Badly damaged keel

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
i acquired this project boat and need to right the wrongs of the previous owner, if anyone has some opinions on where to begin god appreciate it, I do not want to outsource this and would like to repair myself
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
[No message]
 

Attachments

  • photo320544.jpg
    photo320544.jpg
    817.6 KB · Views: 1
  • photo320545.jpg
    photo320545.jpg
    403.8 KB · Views: 0
  • photo320546.jpg
    photo320546.jpg
    603.9 KB · Views: 0

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,581
From this pic I would say this has been done a long time ago and I would guess water as gotten into the hull. Might be a complete gut and rebuild. Guess to find this out is start digging out all the soft wood and see if you can get to clean and dry.

Get to the stringers and transom and dill some 1/4 holes a little bit in down low (no deeper then 5/8) and see if wood comes out dry and blonde color

fetch
 

Mad Props

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
1,766
You need to grind off the exterior fiberglass until you get down to good clean fiberglass... It looks like you are going to need to get rid of almost all the fiberglass on the outside, but it appears there is still some good glass left on the inside.

Its hard to tell from the pictures on how big the area is, but you will want to grind out beyond the damage by at least 4 or 5 inches and taper the ground area as you move away from the damage.

To build back, you can use either polyester or eeeeeepoxy. Google the pros and cons of both and decide what you want to use. Assuming you use poly resin, build up the repair by applying layers of 1708, starting with the smallest piece in the middle and gradually larger as you build it up... Your probably looking at at least 5 layers to get back to a good thick keel.

Top off the 1708 glass with 2 layers of CSM to help eliminate print through of the glass. Sand everything down with 40 or 60 grit to smooth things out a bit. Then you need to apply fairing compound and fill in all the low spots... Sand, refill with fairing compound, sand, repeat, etc until you are happy with the appearance of the repair... Then paint and go boating
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
36,032
Fibreglass repairs on a hull are not just cosmetic.-------Get access to the inside area.----Add fiberglass / structure and re-enforcing there.----Then finish repairs on the outside.-----Saw a 25' vessel ( from out of town ) on the trailer at the local harbour.----Below the waterline repairs had let go after 80 miles in big wave , open water.----They had a good bilge pump.----Return trip was on the trailer.
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
transom and strings checked out great the boat was surveyed, surveyor said the hull damage was not through and to his knowledge it could be repaired from outside, i was very aware that this was structural damage when I got the boat, but couldn’t pass up a dry 83 for nothing that runs. The two spots are roughly 5 in long by the width of keel and the small damage are is probably 1 in by width of the keel, then there’s a good long section that appears to just start into the chop strand that section in probably 3 ft long.
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
When using 1708 I assume that the chopped strand will go against hull and weave side will face the ground?
 

Mad Props

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
1,766
Doesn't actually matter, but typically you will see people laminate that way... If you do it CSM towards the ground, you will at least need to start with CSM...

CSM acts as a bond layer between cloth layers... With poly resin you must use CSM between roving or cloth.
Thats why 1708 is such a great material because it already has the CSM stitched to one side. If you go epoxy, you can use just 1700 which is the same double bias cloth but no CSM... Epoxy is not good with CSM because its held together with a styrene based binder which dissolves in polyester resin... The epoxy won't dissolve the binder.
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
Ok sounds like a plan, I’ll go ahead using polyester with the biaxle, this weekend I’ll grind down the damage and report back with photos, I hope I can save her!
 

kcassells

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
8,575
"S
urveyor said the hull damage was not through and to his knowledge it could be repaired from outside,"
You cannot imagine how many people got stuck by these guys. He may be square but most times it doesn't turn out that way.
Surveyor walks away with a check paid in full and your left holding the goods. Oh yea..no guarantee right?
Would like to see it if he did provide one.
I hope he's right.
Listen to the guys above and get involved in YOUR boat tentative issues. Just saying.
I wouldn't lay a pc of glass or fix until then. :eek:
They can all be saved.
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
ALL that glass shown in the pictures must be ground out until you hit good glass. You can rebuild the shape of the keel using TIGER HAIR. This is Thickened Polyester resin using Cabosil and 1-2 inch Fibers from your glass fabric. Mix it to the consistency of thick peanut butter. Use your hands with latex gloves on em to form the keel shape as best you can. Neatness counts! Once the Tiger Hair hardens it's a BEAST to sand and shape. Final fairing is done with a different mixture of thickened resin. I'm suspicious too about the surveyor report. Best to do your own inspection to make sure.
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
Thank everyone for the advice and reply’s! Woodonglass do you believe that repair would be sufficient enough for this damage? Either way I have to grind it all back so after I get in there this weekend and remove the bad glass I’ll get back on here with some pictures of the prepped area, I’ll also do core samples and stringers and transom, boat was stored indoors it whole life i just don’t think my friends dad knew how to trailer the boat!
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
As you say, we won't know the extent of the repair needed until you get all the bad stuff ground off. Then we'll be able to do a proper evaluation of how to repair. It MIGHT be able to be done externally but there are a LOT of unknown variables.
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
Well here’s the photos after some grinding
 

Attachments

  • photo320627.jpg
    photo320627.jpg
    351.7 KB · Views: 0
  • photo320628.jpg
    photo320628.jpg
    364.1 KB · Views: 0
  • photo320629.jpg
    photo320629.jpg
    711.5 KB · Views: 0
  • photo320630.jpg
    photo320630.jpg
    742.6 KB · Views: 0
  • photo320631.jpg
    photo320631.jpg
    544.3 KB · Views: 0

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
If the very center section is Solid then you can do the repair as I previously stated. The Tiger Hair will adhere and you can reshape the keel with it really well. If the center is soft then you're gunna need a bit more work
 

Hc20

Cadet
Joined
Sep 10, 2019
Messages
12
Woodonglass thanks for your advice! The only spot I feel I had to remove a lot of material from was the very front of my damage, do you think this is thick enough to use your recommended repair? I removed roughy 1/2 an inch in that area, the rest was no more then 1/4 inch. The glass is hard no soft spots along the damaged section of the keel, if you were to do this repair yourself would you recommend polyester over epoxy or vise versa?
 

Attachments

  • photo320655.jpg
    photo320655.jpg
    657.5 KB · Views: 0
Top