[gazaaa]

Hi

Hopefuly some of you guys with experience with boat repair can advise me on how to repair the aft corner of my warrior 165. It was damaged during the winter storms.
I'm going to give it a go myself although i have no experience with fiberglass.
What materials would i need and how much.
How much would you recommend i cut out beforehand.
What technique would you use.
All the help would be appreciated and i can take some pics as i go along.

Thanks

 

[BrianR]

garry23flyer is the man to ask.

 

[north west piers]

I'm guessing Garry flyer will have a good idea.
Good luck mate.

 

[north west piers]

garry23flyer is the man to ask.

Lol snap.

 

[garry23flyer]

no need to cut it out mate.

what i would do is clean up the underside with some 60 grit sand paper to key it up really well and then put on 2 or 3 layers of mat over the damaged area to give it some strength.

then on the outside i would sand the bare glass you can see so theres no fluffy bits of mat sticking up and then i would put on couple coats of gelcoat.

first coat of gelcoat with no wax in it.

second coat with wax solution in it to allow it to cure to a completely dry finish.

then i would sand it back with some 180 sand paper. be careful not to sand to much on to the original gel.

once fairly flat check and see if it needs more gelcoat. if it doe's then add a bit more.

once your happy its flat and you can't see any glass showing anywhere then wet flat it down with some 800 wet n dry.

once wet flatted polish it up with some g3 compound and then some g10 finishing compound.

if your happy with it after all that put on a coat of marine polish to seal it up.

i use mould release wax to seal up and freshly polished surface.

 

[gazaaa]

Many Thanks Garry for the advise. It dont sound too big of a job the way you explained it.

 

[garry23flyer]

Many Thanks Garry for the advise. It dont sound too big of a job the way you explained it.

its not a big job but getting the gelcoat finish right is the hardest part.

to have it done by a pro wouldn't be cheap.

i hate gelcoat repairs and stay away from them if asked to do them.

 

[BrianR]

There you go, you couldn't get better advice. It's good to have an expert on the forum.

 

[satanssledge]

I have seen Garry's work, and can say first hand he makes a bloody good job, certainly knows his stuff with grp even if he never goes fishing lol!

 

[garry23flyer]

thanks for the kind words guys.

i do like to do my best when working on boats.

gelcoat repairs though are not my thing at all.

they are a b*****d if you can't feather the new gel in with the old or you keep sanding through the gel.

been there done it and won't go there again lol.

 

[Salar]

Next worse thing to sanding through the gel is trying to get a colour match on white. You would think all white is the same but it never is. Experienced repairers seem to get it spot on but that experience comes at a price.

 

[aquabell]

Colour match is also a problem, I would be tempted to effect the repair as Gary has said, i.e. regain the strength, then think about hiding the repair under a corner fender or some such?

 

[north west piers]

Garry is the man.

 

[Clinker]

I've done a few gel repairs to my boats over the years - I've just used Gel Coat filler - not a perfect match but when it's well faired in and highly polished, the glare off the white is such that you have to look twice to see it.

 

[gazaaa]

I started the repair this evening. I got a 1kg repair kit from my local fiberglass supplier. I cleaned up the underside and sanded it down with 60 grit sandpaper. I cut out a the glass to size, mixed the resin and hardner and applied 3 layers. Messy job as it couldn't be in a worse location for access.
How long will I leave it to cure before i can start sanding the outer side?

 

[garry23flyer]

I started the repair this evening. I got a 1kg repair kit from my local fiberglass supplier. I cleaned up the underside and sanded it down with 60 grit sandpaper. I cut out a the glass to size, mixed the resin and hardner and applied 3 layers. Messy job as it couldn't be in a worse location for access.
How long will I leave it to cure before i can start sanding the outer side?

leave it overnight before you start sanding it down.

it will go off with in a couple hours if you put the correct amount of catalyst in it.

you can use a hair dryer to warm it up a bit to help it go off quicker.