SMC Hull Repair Help Needed

Thanks gonzo. I will do that. It's in the bottom and no one pays attention to it anyways.

 

Typical paint store universal colorants are not the same as colorants used for epoxy and polyester.

 

gel coat is gelcoat paint is paint the two dont mix !! the carbo is dry and neevs to be mixed with the gelcoat with a little resin and styrene wax to seal the surface and make i go hard all way through !! The glass thats been worn off needs to be replaced so have a look at a new ish boat and the shape of it could be the indicator as to how much has been worn away . ake a small straight edge to lay across the surface and do a little measureing . I would think the hull could have a sharpish vee inthe front to make it track straight and help with cornering as well . its a perfect place were a heavy Kevlar could be used when the hull is being manufactured but not now . csm is the best choice of glass in a wearing situation as the strands are shortish and wont rip long threads out !!,combined with carbo mixed in the resin and impregnated and then in the tooling gel (tooling as harder then standard gel coat )with a little resin mixed to make the gel coat flatten out and smoothen . Remember once its hard you wont be able to sand or do anything to it , nothing will touch it !! you wont be able to sand it or grind it !! nothing !!
just mask our a nice neat patch thats even if its not a perfect colour match wont look odd its a special wearing strip !
The hull we did were bright yellow so the carbo showed up as a grayish yellow but was masked to ashape and didnt look out of place because it was a wearing strip down the middle and across the back edge of the hull !!!.

 

Waverunners don't have gelcoat, they are painted.

 

I am only telling you what i have done and what i have used , if you want to do it the same way then its your choice !! you are not being told to do it my way or else , Paint or gel coat is your choice . like i said its glass and gel coat is what we used . there are some pretty tough paints out there in the two pot market place

 

Gentlemen,

I am going to west marine to pick up supply this weekend. I am going to get started on it right away. It took some mental preparation for me as I have to work on it under the trailer.

My question for you. The bottom of the ski as it stands right now, has some small holes/void. For me to have the best adhesion, I have to either grind everything an extra layer or sand and fill then glass. I do not want to grind, I have no experience and don't want to take off too much. Is there any filler that you recommend for this application so I can fill then sand and glass? Can I use micro-baloons and epoxy for example?

I ride this ski in rough water at high speeds, if I do a poor job, I am sure with flexing that they see, the repair will start peeling off. I'd like to do it right.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

west systems has a 404 high density filler, mix it with resin to get desired thickness to use as a filler.
Don't be too afraid with grinding..... you can always add resin

 

brker1:

Thanks for the tip. From the pictures, do you think it's necessary I get a grinder to it? or could I get by some 80 grit sand papers/block or even a sander and smooth then fill?

 

I took another look at your pics.... it doesn't look bad at all. If you can rough up the areas.
I use a 1/4 die grinder with a 3" 60 grit disk, the disk does not have a backing so its flexible. I work fast in the damaged area just to create a better adhesion environment. If you gonna be working upside down i would use the 404 to thicken and strengthen the resin. It pretty cheap (15.00) and works well. Being the bottom of your pwc looks is probably not much of an issue so sand only to rough then put some mat and just sand to blend. meaning I wouldn't go deep with sanding so that the resin/matt is a perfect flat finish with the existing hull....... does this make sense to you

 

Thanks so much!
Yes, I will have to work upside down. I don't have a grinder, if its needed I will buy one. I do have a sander, do you think I can do the following without grinding

1. Sand with 80 grit... roughen things up
2. Fill with the 404 filler and west system epoxy
3. Sand to get it smooth, maybe with 180-220 grit?
4. Lay glass over the filler, what weight glass do you recommend? Should I get cloth or mat? sorry this was brought up before but want to finalize it. Also can I do it in sections rather than one long piece?
5. sand to get a smooth finish
6. paint

I agree with you, looks not that critical at all, I want to have good adhesion and seal the bottom from detoriation.

 

Hi

Hers's how I would proceed

1. Sanding should be fine 80 or rougher
2. apply resin/404
3. apply glass and work into the filler (I use popsicle sticks for small areas to spread)
4. apply resin/404 over glass and work it spread it.
you will see the resin "wets out" once it has been sitting for a bit

you will have plenty of pot life compared to glass.. sometimes it like watching water boil

Nothing is structural I think either glass would be fine

Doing it all in one shot would be best then rough sand to shape and finish sand till you're happy... then paint... no primer needed

You may want to add black dye and save you the need to paint. It will most likely have a cloudy black finish when finally cured. ( I never used any color other than white) so you may want to paint

 

Thank you so much for detailing out the work for me!

I can't thank you enough.

What weight glass should I buy?

When you say doing all in one shot what steps should be done in one shot? I thought I have to wait until each step cures before proceed to the next.

I can't thank you enough for your help. I took it to a shop, the guy wanted $2000.... then he came down to $1000 and started telling me, integrity of my hull is very questionable with this damage...

I didn't buy his BS and walked away...

Thanks again,
Reza
p.s. I tried to email and PM you but it didn't allow me so I am posting it here. Thanks again.

 

6 oz will work

All in one shot is glass and resin work....

If you can apply resin and glass together it will cure as one. It can be done separately but personally I wouldn't, It just adds another layer of bond that doesn't have to be there

 

Thanks very much... I will take pictures and document the process...

 

The photos show that it is just wear from rubbing on the beach. It only needs sanding to clean the surface.