Trojan Boat Forum

I have spider cracks on the deck of my 76 F32. Been told these are just through the gellcoat. 3M5200 is the best product to fill and hide these. When I say spider I mean fine line, but water must be able to seap through. Had a survey done this fall and did not indicate any mositure problems. However; not sure if that really included the deck, but the deck from what I can tell does not have a core subcomponent like the flybridge. These run across the bow and down the gunwhales. Comments please.

Sorry Guys! I should have done a little site search before my post!

I would not use 5200 for that. It will make more of a mess than everything else. There are some "crack chaser " epoxies that are designed to seal small cracks. Havent used them so I have no idea how well they work.

As you may have discovered by now, your decks are cored. There is lots and lots of documentation here regarding issues folks have had and how they have delt with them. Matt is dooing his decks on his 26 right now and has a good informational thread going. Lots of pics there showing what he delt with.

Your problem is nearer the begining of the trouble than what comes later. Depending exactly where your problems are, paint can be a solution for you. (The proper kind of course.) Can you show us some photos of the areas in question?

You're looking for Capt. Tolley's this stuff works, Don't use 5200......

http://www.captaintolley.com/lang/englc.html

http://www.captaintolley.com/lang/englc.htm wrote:"Capt. Tolley can be find and fix mystery leaks from hairline cracks in the home, in vehicles and on boats"

Hope their product is better than their English ...

I've used 5200 on my front decks, and know its not a permanent solution, but it has avoided water intrusion into my core for now.
Think the long term solution s paint removal, good primer and a couple of coats of Awlgrip. Has anyone used this Tolley stuff as a filler? Or is epoxy and micro-ballons the best solution?

Capt tolleys works on small hair line leaks , its not a "filler" more of a sealant but sounds like this may be a good temp. fix . Paint is not filler . Using 5200 would look like crap . Epoxy would work but must be painted to protect it from UV damaged . Never heard of 5300 , typo ?

re-gel coating maybe the way to go but you need to find out the cause of the cracks .

Photos ?


I have been using capt tolleys on my deck hardware / bow rail bolts for years to keep it sealed . I use it as a just in case to prevent leaks from starting .

prowlersfish wrote: Paint is not filler............

............re-gel coating maybe the way to go but you need to find out the cause of the cracks .

No, but the right ones are good sealants, and it doesn't sound like the OP has anything to really fill, just hairline strees cracks from the sounds of things. If I couldn't dig into the cracks with something like a dental pick or carpet needle I'd probably just prime and Alexseal them. Otherwise, if they are actually cracks that are into the gel the only way to really get it right again is to sand the cracks out and re-gel like you mentioned. Of course if there is flexing going on which is the original cause of the cracks that definately has to be taken care of first or any repair is going to do the same thing.

Pics, pics, pics!

Sorry, but pics pics pics are a month away. Can still walk on water up here.

Yes Ross it be works good...Y'all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHMTi13obto