Vintage mad river canoe resto

[DaffyJeffy]

I'm restoring a 1987 mad river malicite canoe. It's the canoe I spent my teen years in. I'm a semi-pro woodworker so that part isn't an issue. All the woodwork will be new white ash. The seats are already done and the gumwales are ready for installation. Before I install the new woodwork, I want to fill some chips in the gelcoat at the bow and stern and pain the hull. My question is, what epoxy/fiberglass resin/gelcoat do I use. I looked at the products in a Hamilton Marine catalog and there is just so many choices I can't begin to navigate it all. The chips in the bow a very deep - down to the fiberglass cloth. What specific product would you recommend? Color doesn't matter because I'm painting it.

 

[sphelps]

If your painting it I would go with epoxy resin and cloth.. If your going to re gell coat it the poly resin would be the right choice .

 

[Woodonglass]

For deep gouges, I'd use Thickened HAIRY Polyester resin. You make this with Poly Resin, Cabosil and Chopped strands Of Fiberglass. Mixed to the consistency of Mayonaise you use a plastic putty knife wot fill the gouges (after it's been thoroughly cleaned with acetone) Once cured( 2 hours) you then sand and shape and apply any final fairing needed and then apply 4-5 coats of paint. I recommend reading the Paint Link in my signature below.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

FYI
Its my understanding that gelcoat will NOT adhere to Epoxy -- so polyester resin is used with gelcoat

 

[Scott Danforth]

for light gouges, I mix gel with chopped strands to form a gel colored hairy PB

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Thanks so much everyone. That little bit of guidance helps greatly.

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Restoring a classic...canoe.

So I already had a different post on this but now my project is really underway and I have pictures and a few new questions/ideas.

This is a 1987 Mad River Canoe - Malecite. If you appreciate the lines of a canoe they just don't get sweeter than this. I've paddled A LOT of canoes and this is simply my favorite hull design ever. Anyway, here's a bunch of pics of the bare hull stripped of all the wood components (and one pic of the seats I made). You can see the damage to the bow and stern. While pressure washing, I actually discovered that there is a hole too. It was recommended that thickened hairy polyester resin be used to fill the huge chips in the gelcoat. That sounds good. But what about the rest of the hull? What would you do? As you can see, there are some small spots where the gelcoat has failed, some deeper gouges in the gelcoat and a few spots with very fine cracks. Should I just coat the entire hull with epoxy resin (after it's sanded down and cleaned of course)? Something else? I'm going to roll & tip paint the whole thing after. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Woodonglass]

Check the Pain link below. Lots of good info for painting aluminum

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Woodonglass, I've read your links carefully and really appreciate the guidance/information. THANK YOU. The more I think about it, the more I realize I just need to carefully go over the entire hull and address the minor imperfections- a little filling here and there and a little fairing here and there. I'm going to get the materials you suggested for the "hairy,thickened, poly resin" mix. Sounds like it'll do the trick.

 

[GA_Boater]

Check the Pain link below. Lots of good info for painting aluminum

WOG - A Freudian slip? Probably plenty of agreement that painting can be a pain. But the results are worth it!

 

[Redtruck12]

Fine line between painting and “painthing ”

 

[DaffyJeffy]

So all my gelcoat repairs went well. HOWEVER, the priming has been a disaster. I primed with Majic brand sandable primer. This paint will not cure after several weeks and I can just scratch it off with my fingernail. Ugh! I'm really upset because now I have to strip it down (and hope paint stripper doesn't damage anything). Sanding isn't an option because the paint is basically gooey. Hopefully a light coat of paint stripper and a power wash will get this primer off.

 

[kcassells]

Bummer for that! Well good attitude you have so go back and kick some azz!

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Here's pics of how this project turned out. All the wood had to be created from scratch with very little left to go by from the original because of massive rot damage. This made things pretty tricky but I'm a woodworker and carpenter by trade so I was able to make things work. I'm very happy with the outcome. I have so many memories in this canoe. An extra HUGE THANK YOU to Woodonglass for helping me get through the painting process (and the priming fiasco).

 

[sphelps]

Wow! She turned out beautiful ! Nice job DJ !

 

[DaffyJeffy]

Thank you! It really was a labor of love.

 

[kcassells]

Yup looks great! Did you end up using poly for the wood look finish?
What paint did you end up using.
Nice job!!

 

[DaffyJeffy]

I used poly on everything but the gunwales (Mad River recommends oiling them so I made a home brew gunwale oil mixing linseed oil, spar varnish, and mineral spirits).

I pretty much followed Woodonglass's recommendations exactly. The color is "Internaional Havester White" which ended up being almost a perfect match of the original off-white color.

 

[kcassells]

I used poly on everything but the gunwales (Mad River recommends oiling them so I made a home brew gunwale oil mixing linseed oil, spar varnish, and mineral spirits).

I pretty much followed Woodonglass's recommendations exactly. The color is "Internaional Havester White" which ended up being almost a perfect match of the original off-white color.

Excellent!!

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Beautiful!