TOPIC: How to repair?

Well, the really ugly patch in the back of my Herter's is pretty bad, and one of the ones up front isn't the best either although the repair seems better.
Time to learn how to fiberglass, I guess. Does anyone have a good how-to they like or other resource?

One of the things that concerns me is back around this patch it appears sunken in, I worry that after patching it won't be level back there.










I didn't get a before pic of this, although you can see on the inside that there is a puncture




At least the crappy camo paint is still coming up well


It's shiny here because I rinsed it off with a hose.

Read some of the info on West Marine's site for WestSystem epoxy. Those guys literally wrote the book.

Then go buy your epoxy from duckworksbbs.com Get the house brand stuff and save yourself a ton. It works great.

If you're a visual learner, I've been reall impressed with Boatworks Today's videos on youtube. He's got a multipart series called There's a Hole In My Boat or some such

Don't worry too much about low spots, you should be able to build them back to level with resin.

I have a question that goes with that. I've helped a friend do some minor repairs on a couple Vettes he has and always questioned whether or not auto body filler was the right stuff to level glass. Are Bondo and spot putty acceptable when working on a hull ? Thanks in advance. Mark.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, but my past automotive experience with all things Bondo brand was miserable. I run from their products.

I've heard discussions of 'fairing compound' for doing the final skim and leveling coats on hulls but I'm not sure how it's different than regular epoxy.

Good to know. I use "Bondo" as a generic term for all body filler. The Canadian Tire brand is pretty good but I've never used it on glass that was going to be immersed in water. I guess I'll have to learn more about finish applications with resin. Thanks

Epoxy is a type of resin so is polyester and vinylester . Fairing compound is just a thickened resin whether its epoxy , poly or vinyl . One of the popular thickeners is cabosil , its makes a light weight sand able faring compound . Some of the other thickeners are talc , wood flour and chopped or ground glass fibers , the added glass fibers are good for building up areas . For your repair you could use polyester resin its what your boats made out of .

What you have is a piece of cake repair. I've done many that have been a lot worse. Here is a link that I think would be very helpful for you and anyone else with this problem.
Happy boating.
Cal

boatworkstoday.com/archives/1460

Great link Cal. Thank you. It's bookmarked for the G-3 come spring. Mark.

Great link. I watched the first couple videos and now it looks like I'm going to spend the rest of the evening watching the rest of them. Great info. Thanks for sharing. -Terry