Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any help with a fiberglass boat repair? I've never used the stuff

I bought a boat off Craigslist. It's not much, but if you are any kind of duck hunter, this may be more appealing than it looks.

The boat floats. Doesn't leak.

But it's dry and brittle. Has some small cracks. Really need to step in gingerly. I put a tan lounge in it to check for a lay out, and the metal legs cracked it a bit.

I'd like to fix or improve it's brittle ness.

I was thinking I could just lay down a thicker layer of a semi flexible epoxy resin over what is already there. But nothing in life is that simple.

Can anyone start me off with suggestions on where to start? Can I add a layer of cloth with epoxy resin to the whole thing?

ok this is what I do for a living,pictures are no substitute for touch so the short answer is yes and no.if you only want a short life one layer of light weight cloth will do.if you want it to last there is much more involved.what ever is under the glass (wood,or foam)should be cut out where there is rot(soft spots)and inner material replaced.then you can lay glass,after full preparation,i.e. Sanding every inch down for adhesion,doesn't need to be rough,like 300 grit.laying glass looks easy,but much harder than it appears,flat surface no problem,curves and rolls ,the glass will lift during cure and start off delamanated if you don't work it constantly during set up ,it will have the weave on the surface when cured and have to be filled one or more times to be smooth,pigment can be put in the fill coat,or paint on top but won't last long.you will also add significantly to weight.
I am a duck hunter from the Texas coast,if it was mine I would clean out any rot and repair,lightly sand and spot repair,then apply bed liner from the auto parts house,for the price of glass repair you could this for 5 or six seasons and still beat the price of materials to glass,and repairs and touch up very easy.

One or two layers of 12-17oz biaxial cloth should do what you need. As you know, good prep is the key to a good repair. Sand the old fiberglass for good adhesion. IF it has a core and it is bad, grind it out and replace it. Smooth the old glass and use filler to make a smooth radius for the glass to adhere where there are sharp angles.

Here is a place in Florida that sells everything you need:

http://boatbuildercentral.com/

Here is another vendor in WA that might cut your shipping costs:

http://www.systemthree.com/

Pictures of the boat I restored:

http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/S...amp;_suid=137492789177906084940555578762

Many thanks for such informed direction. I don't believe there is a core, or much of one if there is. It seems its two fiberglass shells glued together. I think in one spot I could see very thick diameter (like 40lb mono thickness) fibers that are imbedded in the glass? It seems the top shell is the deck and floor, which is set inside the shell of the outer hull?

A good forum to check out other peoples repairs and get ideas is iboats.com
they have a section dedicated to boat rebuilds and some of the threads will have very detailed rebuilds.

Be hard to believe that at least the ribs have nothing in them. at a minimum. Knowing a bit about glass construction.

40 pound mono diameter is not anything unusual in glass matting construction, in fact its WAY thin IMHO. FWIW.

Guess I was trying to describe the matting. I'll look into iBoats

I boats has helped me more than a few times!

Bi-axial is expensive. So I would use it only where additional reinforcement is needed. The cracks must be ground down (dished out) to solid FG and then built up with layers of mat set in epoxy resin. This is then faired with a sanding block; filler being used sparingly.

Here is an alternative to Iboats:

http://forums.bateau2.com/index.php

Fibreglass repairs are generally done with Polyester resin and chopped strand matt. I cant see a reason to use anything else.

I've used Tiger hair with good results but I'm far from being an expert.FG mating & resin is probably the best way to go.

Might consider glassing in some marine grade plywood as flooring.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...er-gallon-fibreglass-evercoat_22987850-p



Denny.

really get tickled at these amature boat builders,your boat is already built so you won,t need any thing more than 8oz cloth,and 6oz would be fine,its a duck boat not a tank you don,t need biaxile..It was propably blown in the mold with a chopper gun because it's the fastest and cheapest method to mass produce compared to hand lay up,but choppers are virtually never used for repairs.Besides you don't have one,can't rent one and would have an unbeliveablely expensive mess before you got I figured out.Also this boat has no ribs between the halves,two molds top and bottom slap the two piecec together ussally with foam in the middle,reinforcements glassed in before pieces come out of mold.
boat is built out of polester resin,this is cheapest,epoxie is stronger for weight and more flexible,this is not a power boat with a lot of motor and a duck marsh can run out of water real fast requiring you be motor and push pull,so keep as light as possilbe,the weight of layers of glass adds up real fast.

I reckon you're about to spend as much on repair as you did for the boat....under no circumstances use polyester for the repair. This will keep any cracks from spreading and will dry in the boat.

Clean repair area with acetone BEFORE grinding/sanding area for good adhesion (don't want to grind oil/wax into repair area), then wet out with epoxy and place cloth, 10oz will work, especially when you layer 2 or 3. Don't overthink this, it's for duck hunting. You won't believe how strong epoxy is....

Someone suggested 8 or 6oz cloth, I don't have a problem with that.

Best advice offered.

I get tickled when somebody get tickled at amature boat builders yet doesn't know the difference between glass blown in with a gun and chopped strand matt fabric that is sold by the roll.

You might check some local glass places. You might find a guy needs a bit of work...IMHO with a chop gun you could shoot a layer in pretty quick as its a small boat and the cost might outweigh all the work.....

Duckworks.com - great prices. This is a simple project, use epoxy because you dont need much and it sticks like crazy. Weight is a small boats enemy, dont add layers.

If the boat is really truly brittle throughout, then the news you don't want to hear is that it probably has so much uv damage and abuse you'd be better off taking it to the dump. If you put a layer of 6 oz cloth and epoxy resin over the entire boat you're looking at ~$200 in materials and a fair bit of labor that will just add weight to the boat. An important skill when evaluating old boats is knowing of the repairs will exceed the value of the boat when you are done and in those cases you just walk away or chalk up the purchase as a learning process.

Hopefully things aren't that bad and you just have a few cracks here and there. Get a yard or two of mat cloth and a 1/2 gal of polyester resin and catalyst. There is no reason to use epoxy on a boat built with polyester resin. If the boat was built with epoxy you'd have to use epoxy but I can't see any reason for the added cost of epoxy when reparing a polyester glass boat.

If accessible from the backside, v-out 3" on either side of the crack with an angle grinder and 36 grit wheel and rough up an additional 2" outside of the v'd area. You may end up widing the crack slightly, don't worry. Wipe down with acetone when done grinding. Put tape on the outside of the crack to keep the resin from leaking through. Cut or tear mat patches that are 4" wide and 4" longer than the crack, 6" wide and 6" longer than the crack and 8" wide and 8" wider than the crack. Mix up some resin and catalist and brush it on the v'd out area. Put on the 4" wide patch, brush additional resin to fill the cloth, repeat with 6" and 8" wide patch. Globbing on extra resin does not make for a stronger laminate, it only makes it heavier. Use just enough resin to wet out the cloth. Let it cure over-night and remove the tape the next day. Some light sanding on the surface and a skim coat of bondo, bit more sanding then prime and paint.

If you can't access the back side you'll have to make the repairs from the front but if you'll have additional sanding to make it look nice, and a bit of bondo as well.

I'd say concentrate on repairing the damage and forget about a full restoration. I recomend getting your supplies from http://fiberglasssupply.com/ I got my glass supplies from them when I built my boat. Great people to deal with and great prices.

choped strand from a chopper gun is not remotly the same as mat ,which is refered to as "mat" not choped mat.
I started working glass in a small boat building shop in Seabrooke Tx. In 1975,moved to repairs at a Hatterass dealer in Miami,now up in Alaska still working on boats