Cracked console repair ideas?

[mudball]

Our 2001 Alumacraft 16.5 Navigator console came out of covered winter storage with a badly cracked surface on the console. Never cracked before. Replacement parts seem unavailable through the dealer/manufacturer. Looks to be a plastic skin over a fiberglas/wood structure. I have some ideas but wanted to know; how might you approach repairing this? Thanks.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Shooting some Good Pics. would be a good idea to see what you have going on.

 

[mudball]

No Title

Sorry, thought I had attached. Trying again. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[mudball]

Ok, getting error messages when trying to attach a photo.

 

[bruceb58]

Use photobucket and use the img /img commands

 

[mudball]

?

 

[kjsAZ]

coming out of winter storage with these serious cracks? Either you had a ton of snow load on it or water intrusion into the fiberglass (between the glass and the gel-coat) which cracked it when it froze. The triangle at the bottom without a crack in the tip indicates more of a water intrusion problem. If that piece would have been forced off by over-load you would have a crack line continuing on from the "tip" (or is there one??)

 

[mudball]

Thanks, kjs, for your consideration. The boat was covered and supposedly in a shed this winter. However, it was unheated and often -30 this year. So, I also wondered about water intrusion/freezing. There is a hard-to-see crack from the top of the triangle and that was popped off by the event. Searching has turned up others mentioning failure of this nature in both Alumacraft and Lund boats of the same vintage. In the first few years the fix was warranted but now the manufacturer is not offering any help. A fix?

 

[glenn property of pam]

is the material fiberglass or blow moulded plastic. (does it have fiber strands on the back or is it plastic smooth). Reverse molding is the correct way to make a replacement but that's expensive and time consuming.
How is it attached to the the side of the boat or is it part of the cap ?

 

[kjsAZ]

Depending on what material it is (fiberglass with gel-coat) or nolded plastic there may be a way to fix it IF it is fiberglass. You would have to take it off, grind (Dremel) all the cracks open and then fill with PB. An extra layer of fiberglass inside to give it additional strength and then gel-coat on the outside. Might be easier to make a mold from it and make a new part from fiberglass. Especially if it was water intrusion that may be the only safe way to prevent it in the future.

 

[mudball]

The skin is some type of molded plastic over a fiberglas and wood armature. This cap is screwed via wood blocks on top of a metal box that attaches to the gunwale and floor. Steering and gauges and switches are supported by it. The lower part is covered with carpet you can see in the 2nd photo here: mudballmn's Library | Photobucket
http://s1287.photobucket.com

 

[kjsAZ]

Very difficult to say what would be the best way to fix it not knowing what material it is. As the manufacturer is aware of the problem you may be able to talk them into giving you a new cover at a lower price. That's a lot less work and the cost may also be similar.

 

[NYBo]

I think a properly-used gelcoat repair kit will take care of the problem.