The locker cover for large/very deep port side cockpit locker on my 5 year old 356 is showing signs of wear. Stress cracks are starting to show up in the curved section between the seat and the upright portion of the locker cover. I am thing about adding additional fiberglass to the underside area to beef it up. Have any of you had this problem and if so any idea from the Forum?
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No Obvious cracks
I have a 2002 - 356 and have not seen this condition
However, recognizing this is a very large cover, I have always been conscious of closing gently, not letting it slam.
My concern has always been the hinge attchment points cracking.
Send a picture and i will check my again
I have a 2002 - 356 and have not seen this condition
However, recognizing this is a very large cover, I have always been conscious of closing gently, not letting it slam.
My concern has always been the hinge attchment points cracking.
Send a picture and i will check my again
Just repair the gelcoat cracks and don't sweat it. Fiberglass naturally flexes but gelcoat doesn't, so I don't believe there is a need to add more fiberglass unless you want to make it so that the cracks never come back.
Sure, fiberglass can get flex fatigue, but you'd be surprised to see how much flexing it takes to reach that point. While repairing a major section of my boat from an accident, I did a little test on this fatigue. I took a medium thickness piece of mat fiberglass that I had coated with polyester resin that dryed and tried to flex that to fatigue. I used my hands to bend it about 70 degrees for 5 minutes non-stop as fast as I could. I didn't even break one strand but I got tired so I then increased it to 120 degree bend and still couldn't break any strands. I got frustrated so I then bent the glass almost a full 180 degree bend and finally got it to crack.
So don't sweat the flexing.
Sure, fiberglass can get flex fatigue, but you'd be surprised to see how much flexing it takes to reach that point. While repairing a major section of my boat from an accident, I did a little test on this fatigue. I took a medium thickness piece of mat fiberglass that I had coated with polyester resin that dryed and tried to flex that to fatigue. I used my hands to bend it about 70 degrees for 5 minutes non-stop as fast as I could. I didn't even break one strand but I got tired so I then increased it to 120 degree bend and still couldn't break any strands. I got frustrated so I then bent the glass almost a full 180 degree bend and finally got it to crack.
So don't sweat the flexing.
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