Major hull repair - paging the Glass Guru's!!

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
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14,585
I agree, very nice work there. If you are planning to Gel Coat the entire side, make sure you prep the entire side as well. And that mean sanding and wiping it down with either Lacquer Thinner or Acetone before shooting the Gel Coat. JMHO!
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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11,527
And if you're going to use gel coat don't bother going finer than 80 grit while fairing it, gel coat will hide those scratches easily.
 

Woodonglass

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Dec 29, 2009
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Yup, you should prolly sand it again with 80 grit to give the Gelcoat something to "Bite" into. Remember you Really want to roll it on THICK!!!
 

hammerhead_77

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
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32
And it was going so well....

I made a few mistakes here that show my lack of skill and lack of patience...
  1. I should have done several more iterations of fairing material and sanding to actually get all the undulation out. i didn't. It felt nice and smooth to my hand, i had used up all of my disks and belts, so I decided it was good enough. it wasn't. you can still see the outline of the area that was patched through the gel.
  2. i decided to spray rather than roll the gelcoat on. I had sanded the entire side of the hull with 240 grit, and wiped it a dozen times with acetone. i started with no-wax gelcoat thinned 10% with acetone and started to put it on 16oz at a time. I put the entire gallon on in many very thin layers - seemed to work fine but did not level out the way rolling on a thick layer would have.
  3. the gelcoat with wax clogged up my gun. Since I had already mixed it, and started to apply some, I didn't want to quit. So I grabbed a 4" roller and went to town. well, it wasn't as thick as it should have been, and it wasn't the right kind of roller...but it did go on and it did harden. There is a lot of orange peel that I may or may not bother to sand out.
At the end of the day, this boat doesn't look like much, and leaving this side unpolished makes it match the oxidation on the other side... In either case, polished or not, the hull is back to full strength and fully waterproof. i'm glad i did my first one on a project where being functional was the goal instead of appearance. I'll post a picture as soon as it stops raining.

Thanks to all who gave advice to this newbie!
 

hammerhead_77

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
32
done.jpg
so, there it is. if you look closely you can see the outline of the repair in the space under the two portholes. the gel is a wonderland of fisheye, orange peel and roller marks....most or all of which would come out with some wet sanding with 400. Since I plan to give this boat away in a couple years when I can afford a power cat, I think I'll just leave it as is, clean it up and go fishing.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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11,527
Wax will begin to harden in the mix if the air or gel coat is cool, or if acetone is used, so yes, it can plug the tip.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
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14,585
hammerhead, when you are sanding in prep for paint or Gel Coat, you should use a guide coat and long board sanders. That way every little blemish is exposed and can be fixed before starting with paint or Gel Coat. A guide coat is usually a blackish power that you apply with an applicator like when you are applying wax when waxing a car. And then when you sand it use diagonal long board sanding patterns. It will show the highs and lows of the surface easily. And that way you don't have to go by feel, you go by seeing.

And even now, you can use that method to sand the orange peel and fisheyes as well. Just use diagonal sanding pattern and never straight sanding. Straight sanding will make grooves in the finish. JMHO!
 

Woodonglass

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Dec 29, 2009
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25,924
Hard to tell from the posted pic just how good or bad it really is. Most importantly is the fact that you're OK with it AND that the boat has been structurally repaired. Cosmetics help in the selling points but as long as she's structurally sound and waterproof...You're good to go!!!:nod:

images
 

sphelps

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Nov 16, 2011
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11,429
For a first try at a repair like this I'd say ya did an outstanding job !
The fish wont mind a blemish or two ....
 

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
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14,585
hammerhead, please don't take my previous post an anything but suggestions on how to solve orange peel and such. It is by no means criticizing your finished project. I was just offering suggestions for future reference. In fact looking at the picture, I can't see anything wrong. So good job in my opinion... :thumb:
 

hammerhead_77

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 28, 2016
Messages
32
Thanks, GM...I appreciate your comments, and if I ever do this again i'll have a bunch of lessons learned. Since I intend to give this boat away in a few years, i think I'll just roll with it for now. I can certainly sand that gelcoat back off if I decide to get after it next winter...would really be just the same as if I did it today.

Thanks again to WOG and the whole community here. I'm amazed that I got it done and even more amazed that I had the stones to start the project at all! Taking a grinder to your boat is not a normal act the first time you do it! It was reading all the threads on here, especially WOG's input, that made me dare to try it. i belong to many online forums, and this is without doubt the best community...suffice to say that this ain't Bloody Decks by a long shot!
 
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