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Boat Forum / Building / July 2008crack in keel of an '86 Forester fiberglass boat
Hi folks: I just purchased a used fiberglass boat and noticed a 12 inch long crack that runs along the keel of this boat. While investigating the area, it looks like the damage was caused by loading this boat onto its trailer and hitting a roller a bit too hard. This has also created a soft spot in the middle of this long crack. I'm wondering if somebody can share with me a step by step procedure of how I should repair this? Also, when trying to see the damage from inside the boat, I noticed there's an elevated layer of fiberglass (maybe 3 inches) above the area of the damage. If I was to try to repair this from inside the hull, it looks like I would need to somehow cut into this elevated layer. Thanks for your help! Clark It sounds like it split a seam that's there from the manufacture of the boat. If it's not accessible from the inside the only way is grinding & glassing. Remove any paint in the area & clean the area as best as you can. Locate the crack & with the edge of a medium grinding disk "V" out the crack making sure you get all the crack. In other words make sure you grind till you get to solid glass. Lay glass into the crack but you'll probably only be able to do it in stages, especially if the boat is on a trailer or stands because your working upside down. Once cured grind the repair till flush then remove around the entire area of the repair enough material to lay over at least 4 layers of glass over the entire surface. Grind when cured, use any of the many waterproof fairing compounds to finish the repair. Then, & this is where many people mess up! Don't just paint over the repair! You must put either gelcoat, barrier coat, or something to stop water from seeping in there or else in a few years, maybe sooner all your work will be for naught. Most people don't do the final & most important step because they think bottom paint will stop the water. Then they find out the truth later. Hope this helps. Bill > Hi folks: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Clark Thanks Bill for the reply. I think I understand everything you've mentioned. Instead of laying new glass into the crack in stages (since I'll be doing this upside down), would it be easier for me to use Marine-Tex epoxy putty? I'd like to know if that would work just as well as laying new fiberglass? Thanks so much again. Clark >Thanks Bill for the reply. I think I understand everything you've >mentioned. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Clark The glass cloth is much stronger then simply applying putty as the glass fibers oriented across the damage act to "tie" the undamaged sections together.. Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom) I agree. It's a lot more work but it's worth the effort. Bill >>Thanks Bill for the reply. I think I understand everything you've >>mentioned. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Bruce-in-Bangkok > (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom) Okay, that makes sense. Would it be even better for me to cut through that layer of fiberglass that's above the floor in order to repair the damage from the inside? If I can cut enough of the fiberglass out from that elevated layer to access the floor, could I lay new glass from the inside, and then also fill the crack from the outside using Marine Tex? Clark > Okay, that makes sense. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Clark The questions that you ask show that you have not done this kind of work before. What would be BEST is to find someone locally who has and get help. Richard Thanks Richard, but I plan on doing this myself. That's how I'll learn, and that's why I'm asking the questions to better understand. How else does anybody learn a skill? Clark >Thanks Richard, but I plan on doing this myself. That's how I'll >learn, and that's why I'm asking the questions to better understand. >How else does anybody learn a skill? There is the auto body repair class at the local community college. Drag it to a friendly local boatyard and pay them to tell you how to fix it Ask your local surveyor, not the one with the laser theodolite, the one that checks out condition of boats. Maybe a helpful book exists. Casady >Okay, that makes sense. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >Clark I talked to a mate who is in the business here in Phuket and he suggests that you treat the repair much like repairing a hole in the hull. Grind out the damage. Taper the hole back to original hull thickness over a distance of say, four inches. He suggests using epoxy to make the repair stronger. Lay in cloth until you built up the damaged area to hull thickness. Fair roughly by grinding and then use epoxy filler for final fairing. Sand fair, prime and paint. He commented that you do need to analyze the problem to determine what caused the original problem and possibly you may need to add some reinforcement to prevent further cracking. Bruce-in-Bangkok (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom) |
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