Gelcoat Damage- Worth Repairing?

[Grew140ss]

I bought a 1980 Grew 140 ss this past year, and while the hull seems sound, there are a number of spots where there is gelcoat damage that I am concerned with both in terms of water ingress and the impact of drag on boatspeed/fuel economy. The spots I am concerned about are pictured below.

My question to the good folks of iboats is whether my concern over these areas is valid, and whether it would be worth the bother and expense of repairing them (keeping in mind that I am a student).

I know the pictures leave a lot to the imagination as it was difficult to shoot from beneath the trailer, but I tried to showcase the general condition of the bottom. Assuming the damage is worthwhile to repair, does anyone know if it is possible to do so without removing the engine and flipping the boat for the duration of the job? I imagine upside down gelcoat application is rather difficult.

Lastly, I know the transom looks absolutely disgusting but I've been assured by a friend of mine who does a significant amount of glass work that it should be ok, provided I don't act like an idiot and go jumping off of waves etc. and it has served me well in the past season. Is leaving it as is an unwise course of action?

Thanks in advance for all the help!
G140

 

[Axkiker]

There is so much glass work that needs to be done for this boat that I dont see how you can avoid taking it off and flipping. That transom is pretty rough.

 

[undone]

To be honest you'll probably find that it needs a complete rebuild because the transom and stringers are rotten. Any drain plug that needs that much of a repair was probably leaking for a very long time. Other spots also look like they could be letting water into the hull. I wouldn't go out in it.

 

[ssobol]

Anywhere that the scratch penetrates to the weave of the FG needs to be fixed to prevent water intrusion. Surfaces scratches that don't penetrate can be left along if you aren't particular about the looks. Repairing gelcoat is a pain and some practice is necessary to do it well. If you don't care about the look you can seal the damage with epoxy and leave it.

The picture shows a lot of places that should be repaired. The transom around the drain hole looks very bad and the core is probably wet.

 

[undone]

On trailer a boat it makes no difference if the scratches reach the glass, no harm will come from it. The problem is it appears some of the damage on the keel goes all the way through.

 

[fhhuber]

Time to decide if the hull is worth a major rebuild.

 

[GWPSR]

The trailer appears to be missing the bunks along the keel. One of them is bent up like a big scraper too. That won't help matters either. The boat will need to come off the trailer to do that repair as well.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard. you are stating you bought it this way? ....... and used it with that patch?

you are looking at hull restoration before gel coat

 

[garbageguy]

+1 on the above 3 posts - ya, I think the gelcoat is not your top priority

to answer the OP's questions
yes, water ingress is a concern, but that ship has probably sailed
no, I wouldn't worry about drag in this situation
leaving the transom as is, depends where you boat, who you take with you, and how long you intend to keep this craft

 

[Woodonglass]

Being a Student with limited funds (I assume) I'd think this might be a lost cause. Have you checked the transom for Flex? Bounce on the lower leg of the motor and see if you can make the transom move at all. If it does then it will need to be replaced and I'm assuming (again) that you probably don't have a place to do this kind of work. You would need to either remove the cap or cut the splashwell free to gain acess to the transom. If the transom is bad there's a very good chance that the stringers will be bad too. That means the entire deck would need to be removed as well. This entire process would take a minimum of 100 man hours of work and a minimum of $1,000 bucks. If you have the time, dollars and willingness to do the job then you can fix this boat and make her like new again. If not... then it's time to move on. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!!!

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Boat restoration is fun and rewarding to the type of people who enjoy doing work with their own hands but it is also time consuming and can get costly in a hurry if you don't have the tools you need for the job.

"A friend of mine assured me" is no way to "know" anything about your boat. Your friend's standards could be so different than yours. A marine survivor - few years ago - assured me that the boat he was inspecting for me is "sound" and the transom is not rotted. He was correct by his standards but not by mine. The transom had started the rotting process already as I came to know during my demolition. The only way to know about your transom and stringers is to take core samples. Use a 1/4 drill bit and drill no deeper than 1 inch as low in the transom as you can reach - from inside the boat of course - and inspect the shavings. Yellow and dry as wood shavings should be, you are good to go. Wet dark brown or black, it is shot. The same goes for the stringers.

If you find out that this boat needs a complete rebuild, you need to decide for yourself if this project is worth doing giving your resource (money, time). There is no problem in regards to the "know how"; lots of kind and experienced people here are willing to help.

Pay attention to the "and a minimum of" phrase that WoodOnGlass put before his guesstimate. Most likely the cost will be way above that and 3-4K after everything has been said and done is more likely, again depends on your available tools.

Honestly, I wouldn't wast the many, many, many hours sanding gelcoat. Gelcoat is natural option for boat builders because it is very easy to get this shiny skin by spraying it first in the mold and when they pop the hull out of the mold, viola, shiny skin with no efforts sanding at all. To do this process in reverse order is PITA. Can it be done,yes of course. Is it worth doing, only you can decide that. There are many good paints out there that can get you the same shine with much less efforts. But it is your call

Take into account also the status of your engine which you did not mention. Best of luck to you

 

[Grew140ss]

yikes. Thanks to everyone for the prompt replies! I definitely bit off more than i meant to chew with this hull, it seems. Bought the boat from a guy off kijiji for $1200 and figured it was a bargain as long as the power was good (it was- 1988 Johnson 60). I'm definitely going to take core samples from transom and stringers to check for rot. Perhaps against better judgment I've been using the boat all season, the hull seems stiff and transom does not flex. She's run well at reasonable speeds in limited sea conditions on Lake Ontario but I've stayed close to shore at all times and been very conservative with the throttle in rough weather due to my distrust of the hull. I've taken a wake or two perhaps faster than I should've but haven't heard any complaining from the transom even though I accidentally caught some air once. That being said, if there is rot I'm definitely not gonna bother with repairs to this hull since as everyone has made clear, it's going to be a massive job that will cost much more than purchasing a new one. The boat lived at a dock in the summer so hopefully that hasn't magnified the problem. I do actually have access to facilities and tools, but this would be my first ever project so I'm reticent to undertake anything beyond surface repairs. great call on using an alternate surface coating DeepBlue, I will definitely look into that! Thanks again to everyone for the input, I will update as soon as I have a chance to sample the transom and stringers (should be this weekend)!

 

[Grew140ss]

I haven't gotten to drill for core samples because school has kicked into high gear, but i did test for flex in the transom and couldn't get any even when I really reefed on it. Nonetheless, I think it follows common sense that the transom is probably wet even if it isn't quite kaput yet. In lieu of a full restoration I'm looking into cheap used hulls (and being very thorough about damage checks this time through!). I'm currently investigating transplanting my engine onto a classic whaler 13 here
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...gine-topics/8992398-60hp-on-classic-whaler-13