TOPIC: Repairing Fiberglass

Here's a pictorial of the steps:


1. Someone installed a fuel fill right in the middle of the deck. My job is to make it disappear.




2. The first step is to measure the thickness of the existing fiberglass. In this case, it is 1/8" thick




3. I want to grind back the fiberglass at a 10:1 ratio. This means I have to grind back 1-1/4" all the way around the hole.




4. Measuring 1-1/4" hash-marks.





5. Connecting the hash-marks.




6. An angle grinder with an 80 grit flap wheel will give me a nice smooth taper.




7. As always, protect yourself.




8. I can't grind and take photos at the same time, so here it is after grinding the 10:1 taper.




9. The diameter of the hole is 2"...




10. ...Which makes the total diameter 4-1/2"





11. I want each layer of fiberglass to be 1/4" larger all around than the previous layer. This means I will use a total of five layers to fill the 1-1/4" taper.




12. The lay up schedule.




13. I cut each piece to a measured square...




14. ...Then round off the corners.




15. Denatured alcohol is used...




16. ...To clean the surface.




17. The hole will have to be supported from below in order to properly compress the layers of fiberglass.




18. A non-porous plastic spreader and a scrap piece of pipe do the trick nicely.




19. The materials I'll be using, (notice the extra rags and alcohol for clean up).




20. Adding the MEKP (hardener) to the resin at about 2% by volume.




21. Mix the resin and hardener thoroughly.




22. Wet the surface with catalyzed resin, then start wetting out the layers of fiberglass.




23. Starting with the smallest layer, build up the fiberglass until the tapered hole is filled. Using a stippling technique, ensure there are no voids or air pockets.




24. Excess resin can be cleaned up carefully with a rag dampened with Denatured Alcohol (or acetone, but wear gloves).




25. The surface should be close to fair when it's all finished.




26. Fill the repair with surfacing compound.




Fair the surface and, Voila, no more hole.

Great pictorial! thanks.

Frank

PC1000 wrote:

Great pictorial! thanks.

Frank

X2, good suggestion, the repair will likely be stronger than the original with that layup.

Frank, Love the new sig pic!

Ya like dat do ya Bernie? Ha, ha, my sig pic has more air than yours!

That was a lucky shot on the part of Gregg, my oldest son (33) and once-in-a-while helper on the Power Cat restore. Gonna try and maybe get some good high res pics tomorrow if we're REAL lucky.

Frank

That Helps Out ALOT!!! Thanks for sharing. I get it!!! Mike

That is awesome! Fantastic pictorial! Thank you! I have a discharge hole from an old Glasspar sedan cabin commode to fill in. Perfect instructions. Really none better seen by me.

Mike

All told, the repair took about 30 minutes and the filling and fairing took about an hour and a half (an hour of that was waiting for the surfacing compound to cure)

Great step by step.
That is going to help alot of folks.
Thank you.
Neil

Once again another GREAT learning tool! + 1 karma
Thank you,
Pete

Jamil,
Another excellent tutorial. Thanks for all these great tutorials, they've been a huge help.

Bob

Any chance we could get this thread (and the "Gelcoat Repair" thread www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/main-forum/gelcoat-repair-pictorial#18549 ) posted (with pictures!) in the Research/Restoration area? I have them flagged as favorites, but hate to see them slip down into the history/archives. They are great reference material for novice restorers, IMHO.

Mark,

I too have been thinking the same thing. As a novice restorer and new to the process, this post and the one on Gelcoat are wonderful resources. I would love to see them posted on the Research/Resoration page.

CD

How long between coats? When is it too cold to patch fiberglass? Like the pics it help alot! Thanks