Fibreglass repair... uh oh

[PWCOwner]

Hey, I managed to mess up the hull of my PWC a bit going overboard with towing stuff... my bad ;( See photo

I want to start repairs on the PWC now but wanted to get some input on how to tackle it before I do... the pwc is stil fine and rides perfectly but the back compartment.. nothing in there... is busted.. might cause slight hull integrity issues I think nut non detected thus far after keeping an eye on it.

How do I go about restoring this to new, a list of best materials to use would be appreciated as well..

THANKS

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Fibreglass repair... uh oh

No problem! Welcome to iboats. I am shipping this to the Boat Restoration area and I suggest you take a look at this post http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288451 and you will find some valuable information.

The real blessing here is that you have the ability to do this repair and the folks in this forum will guide you along.

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: Fiberglass repair... uh oh

Re: Fiberglass repair... uh oh

when I started reading this and before I looked at your picture I had a feeling it was a older Kawasaki tow ring,, been there ,done that ,only mine ripped completely off and took a huge piece of the rear of the ski with it.
Those hulls are really weak.
Here is how I repaired mine. I cleaned up the edges and pieced the hull back together using super glue to bond the parts in place, then from the inside I used fiberglass matt and resin feathering it all in , do not cut the matt , tear it so the edges will feather, build it up a lot thicker than it was originally and install a backing plate for the tow ring.
For the outside use gorilla hail body filler to fill in the seams and then sand it smooth, first cut you can use 36 grit then re coat it and use 80 and finish it with 320 grit,, use a good sand able primer and wet sand it smooth with 400. After that repaint it with a white that matches the color.

 

[oops!]

Re: Fibreglass repair... uh oh

the above is one possible repair......i would also use a veil cloth....(the cloth sold at walmart) over the matt both inside and out.

the cloth will add the stregnth that the matt by it self wont have.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fibreglass repair... uh oh

This is a situation where epoxy should be used, most PWC's are made with products that polyester resin has a difficult time bonding to.