Fiberglass repair

[jigstrike]

I have a small area on my Marlin that is bugging me, and I want to fix it. It is about 1/2"x8". I have not done much fiberglass repair outside of fixing a surfboard!
My thought was to grind away the chipped area and fix with resin. Should I do that, or use marine tex? Also, where can I buy matching paint or gel coat?
Thanks!!

 

[Fishtales]

I'd watch some youtube vids to get an idea of what to do. If not deep, you may be able to mix resin and milled glass or chopped glass in. You can get the GW colored gelcoat and either paint on or roll on. You'll likely have to sand a bit to smooth. Job is totally doable and if you have to take a couple of shots at it, prob no worse than what it looks like now.

 

[SeanC]

You should be able to find the best way to do it here.

BoatworksToday

Repairing boats for a living is what I do. Fiberglass, gelcoat, paint and woodworking are my specialties. Basically if it deals with making a boat look it's best, or structurally sound that's what I do. If you are a DIY boat owner, this is the channel for you! I keep it simple and straight...

www.youtube.com

 

[seasick]

If it is a scrape and no fiberglass fibers have been exposed, the repair is 'simpler' that if glass fibers are exposed.
In either case, the way to make a good repair is to grind out an area wider than the bruised are. How wide to grind depends on exposed fiber issue. A good rule of thumb for holes or gauges that are deep is that the ground. out area is at least 10 times the depth of the gouge. So a 1/4 inch gouge with need an area about 2 1/2 inches wide. There is a big difference in scope and labor to do a close to perfect job. On the other hand, many are perfectly happy for small scrapes to lightly sand and fill with Marinetex, It wont match but it will probably do fine. As I mentioned, there are epoxy compatible tints that can be mixed into White marinetex. Regardless if the patch area is not widdened to allow for blending, the patch will show

 

[DennisG01]

Before we go too far down one avenue of repair or the other, please post a couple pics so we understand the severity (or non) of the damage.

 

[Peter A]

Not sure how much fading you have but I have used this (recommended by Grady dealer)

Patch Paste Kit

The World leader in specialty gel coat products and accessories

spectrumcolor.com

 

[jigstrike]

 

[Fishtales]

ouch. That could be more than it appears. May need to get the rub rail off and investigate.

 

[DennisG01]

I'm glad you posted a picture. That is definitely not a MarineTex fix. Just beware... what you're going to need to grind out is going to be, probably, twice as big as what you see. And, yes, the rubrail needs to come off - at least in that area. You "might" get away with using kitty hair - but likely will need to glass - it all depends on how deep the repair will be.

This is not a quick or easy repair for anyone who is going at this for the first time.

 

[Hookup1]

As DennisG01 said you will have to grind the area out 1/2" to 1" all around. Grind out the cracks too. Down to the glass. Then fill with epoxy and cloth for a strong repair. Grind down again to allow for a layer of gelcoat to finish the project.

Your damage is in a spot that gets lots of sun. Spectrum color matched gelcoat probably won't match on older boat. Try white gelcoat with a really tiny touch of brown tint.

 

[seasick]

That is significant damage. With your limited experience with fiberglass repairs, you should have it professionally repaired.
The rub rail should be removed. Note that if the seal between the deck mold and the hull mold that is behind the rub rail, is compromised you take the chance of water intrusion into the hull and possible longer term water rot issues.

 

[Fishtales]

X2 on a pro. That looks like it has more damage under the cracks than you think.

 

[drbatts]

What worries me, is if the crack is full thickness, in that location it may be tough to get to the back side to properly repair.

 

[Hookup1]

Gelcoat cracks like eggshell. The fiberglass gets banged up but will take to an epoxy repair well. If you can get underneath all the better but its probably go to repair from the topside. I would sub it out to someone but make sure they are going to Dremel out the cracks otherwise they will come back.