Large hole repair/baja restoration

[dkbaja]

Hi new to the forum and new to the "restoration" aspect of boating. I recently purchased a '89 Baja sport 190 from a gentleman who had to move because of work and wasn't able to complete his vision. I plan on restoring/making the boat my own. Im replacing the floor which isn't a problem but what is are these giant holes in the side of the boat! The previous owner planned on side exit exhaust which is cool and all but for me the cons out way the pros. Im need some direction from people with experience in this area as to how to proceed in filling these holes. Any help is appreciated. I attached a photo of one of the holes. (one on each side)

 

[dkbaja]

Sorry for the poor image. Ill try to upload a better one

 

[jbcurt00]

No pix posted

Use photobucket and copy/paste the IMG code for the pix you want to post.

 

[Rickmerrill]

That pic isn't showing up. Best way since the "upgrade" is to get a free photobucket account, upload there, copy the IMG link and past it directly into tour text. Oh, it's a reasonably easy fix, the color matching will be the biggest issue.

 

[dkbaja]

Hows that?

 

[dkbaja]

That pic isn't showing up. Best way since the "upgrade" is to get a free photobucket account, upload there, copy the IMG link and past it directly into tour text. Oh, it's a reasonably easy fix, the color matching will be the biggest issue.

color matching isn't a problem. I plan on a full color change from the 80's yellow

 

[dkbaja]

Heres the rest of what I got. the plan is replace the floor, fix holes, custom dash, repaint, small block, interior.............. and the list goes on and on lol

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats! Good news is it's all above the water line and not structural. Have you ever worked with Fiberglass before? How thick is the glass at the hole? There's a couple of ways you could do this. I'll be interested in finding out how thick the glass is.

 

[Rickmerrill]

That's got to be a forum record for posting requested pics! Repainting to avoid the color matching is just plain cheating.

 

[marksa1458]

To repair- Determine if you will use epoxy and cloth or polyester resin and cloth ( since you are painting- epoxy and cloth is probably the better route) Feather down the edge to give you as much surface area as possible Take a clear piece of plastic and trace the hole with a sharpie - mark subsequent smaller holes on the plastic Put the plastic on the cloth and cut the cloth to shape ( you will need 4/5 pieces of cloth depending on thickness of glass and what cloth you are using) Make some sort of rigid backing for the inside of hole(cover in plastic so epoxy doesn't stick) Wet all the glass and apply it to your hole smaller pieces to larger Cover with release fabric and let cure Sand Fill low spots Sand Paint West system has a great video on YouTube that really shows the process well.

 

[marksa1458]

Use west system boat fiberglass repair In the search and the videos will pop up.