TOPIC: Fiberglass joint repairs

Now that Christmas is over (and some other "no wait" chores are complete) it is time to start some repairs. I've searched for information about this (these) question(s) but couldn't find an answer...maybe it isn't as complex as I'm making it out to be.

In the pictures you will see the "seat bench"?? (not what to call them) that I am repairing. Basically this is the fiberglass form that the seats attach too. I've got a couple of questions that I'm hoping people with past experience have input on.

The first is, see where the "seat bench" (red circle) has cracked away from the floor? Is this just a matter of a normal fiberglass repair where I would clean, sand, clean, layer fiberglass?

The second is, I assume these "seat benches" were at one time intended to be floats in case the boat sinks. Should I seal them up again (close in the big square hole at the top)? Or should I leave them open with the thought that "one way or another, water is going to get back in there and I'll need access to empty them"

how about some pics of the complete boat, an idea of what it will be used for etc. it may be that you just need a lil grinding and glassing.

My son had a small boat built like this and the middle seat eas a live well. It had a fitting in the bottom to leave water in and a hatch you could sit on. The other two were sealed but had a tube that ran through them at the bottom to leave water drain. I do not remember what make it was.

I agree wih ponyboy, We need a bit more information to give you sound advice on how to proceed.

Looks like the tabbing is loose.

There could be a reason why it's loose too that may need some attention. Fiberglass should flex some. How are your wood components?

Repair the access holes by filling with F/G. I cover a piece of ply wood or heavy cardboard bent to the matching shape with packing tape. No wax is needed, believe me, and layup a sheet of glass with un-waxed resin and let cure. Peel it off the mould while 'green'. Grind off the gelcoat around the edges of the holes for about three inches to a feather edge. Your new piece should also have a feather edge and barely fit over the hole. The smooth side of your patch goes to the inside of the hole meaning, the rough side will be glassed over and onto the three inch border. For access if needed, I use one of those hand-hole ports than screw or twist out.

For that tabbing that has broken away, again cut away the offending part and lightly grind the gelcoat away and layup a new tab.

Never ever try to glass over cured gelcoat or paint. It will be a bad bond every time even if it looks okay in the beginning.

the tv show ship shape is suppose to be working on a glastron and they ran into the same problem in one of the early episodes .. they cut it out and reinforced it and then glassed it back in with some bedding. you might be able to go online and watch it from the website.. i haven't seen them working on it in awhile , i wonder if they give up on it. they did the transom and stringers then the front deck and seat boxes. might be worth a look.

Thanks for everyone's input and sorry about the procrastination. Unfortunately things came up that prevented me from progressing on this project. I've resumed working on this again.

I've posted some more pictures, it is hard to give the correct perspective. The boat is a 1960 Leavens Brothers. 14 feet long.

I tried looking into Ship Shape TV but couldn't the episode.

I'm focused on the tabbing right now. I've cut away most of the loose stuff and sanded clean about 2 - 3 inches on each side. I'm going to get a dremal attachment to clean more where tab bends 90 degrees.

One thing I'm worried about is where the tab meets the floor of the boat. I'm able to push on the floor of the boat and make the gap between the tab and the floor larger. Once I fiberglass this, wont it just continue to flex and cause it to separate again?

Thanks
Tim

Two questions with two suggestions:

Is this a boat you just want to use and you want to use it NOW?

If so, you can probably just leave things the way they are & have fun with the boat. Chances are, it can be used the way it is for quite some time, as long as you don't put it in rough water and expect to zip around at high speeds (30 mph plus)

If you are restoring the boat, or just want it repaired "right" , patching that failed joint probably isn't going to solve any problems. The breaks in the tabbing have allowed water to freely get into the structure of the boat. Likely, the plywood seat base has fungus / rot, and core of the boat Under the fiberglass is at least partially deteriorated. The only way to know the condition is to peel away glass and inspect the structure. A wonder bar, rubber mallet, gloves, pliers, safety glasses. If this isn't something you want to get into, you can always patch it up as you wish. But the fact that the glass is no longer boded to the wood suggests that patching will be.... well.. just patching it.

If the boat is usable as it is, I say use it for the summer & have a little fun. Deal with the repairs later.

Bruce

I agree with Bruce, if it is safe use it for the summer and fix it over the winter.

Not familiar with that boat, but when I went to patch the floor in my mfg I found stringers and bulkheads were rotted too.

Sorry for the delay in following up, I've been out of town for the week.

This is family boat that we have had for about 35 years (see my profile picture, that was me a long time ago!) It is used just for flying around and having fun on a small lake/river system. Mostly for my kids now. I've been trying to do some repairs, shine up the gelcoat and rebuild the engine (the boat sank two years ago) after a heavy rain.

"The breaks in the tabbing have allowed water to freely get into the structure of the boat. Likely, the plywood seat base has fungus / rot, and core of the boat Under the fiberglass is at least partially deteriorated."

From the cutting and cleaning I've done, it doesn't appear that there is any wood in the boat. Also, no stringers. Just the fiberglass hull (very thin) and the fiberglass bulkheads (which is the seat frame) which are tabbed in.

i can add to this post. ship shape tv is restoring a glaspar with the same benches they cut them out went on the inside glassed some reinforcements and them made a bedding and set them back in then glassed it all up. they wanted to strengthen the benches to mount seats later on. they wanted to see under them on the bottom of the boat and to just not leave anything to chance. i dont know if you can go online and find that episode but i have been saving them since i started back on mine.