Small (I hope!) hull repair on 1969 HiLiner 21

[Longislandjoe]

Hello all,

I am new to this forum, so i wanted to introduce myself and ask for a little advice... I acquired a 1969 Hi Liner 21 (a Ray Hunt design, and very similar to the Bertram 20) a little over a year ago, and i have been working on it and using it a bit ever since.

All was going well until i developed an oil leak about 4 weeks ago, which led to the motor - an '05 Merc 5.0 MPI with about 300 hours - having to be pulled for repair. With the motor out, i was cleaning everything out when i noticed some cracks in the bunks that the motor mounts to. Apparently when the boat was repowered, the old motor mounts were not sealed up properly, water seeped in and then froze during winter, and cracked the fiberglass. Yes, and old story... but now it is mine!

Anyway, i don't really want to cut out the old wood and replace it if i can avoid it, the current motor mounts are solid and there is no problem with alignment. I would like to just grind down the old fiberglass around the various cracks and holes, glass over everything, seal it up, and wait for the next repower to do major surgery - which given the age of the boat will probably involve the deck and the transom... So i really don't want to get into all that now if i can avoid it.

agree? disagree?

The boat is otherwise solid, straight, handles beautifully and doesn't list at all.

Also, i have not done a lot of fiberglass work in the past, so i would really appreciate any step-by-step advice anyone would be willing to give me, including specific tools and materials i should use. I have the skills to do the job i think, just not the know-how.

Thanks!

-Joe

(not able to post photos yet - i think i have to post a few more times first...?)

 

[alldodge]

water seeped in and then froze during winter, and cracked the fiberglass.

If water has made it into the wood, then the wood will rot, and continue to rot until its all gone. Only way to stop it is remove/replace or get some antifreeze in where all the rot is. If a spot is missed it will continue to rot

 

[tpenfield]

I think a HiLiner of that vintage is a fairly valuable boat for collectors, so don't cut corners if you want to preserve the value. Make sure you know the extent of the water migration.

 

[savetexomabeaches]

Pics help out a ton.. But yes, if you are just wanting to "patch" it up until you actually have time to do it all completely, is it possible.. Sounds like you'll need a grinder, some acetone, resin, hardener, fiberglass and some gelcoat or paint... paint chip brushes.. --- go by a shop that does fiberglass work, ask them for some scraps (you wont need much -- Im guessing) grind out all the cracks, pour some acetone on the wood, clean it all off with acetone, cut some fiberglass to fill the grinded out spots, smaller size first, then get bigger to overlap. mix up some resin, chip brush resin over all the grinded spots, soak fiberglass, build up layers, get all air bubbles out, let it get hard.. paint with gel coat or paint......



Now understand, that is cheapo patch, not going to cure your rot.. you WILL NEED to eventually do it all the correct way.. But you're just asking for a patch...

 

[Longislandjoe]

No Title

Thanks guys...

i brought it to a fiberglass guy to get a first-hand professional opinion. The motor mounts are solid, so I think i can do nicely with a patch until the next repower - 8 - 10 years hence. Then I will do it all - stringers, transom, deck. Because as Ted says, the Hi Liner is a collector's boat, and I want to keep her and pass her on to my son.

Here are the pics, it's not too bad:

 

[kcassells]

Can he cut out the bad and rebuild it back in?

 

[Longislandjoe]

not without removing the whole lower unit from the transom... more $. then i'm sure we're going to get into replacing at least part of the transom, since it's a 50 year old boat. and the deck, while we're at it, which is solid but not totally dry either. so... i'm going to wait until my kid is out of college to do all that! in the meantime, i think this patch will do nicely for the life of the power that's in there now. which with the new oil pant should run quite a while.

 

[savetexomabeaches]

oh yeah, that's not bad at all.. I mean, its bad, but should be an easy patch job. Just make sure you go about 4 inches wider than the crack..

 

[Woodonglass]

What have you done to determine that the MM's are Sound? If you haven't done core samples, then there's NO WAY you can make that assessment. Cracks form for two reasons. Movement of the Glass due to abnormal Stresses and OR Rotting wood cores that don't have adequate glass outer walls. If the motor has excessive movement you can ruin an outdrive pretty quickly. I'd highly recommend core sampling the MM's AND the lower transom to ensure their structural integrity