Repairing bullet holes in the hull.

[zachstep25]

My buddy bought the boat in the photo (that I can't attach to the thread apparently). Doesn't run, but for a grand I can't argue with buying it and treating it like some people do old cars and restoring them or turning them into hot rods Tim Taylor style (not sure you can hot road this but, but I guess anything is possible).

Anyways, he removed the door to repair it or replace it, didn't reinstall it and the inside of the boat has been filling with water for 3 years I believe. Solution, 2 rounds from a 50 caliber desert eagle?

Is there a way to tell if this boat would be usable after repairing the fiberglass? He said that it still has water inside and instead of water pouring out, it dripped for a couple of minutes and stopped.

I'm asking because it might be a fun project for me since I have to stay busy constantly, plus I want to know where the water went and stopped suddenly.

 

[chevymaher]

Fixing the holes is the easy part. Taking everything down to the hull is the hard part. And you got to do it.

 

[zool]

Most any boat can be repaired to usable condition, just comes down to Will and Means.....Lacking any pics tho, you at least have to tell us what king it is..

Why shoot a boat full of holes, when they invented the pump long ago?

Welcome to Iboats, BTW

 

[JASinIL2006]

I'm not sure a non-running boat with bullet holes in the hull is really worth $1000... especially if it sat filled with water for any length of time.

 

[ondarvr]

It will be a total gut and rebuild, nothing a few more thousand $$$ can't fix, then you can start looking at the motor.

 

[poconojoe]

Bullet holes? Kind of what I wanted to do to the guy in the giant boat that unsafely crossed our bow this past weekend!
The lake was mostly devoid of boats on Sunday yet this guy just had to do what he did. I had the right away and I was just putting around between 5 & 10 mph.

 

[zachstep25]

Well I suggested a shower liner drilled above the old door, and a tarp over the back to lessen how much entered the open area out back, but he has a brain injury from the military so it's hard to get him to listen to reason. Basically this boat might be too much money and it would be cheaper to look for a new boat? I'm fine with stripping the hull down because I'd like to have the boat being white with black accents and the charter boat captain i road with a couple months back spoke of some high quality paint (???) with copper mixed in that is supposed to keep algae from attaching easily to the boat but it has to be a completely stripped hull before you apply it initially.

 

[CrazyFinn]

What the others are getting at is this: You have an older glass boat that sat for some length of time with water trapped in it. That means the stringers and transom (which are wood inside) are probably waterlogged, and also probably rotten. So is whatever foam in the boat that was put in there for flotation. All of that needs to be removed. That means totally gutting the inside, replacing the wood, and then replacing the glass you removed to get at the wood.

The bullet hole patches and the exterior paint are the easy part. It's what you have to do to the inside that is the real work and cost.

The paint you are referring to is anti-fouling paint, but that's the simple part compared to dealing with whatever trapped water and rotten wood you have on the inside.

You should be able to post pictures once you have three posts.

 

[wahlejim]

To answer your question about why the water didn't pour out, the boat is filled with foam underneath the floor. The foam is water logged. Picture a sponge. It can be soaked and heavy with only small drips coming out of it.

As others have mentioned, to rid yourself of the problem, you have to remove everything from the boat, tear up the floor, remove all of the old wet foam and clean everything. Then the real fun begins!

Cut away the stringers (The back bone of the hull, picture a car frame), grind away the old fiberglass and resin, tear out the transom, and rebuild.

Involves money, time, lots of itchy days, working around the weather, willing to learn a lot, and have I mentioned money and time?

Then you get to re build the engine or replace it.

Bottom line, you will end up with an excellent boat in the end, but more likely than not will not be able to sell it for more than you put into it. Worth it if it is a boat you intend to keep for a long time. If you are just trying to flip the boat, it probably isn't worth it for any more than a project to keep you busy.

If that is your cup of tea, there are many knowledgeable on this board that can help you out and answer questions. If that doesn't seem like something you are interested, no one here will blame you one bit.

Good Luck!