". My procedure is soapy water, then rinse, scuff with sander, wipe with acetone the apply the next coat.
I found it alot easier to lay up a couple layers at the same time. I was told to start with an inital layer of chopped strand mat because it holds more resin, then a layer of cloth like you used, then another mat and back to cloth until you get the thickness needed.
you can get away with a few layers at a time but don't overdo it because you can "overheat" and cook the epoxy if you go too thick. I typically did two or three at a time.
Sorry if you already knew this but figured I'd mention it just in case.
How did you like buying the west system? I cringe at the price every time I have to buy a kit!!!!
Keep up the good work!