Repairing Zodiac

A

Alfonso Martinez

Recruit
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
4
Gents:
I have a z131 Zodiac which I had in storage for 6+ years. When opened I found that a good 12 inch section of the floor had become unglued from the bouyancy tube at the bow. Is there any easy way to repair, with a reliable product? I will be going on a 10 day trip on jungle rivers and would want to be on the safe side with this boat.

Thanks,
 
Drowned Rat

Drowned Rat

Captain
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,070
Re: Repairing Zodiac

A 10 day trip in the Jungle in a boat that's falling apart? Yes, the floor can be repaired, but if it were me, I'd say it's time for a new boat. Floor seams are not easy repairs and unless you have experience, you will have a very frustrating experience.
 
nobrainsd

nobrainsd

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
230
Re: Repairing Zodiac

I don't know about easy... but I have glued my floor with two part glue from Stabond and it has held up very well. The prep and the environmental conditions must be right on. There is a lot of information on gluing in the following thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=266962&highlight=nobrainsd
There are a lot of non glue related posts in the thread, but if you scroll down you will see some pics on prep, positioning, gluing and a link to detailed glue instructions.
My floor seam after opening all weak bond
floorseam.jpg


My glued seam, it has been wave jumping, surf adventuring and wakeboarding without failure.
floorglued.jpg
 
A

Alfonso Martinez

Recruit
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
4
Re: Repairing Zodiac

Thanks guys:

Found a shop locally that for about $180 will completely re-glue the floor. Seems reasonable and thjey guarrantee the results.
 
nobrainsd

nobrainsd

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
230
Re: Repairing Zodiac

I worked on my boat because there were a lot of issues to fix and it would have been really expensive to have someone else do it. Just make sure you look around at the place doing the repairs. Do they do a lot of this type of work, is the work done indoors in a controlled environment and how does the surface prep on other boats look... gluing the floor isn't hard, it's getting a long lasting bond that is a trick. Make sure they pull apart any floor seam that isn't strong. If you have 12" already free I'll bet more comes apart when pulled. Anything that will come up without damaging the underlying PVC material should get separated. $180 for a good job is a great deal.
 
A

Alfonso Martinez

Recruit
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
4
Re: Repairing Zodiac

Thanks for all the answers. Just to let you know that the boat has been going fine since it was repaired. Its been on the Magdalena River (Colombia) for almost 8 days and no problem.

Only inconvenience has been the outboard, which although it has not been used much (less than 20 hrs, before this trip) has broken the propeller. Have searched around the internet and it seems props for this motor (Force 9.9 hp 1194 model)is not available any longer.
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Repairing Zodiac

try i boats prop finder, or michigan wheel.
 
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