Fiberglass kayak repair

[jwhite85]

Hi,
I've got an almost 18' fiberglass tandem sit-on-top LaserBlade kayak that I'd like to see if I can repair. As you can see from the 1st photo on one side the top & bottom are almost completely separated. I tried to get a close up of the old adhesive in the 2nd photo. What would you recommend using to reseal it? A Bondo fiberglass repair kit, Gorilla Glue, GOOP Marine adhesive, & 3M 5200 marine adhesive are all things I've come across while trying to find something. There is no hardware of any kind holding the top & bottom together, just the adhesive. I don't really have any experience with this but the kayak was free. It's been sitting in my yard for a while so I need to get it fixed or junk it. Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

[pro-crastinator]

I am no expert, but it looks like you have a nice project ahead of you.
To answer your question, No. DO not use bondo, GOOP, gorilla glue or any of the stuff you listed.
The areas that have come apart must be cleaned, sanded (with a small "grinder" type tool, maybe an abrasive wheel on the and of a drill)
and repaired using fiberglass sheets and resin. Resin choices are varied but I would use polyester (cheap and forgiving)
Most all of the grinding and resin could be applied to the inside and the boats exterior would be "prettier".
Start googling fiberglass repair, watch utube videos and read about it. It took me a while to get my head around the process.
Best of luck

 

[jwhite85]

Thanks for the advice Pro-crastinator.
I came across this while looking into resins, from what I've read it sounds like it could work well for me & would possibly make the fiberglass sheets unnecessary. Hull to deck joints were specifically called out as a use for it in a product video I saw. Does anyone have experience using this product?

http://www.iboats.com/Six10-reg-Sup-...stomer_Reviews

 

[jbcurt00]

Iboats is an online retailer and sells repair resins. The site link you posted was redacted by the server.

Remember iboats is a retailer when posting sites and links, competitors are redacted. Thank you

 

[jwhite85]

My mistake, sorry.

 

[pro-crastinator]

Its not the "monster job" that it may seem to be.
As for me, I would tend to look for a bottle of polyester resin, some hardner, enough fiberglass cloth to cover (link and strengthen) the "broken" pieces.
After you spend an hour or so watching utube videos you may be an expert!
And you will have an opinion as to weight of the fiberglass cloth.

SOme may steer you to epoxy - which would also work well with the foberglass. BUT make no mistake. You need fiberglass cloth to provide strength.
Without it, your repair will not last but a very short time.
again - best of luck