Just started new project...NEED HELP!

I just inherited a Robalo offshore fishing vessel. However, I believe it has seen better days. It was damaged during a hurricane and hasnt been touched since. The extent of the damage is a hole on the port side of the vessel where I believe a tree had fallen on it during the hurricane. The hole is about 10 inches deep and around 1 1/2 ft. wide. The tree completeley smashed a small section of the port side. Looking into the hole I can see exposed fiberglass and what looks like some kind of wood or dense foam used as the core of the hull.

My goal is to fix the damaged side and completeley strip and repaint the entire vessel. I have worked with fiberglass before but i have never repaired something of this nature. My only questions are:

Can an impact such as this one be repaired?

If so, can anyone shed some light as to where I may be able to find a good book or set of guidelines to go by?

I've been a Do-It-Yourselfer for quite some time and a little work has never stopped me from taking on major projects. I also have a wide variety of tools and decent facilities for which to work in.

Thank you for reading my post and any help is greatly appreciated.

**I can also post pics of the damage if need be.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

That sounds like a pretty interesting project. Yeah post pictures up here on your progression through the restoration that way the members with knowledge will be able to fully help you though this project. I wish you the best of luck with it though. Hopefully it won't be that bad of a project.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

I would gut the interior as much as needed to access the damage area from iside the hull, hog out the foam much as necessary.

Grind all around the damaged area on the INSIDE, don't prep the outside yet.

I would grind out at least 12 inches all around. More is better and patches should get bigger or wider with each sucessive layer of glass. Examine the original work and try to copy their schedule as far as glass type and weight. You could call the factory to see what they used.

Anyway, take some waxed plastic sheet or waxed formica and attach it to the outside of the hull side, make it conform with a heatgun if possible and seal it all around the damage area.

I use release wax from fiberglassite.com , it contains release chemicals designed for poly and epoxy resins.
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/the-102/Partall-paste-#-2/Detail


Then glass from the inside using a premium unwaxed poly resin.
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/the-102/Partall-paste-#-2/Detail
It will always be cheaper to buy supplies local but these links are in case you can't find it, just avoid hardware store resin, its always waxed and you don't want that. I would guess at 3 gallons, I would really make the patch a lot stronger than the original, robalo is a good boat, they fetch the prices around here so they're worth fixin.

Make the layup at least as thick or thicker than the original. Then go the outside after it cures a few hours , pop the plastic sheet off and do some more grinding and fair the patch with gel thickened with milled fiber and cabosil to make a mud that will not run. If you can get a gelcoat color match so much the better. Milled fiber....don't use micro balloons here.



Block sand and apply straight gelcoat finish, cover with saran to make it cure or paint with PVA parting film to do the same.
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/the-102/Partall-paste-#-2/Detail

And watch some videos.
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/the-109/FREE-FIBERGLASS-HOW-TO/Detail

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

Can an impact such as this one be repaired?

Click to expand...

Ayuh,... That's the Beauty of Fiberglass,... Cut out the Bad,+ rebuild with new...

You are now at "Boat Rebuild University",... No books required, just start Readin'...

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

you have most of the info right here, look at the how to's and other info thread at the top of this subforum, good stuff there,
also i think oops thread-hull extension should just about answer most ???s that will come up,
heck yeah its f/g is pretty much fixable, just depends on how bad you want to fix it.
pics would certainly help, so folks can see what the damage/problem is.
you have a nice hull, good luck D

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

Good deal! Thanks for all the help and suggestions, its greatly appreciated. Im going to take the advice and begin reading everything I can before I begin working. I will post pics later on this afternoon to give everyone a better idea of what Im up against. I think this project will be pretty hard and time consuming but I think it will be well worth it in the end.

Thanks again!

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

As promised, here are the pics of the Robalo's current status:



http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll294/danewilson0055/Robalo5.jpg







Hopefully these pics will give those who are interested a better view of what I'm up against.

Once again Im open to any suggestions and tips. So please voice all opinions on this project.

Thanks.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

That'll buff right out...


Sorry, I am a car guy first... and that is usually the answer...

If a boat can be cut in half, and stitched back together yours can be repaired, it is just a matter of how much time and money you are willing to put into it..

you MIGHT consider splitting the top and bottom (it looks to me to be foam sandwiched between two shells..., then the two can be individually repaired, then re-married...

Nice looking boat, and I am sure it is well worth the effort to repair... after all, it is just fiberglass...

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

Im trying to conclude how old this boat is. Does anyone have a clue as to what year she was made?

Thanks.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

fishKILLER1987 said:

Im trying to conclude how old this boat is. Does anyone have a clue as to what year she was made?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Ayuh,.. It's the last 2 digits of the hin #...

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

The hull outside is repaired as I posted, first cut some of the inner wall away for access. I would go at least 12 inches wider each side of the damage.

Then make a false mold by applying rigid plastic sheet of formica to the outside and do the layup from the inside, make the sheet conform to the outter glass.

Measure the gunwhale or gunnel across the damage area, is the width constant from the bow to the stern length of the damage, if yes then just take a mold off the rear section and patch it in. If its tapered you can try popping a mold off the other side of the boat. If worst comes to worst you just cobble it from wood and glass it.

The inner wall is simple, do it on a layup table and patch it in last.
A peice of shower whiteboard (4x8 sheet $13 home depot) makes a great surface for a layup table, just place it on something firm and wax it a few times, anything you glass on it will pop right off when cured.
If the inner wall has a curve just block one end of the layup whiteboard up to induce the curve, its semi flexible like sheetrock, then when you pop the part off it will have that curve already molded into it.
Don't worry about getting it dead on, any final adjustment to fit the curve can be done with a heatgun.

It sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but your boat is very fixable.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

Good to hear! Thanks to all for the input and please keep the info comming!

Ive been glued to youtube watching how-to video for a couple days now and its helping alot. As mentioned above, I was also thinking that fixing the outer wall of the hull from the inside first is the best approach in this situation. I was going to carve out the damage with a saw or grinder(12" on either side of the damage), and then bevel the edges of what i cut towards the outside of the hull. Evidently this will decrease the chance for air bubbles. I will then use a piece of formica or similar material to place on the outside of the hull so I can begin to work on the inside. In theory, this method sounds great. However, in practice things tend to not always go as planned and I have a couple questions before I begin.

1. Is it absoluteley necessary that I wrap the formica in wax paper before applying the resin and glass?

2. How do I keep the formica from moving once I begin to glass it from the other side? It just seems to me that if I tape the the formica to the outside of the hull, once I begin to put prerssure on it from the inside as I apply the resin and glass, the formica will shift and bow. Is there any method that will better secure the formica to the outside of the hull so I dont have to worry so much about putting pressure on it from the inside??

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

One more question:

What are the consequences of air bubbles being in the finished fiberglass product?

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

welcome to i boats......and welcome to the "dry dock"

fishKILLER1987 said:

Can an impact such as this one be repaired?

no it cannot....give it to me !

If so, can anyone shed some light as to where I may be able to find a good book or set of guidelines to go by?

the fiberglass repair manual.....but nothin in there that isnt in these forums

I've been a Do-It-Yourselfer for quite some time and a little work has never stopped me from taking on major projects. I also have a wide variety of tools and decent facilities for which to work in.

thats the attitude !......go for it.

Click to expand...

Bond-o said:

Ayuh,... That's the Beauty of Fiberglass,... Cut out the Bad,+ rebuild with new...

You are now at "Boat Rebuild University",... No books required, just start Readin'...

Click to expand...

yep

avimgod said:

That'll buff right out...

Click to expand...

LOL

i see jonesg has you in good hands.....
you will get all the help you need right here.
that is exactally the kind of boat (damage wise) that glass repair people can make huge amounts of money on.

count on these forums and the people in them to walk you right thru this repair.......believe it or not....it can be done quite quickly.

we are here for ya !.....go for it !.
and again....welcome.

cheers
oops

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

fishKILLER1987 said:

1. Is it absoluteley necessary that I wrap the formica in wax paper before applying the resin and glass?

Click to expand...

no....a wax release agant like pva or even a bees wax will do better than wax paper......the paper will wrinkle and you will have a crease in your work.

the reason for the wax paper is to act as a mold release agant.....there is better stuff.

use smooth formica. if you go to a whare house that sells it.....they will give you broken peices for cheap or free.

fishKILLER1987 said:

2. How do I keep the formica from moving once I begin to glass it from the other side? It just seems to me that if I tape the the formica to the outside of the hull, once I begin to put prerssure on it from the inside as I apply the resin and glass, the formica will shift and bow. Is there any method that will better secure the formica to the outside of the hull so I dont have to worry so much about putting pressure on it from the inside??

Click to expand...

screw the formica to the side of the hull......and brace it from the out side.
dont worry about the screw holes.......by the time you are done this.....a screw hole in a boat is a laughable repair.

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

fishKILLER1987 said:

One more question:

What are the consequences of air bubbles being in the finished fiberglass product?

Click to expand...

little ones.......dont worry about......just dont let the larger one happen.
you will understand once you put resin to glass.

the air roller will take the large stuff right out

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

Awesome! I deffinitely feel better about this job now. Thanks again for all the suggestions and help. It is greatly appriciated.

I will wax the formica instead of using wax paper. That sounds like a way better idea. But I have a couple more questions:

1. When I apply the resin from the inside of the hull, what would happen if some resin was to seap through the formica and drip down the outside of the hull? Can it be removed? -or maybe I should just mask everything off all together.

2. The paint seems to be a little bit faded. Can I restore the original color to the gelcoat, or would I have to recoat the vessel with new gelcoat??

3. Is gelcoat pretty much just paint for a fiberglass vessel? Or can you actually spray the vessel with paint like you would a car??

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

fishKILLER1987 said:

Awesome! I deffinitely feel better about this job now. Thanks again for all the suggestions and help. It is greatly appriciated.

I will wax the formica instead of using wax paper. That sounds like a way better idea. But I have a couple more questions:

1. When I apply the resin from the inside of the hull, what would happen if some resin was to seap through the formica and drip down the outside of the hull? Can it be removed? -or maybe I should just mask everything off all together.

2. The paint seems to be a little bit faded. Can I restore the original color to the gelcoat, or would I have to recoat the vessel with new gelcoat??

3. Is gelcoat pretty much just paint for a fiberglass vessel? Or can you actually spray the vessel with paint like you would a car??

Click to expand...

1. dont worry about resin drips.....it will happen......a quick wipe with aceitone and its done......if the resin is dry then its a little more involved but no big deal........wax the whole area first....any area that you dont want to repair.

2....a quick process and buff and it looks like new.

3. gellcoat is a pigmented resin. it is far more durable and tougher than any paint you want to put on....it can last for 50 years.

read this whole thread !....it contains details on every process you will be doing as well as detailed fiberglass information. some of the information was written by some of the top glass/gellcoat professionals in the industry

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=234392

cheers
oops

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

The only thing the videos and text cannot give you is experience, before you put resin to the boat it would be smart to mix up some test batches of resin and practice laying some glass up, learn how to make spreadable putty from milled fiber and cabosil in the resin, you'll learn it gels up very quickly compared to straight resin.

On a big patch job the pro's usually apply sheets of paper with masking tape to protect from resin drips along the bottom of the repair. But they are usually working on pristine hulls. Like Oops says, a wipe with wax will work, the resin runs will pop off with a knife.
And buy a case of disposeable latex gloves.!

Re: Just started new project...NEED HELP!

jonesg said:

And buy a case of BEER.!

Click to expand...

Fixed it for you!