TOPIC: Mystery Boat hull questions

Been doing alot of thinking about project options. In process of getting "old boat guy" out to evaluate condition. Could these cracks be normal? If they are not and I have to fix, how difficult could it be to remold the hull? If knockoff boat guys were doing it in the fifties, I think it might be a possibility, although it would be an incredible amount of work. I am also attempting to title the boat through Texas Parks&Wildlife, to see if they can identify the boat. I was told that if there are existing Texas registration numbers, they have to do the research on its history to title it. We will see.

I've run in to that in several different boats that I've redone- to some extent.

To me, it didn't look like it was part of the hull layup. Rather, it appeared that when they glassed the stringers in, they just kind of saturated them with resin, and the resin 'pooled' up in the hull, resulting in areas like this that were just resin, no glass. Resin is brittle- and it cracks.

I suppose it was done like that because they were just trying to crank 'em out as fast as possible, and this was under the floor, where no one would see it anyway. I've seen some really strange stuff down there

-Andrew

Next question, am I going to be able to bond to 40+ year old resin? It sure does look well cured! Are those baitwells, or battery boxes?

Yeah, You'll have to grind it all down anyway... The poly will form a pretty good bond with the old resin once it's been roughed up and cleaned. Epoxy will bond even better- and is an option as well. I use epoxy for the most part in my restoration work, I just like working with it better... It does cost a LOT more, though.

-Andrew

Andrew's right. All that old resin should be removed. If you glass over it, the new resin will also crack. Try this. In the places where the resin is loose, try to break up the resin with something like a wood or rubber mallot. Don't hit it too hard. If it's not loose then you will have to grind. Those don't look like bait tanks. They'er not easily accessible. I might be wrong. Don't forget to wear long sleeve shirt and protective mask when grinding resin.

Craig.