Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

[oldorty]

Hello all,

I have been reading the forum for a month or so, but this is my first post. I am new to the world of fiberglassing and boat repair.

I have a Glastron Sea Fury I bought a couple of years back, and want to slowly start bringing it towards the boat I want it to be. I am looking for tips, for example how should I repair the holes where a previous owner has screwed on snaps for a cover? I figured epoxy in the holes would do the trick, but is there anyway I can hope to coat the whole gunwale an achieve a nice finish.

I am not even sure if all the molding and trim used by the manufacturer is even fiberglass. Could it be a molded plastic of some kind? There are textures in a lot of it? See the attached pic.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Pretty sure it's Polyester resin and Gelcoat. I would not fill the holes with epoxy but if they are just small screw holes you could mix up some thickened poly resin and fill em with it and then coat em with gel coat to match what you have.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Woodonglass,

Thanks for the first response of my forum life haha. Ok sounds like good advice. Is there a particular reason why you wouldn't use epoxy, or just not necessary? How big would you say is two big to fill like this? I don't know off hand, but I guess it is about number 6 or 8 screw. How would you go about filling in a hole, let's say a half inch or 3/4. Lightweight filler and resin?

Also, the thing I am most curious about. The boat seems to be in good shape, but is 30 years old as far as I can approximate. How would I go about getting the gel coat to match. I assume white gelcoat is WAY to white for whats going on there??

Thanks in advance.

 

[redfury]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Nice, I may have to steal that graphic style for my old school Glastron..I like that alot!

As far as matching the gel coat, you can bring a smal chip from one of the holes in to get an approximation on the color you'd need. Most likely it's going to be a cream color. You could try contacting Glastron directly, or see if you can find some info via www.classicglastrons.com they have a lot of useful links and phone numbers there.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Gelcoat is a polyester product and poly does NOT adhere to epoxy. If you Thicken the poly resin you can fill holes up to 3/4" x 3/4" deep.
They sell Gelcoat repair kits with various tints so you can ATTEMPT to match your SHADE. WARNING, THIS IS AN ART!!!!! Even the Pros have problems especially with old, faded gelcoats. Lots and Lots of trial and error and you MIGHT get close. Once you do then you build it up and then wet sand using 800, 1200 and 1600 grit paper and then polish compound. Who knows you might get lucky.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Woodonglass,

So that is your standard resin that you would use to lay glass? But what products do you recommend to use in thickening it? I don't know if I am real worried about match the gelcoat to closely, as I would probably go ahead and do the whole interior, and the top of the gunwale. Then with the fact that graphic acts as a divider between that and the hull below, it may not be so vital. I mean for the eye to see. Just a thought. I not I think going with a fresh white would be a better job look than trying to match to a cream. Any problems there?

Redfury,
Yeah the guy who had it before me had it done. It's a collage I guess you would say, of various pictures of rough seas. I m afraid to know if this is a cover up for some other damage. I would expect there was a reason.

Thanks folks.

 

[redfury]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

You can thicken it with wood flour, 1/4 inch chopped glass, cabosil, microballoons...commonly referred to as "peanut butter", you can do a search on the forum, or find the "hull extension with pics" thread and look at the first page index, it was formulated there.

 

[oops!]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

yuppers...to make it easy for you im posting here.
the link is im my sig.....its also a sticky in the important things to know at the top of this forum.

the holes are filled with strandard poly peanut butter...left a little low....then gellcoat over them.
filling holes is easy and fun...it is a basic fiberglass/gellcoat repair.
after you get done...you will know how to do most gellcoat repairs.

cheers
oops


P.S. HI MIKE !

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Good to hear from both of you. I have actually spent the last 2 hours reading the thread about Oops' hull extension and it is making me sick to my stomach with nervousness ahaha. I don't know if I would ever manage such a thing. I see so much on this site about epoxy/polyester resins that I can only imagine the number of opinions out there, and this IS NOT an attempt to start up that conversation hahaha.

Seriously though, a want to fix those small holes in the gunwale, then I want to tackle the fact that there is virtually no transom in the boat. I don't know where you guys are from but I am in Newfoundland, Canada. The sea here is insane to some on a good day. The previous owner had a "pin board" as we call it around here, basically just to stop large masses of water from breaking in over the stern. When I get some confidence, and a TON of help from you gents haha, I will attempt to do some cutting, and remove the old transom, and replace with a full height transom. Then use a outboard bracket (or pod as I saw someone call it on here) and mount my engine on that. I know a sound transom is crucial with the force this outboard fiberglass bracket will place on it. Here is a pic of the dangerous stern design.

Thanks so far so good. You might make a glass man out of me yet.

See the pic below, see where he had a piece of painted board, fitting down into those slots screw onto the hull, just ahead of the engine.

This is considered suicide around these parts.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Hey Fellas,

I was wondering whats the story on buffing or polishing the old gelcoat on the hull. It actually as few or no cracks in it, just needs to be cleaned near the water line. I see people talking about polishing compound etc. What do i need to polish or buff the gelcoat?
Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Multiple questions here Ryan ..

First would be your snap screw holes..

Temp job is gel and Cabosil

Small ( I mean small ) glass over holes with Mat and Gel (as resin). ..then gel over it all in one session. ( no resin required ).

I Know it sounds cryptive ..but I cant Post All of my Tricks of the Trade ..

Main thing is encapsulate the holes/repairs with gel..not just fillers ( they will fail if its just filled and polished ).

Buff out your boat..then do the repairs ..

I will post a DIY Glass/gel/noskid soon..

YD.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Hey Dr.Y
Gelcoat and cabosil, that's a filler material isn't it? The same stuff used in this "peanut butter" you see so often on here right? I think the holes will be VERY small, so then you suggest this is the way. You also said using gel as the resin, I am a little confused. Does that mean just go over the whole rail with gelcoat (which has hardener added to it anyways right?) in one session. Roll and tip then sand it? This is another concern of mine? Finishing the gelcoat that is, what grits to sand, and then polish? Sorry for all the questions, but so many thoughts hahaha

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Why do you need to gel/paint the interior up to the gunwhale ?

Yes Cabosil is a powder you mix with resins or gel. Mixing Cabosil and gel makes a patch paste that is used sometimes for very small repairs where spray application is not desired or needed.

If you fill your snap holes with gelpaste or other fillers only..then at some point the repair will start to crack on the outside of the repair.

If you want more of a perminant repair..then do small glass repairs ( Im not sure I recommend this for you at this point ).

Here is what I would do..

Buff out your boat first..

Slightly bevel your snap screws and fill them with the closest color matched gel paste ( make it with gel and cabosil if you cant find it in a jar ) you can get. Sand and polish your cured gel paste.

Yes at some point they will probably start cracking..but its the quickest way.

If you want a more perm repair..then your going to grind off the gelcoat about 1" round and put a layer or 2 of mat. Then prep with 180 and spot gel spray every one of those ... or Paint/gel the whole thing as you suggested.

I only suggested the mat and gelcoat from a base color perspective. Its harder to cover a brown spot of glass without "burning" through on the sand/buff stage. Its not the normal way..but its a good suggestion for those that have never done gel repairs.

We have a saying in gel repairs .. Go Small..or Go Big. .. Basically if the repairs are so close together you would incorporate them together in the finish. Or if the spray is so close to a radi or nonskid..then you spray up to that "break point". If not..then keep it as Small as you can. ( Gel Paste if needed ).

YD.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Dr.
Sounds good. I didn't particularly want to re-gelcoat the whole rail, but thought if I removed and repaired all those screw holes (maybe 30), that I would have to recoat it all to get a uniform look and no sign of repair. I definitely don't think the option of using mat and repairing them that way is worth the end result in this case. I would say the holes are less than 1/8" in diameter. I will go for the cabosil and gelcoat match. So that is the gel, cabosil, and the appropriate amount of gelcoat catalyst yes? Also do you think I could inject it with a syringe or something, or dab it on with a small brush, any advice? Also what is this "microballons" I see discussed on here, is this an alternative to cabosil? Whatever you think is best because the cost of the material is no concern to me in such a case. Thanks again.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Microballons is just another filler. Its a Fairing compound filler. NOT structural and I dont use it at all .

Cabosil will not turn your gel into a different color..where as the red micro-B will ( obviously because its red ) ..

Mix cabosil and gel until it gets to a Mayo consistancy ... stir the crap outa it until its Nice and Creamy .. keep stirring ..

When you put the paste on the mixing board ( not cardboard ) you can and should have "Mayonaisse" creamy consistancy .. over fill your holes as the filler will shrink ( dont just wipe fill )...

YD.

 

[oldorty]

Re: Restoration of Glastron Sea Fury, mainly interior glass and gelcoat work

Thanks for the quick response. Ok sounds like a plan. I will see if I can get a gel coat to match as close to what I have, and mix with cabosil as you advised. As for preparation of the hole, should I rough the hole up a little with a dremel or anything, or just leave it in the state I find it, so the gel can grab to the inside of it.

Lastly, when I leave the mayo a little higher, what grit would you sand with? Very fine I assume, as I am trying to avoid a total recoat. So something like 800??? Then would you use some kind of polishing product and a buffer and do the whole rail? I don't know much about whats available out there, but sure I can find whatever you suggest.

Thanks again.