Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

Hi all,

Have had my boat now for about 5 weeks. Been out a few times and noticed a small amount of water in the bilge after each day. Traced the leak to the garboard drain.

Removed the drain and all the "factory" sealer and found this. Wasnt sealed well at all and there are cracks around where the bottom screw is.

Inside the two higher screws the wood is dry as a bone, the bottom screw wood seems damp. Plan is to dry it out before attempting repair.

Not sure how to go about it. Should I seal inside the sides of the hole and the cracks on the outside with epoxy then use 3m 4200 sealant and reinstall the garboard drain. (with some sealant in the screw holes as well)?

Dan

Re: Garboard repair with cracks

Re: Garboard repair with cracks

Hello Smoo..welcome to Iboats..

Unless im seeing things..looks like there is a perfect circlular crack starting around your drain plug.

remove the rest of the fitting..test the trans around that fitting for wetness..small screwdriver or dental pic etc..

If its all good then Rebed the fitting (when dry )as you said with 4200.

The lower screw fitting might require a small grind and fill with epoxy..predrill and refit your fasteners ( Do Not screw them tight tight..just enough to seep your 4200 out of All around your fitting )

YD.

Re: Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

YD,

Thanks.. What looks like a round crack is just remnants of the old sealant.. kinda does look like a crack though.

Do you mean removal of the inner tube? All the wood on the inside of the opening is dry.. its just the lower screw hole where the water was likely draining into yesterday...

Thanks for your help...

Re: Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

Why not use 5200 instead of 4200?

Re: Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

WOW, I AM surprised. I thought the YD would be suggesting a much more extensive repair. I would!!! I would be grinding out the damaged gel coat, feathering it all back, laying in some resin and glass, sanding and fairing, re-Gelcoating, sanding and buffing and re-drilling the holes. Maybe I'm going a little overboard here but I would want to fix all that broken Gel.

Re: Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

I would pull the old gel and make a decision on any fiberglass damage below. At a minimum, repair the area with epoxy and gelcoat.

On a side note, it seems mfg do a crappy job on the garboard plug. If I ever buy a brand new boat, the first thing I am doing is pulling the dam plug and doing it right.

Re: Garboard drain plug removal and repair with cracks in gel coat

DON'T use epoxy if you are going to Re-Gelcoat it. Gelcoat will NOT adhere to epoxy.