I have a few places on my O'Day 19 that I need to repair the fiberglass on. Any advice on the best product to use? I have attached some pics of the boat and the areas that need work.
O'Day 19 Fiberglass repair
- Thread starter Aqualung74
- Start date
Whatever paint is on the bottom is ready to fall off. You'll need to sand it down, figure out what's underneath the white and then apply a compatible paint
The bow damage will likely require some epoxy (TotalBoat performs the same as West Systems) and some gelcoat. Don't expect an exact gelcoat match
The bow damage will likely require some epoxy (TotalBoat performs the same as West Systems) and some gelcoat. Don't expect an exact gelcoat match
Thank you. I will give that a shot. Not too concerned about matching the gelcoat. At what point does damage like this require new fiberglass instead of epoxy?
Whatever is on the bottom needs to come off before any one can recommend a repair.
The bow looks to be mostly gelcoat damage with a little bit of damage to the glass. The glass looks like either Chopped Strand Mat (CSM) or chopper gun. Its primary purpose is to hide print through from the underlying layers of cloth making not really a structural issue. To repair those areas, sand the gelcoat and feather out the damage by about an inch or so from the exposed glass and fill in with gelcoat paste. Over fill damage a bit. Once it is cured, scrub the area with Dawn dish detergent to remove the wax that is in the gelcoat and wipe with some denatured alcohol. Polyester resins (gelcoat is polyester) do not cure if exposed to air, wax is added to seal the gelcoat. The was floats to the surface and seals it. Now the fun begins, start sanding the patch with successively finer sand paper ending with 1000 or higher wet sand paper. Try starting with 220 or 320. Finish with a rubbing compound and wax.
The bow looks to be mostly gelcoat damage with a little bit of damage to the glass. The glass looks like either Chopped Strand Mat (CSM) or chopper gun. Its primary purpose is to hide print through from the underlying layers of cloth making not really a structural issue. To repair those areas, sand the gelcoat and feather out the damage by about an inch or so from the exposed glass and fill in with gelcoat paste. Over fill damage a bit. Once it is cured, scrub the area with Dawn dish detergent to remove the wax that is in the gelcoat and wipe with some denatured alcohol. Polyester resins (gelcoat is polyester) do not cure if exposed to air, wax is added to seal the gelcoat. The was floats to the surface and seals it. Now the fun begins, start sanding the patch with successively finer sand paper ending with 1000 or higher wet sand paper. Try starting with 220 or 320. Finish with a rubbing compound and wax.
I took top side paint of the bottom of a 19' boat once. I used a sander and paint remover gel. It took half a summer. I'd probably let the water do it's thing for a season, spot sand and paint over it if I had to do it again.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,816
It would appear that the bow is damaged Gelcoat. I’d guess that coming in hot to the dock was the cause. If the underlying glass is sound you could put dab of epoxy to stabilize the underlying glass mat. Then use a fairing compound to smooth and shape the surface. Follow that with some color matching gelcoat and you good to go.
The bottom could be cracked paint, gelcoat that is split, or anyone’s guess. I would grind out the cracks and expose the problem to solid surface. Then assess what to do next.
This is a good time to review Andy’s website BoatworksToday.com. He has years of experience with these types of challenges.
The folks at Total Boat have good products for these kinds of repairs.
The bottom could be cracked paint, gelcoat that is split, or anyone’s guess. I would grind out the cracks and expose the problem to solid surface. Then assess what to do next.
This is a good time to review Andy’s website BoatworksToday.com. He has years of experience with these types of challenges.
The folks at Total Boat have good products for these kinds of repairs.
I needed to redo the bottom of my Bandit 15 after hurricane Bob caused the trailer rollers to punch thru the hull. It was much easier with the hull turned over so that I was working on a comfortable platform. I highly recommend working that way. Working underneath the boat reaching up sucks. I could turn that boat over by myself - it was a little hairy controlling the drop. But the worst that could happen is that it would drop uncontrolled. Not a game changer for a 400 lb boat. Mariner is different but figure a way to make the work surface as comfortable as possible. And take that bottom down to where it needs to go.
The port side bow chip might qualify for a bit of thickened resin but unless you already have some laying around, I would just do gelcoat. The bow is one of the tougher parts of the boat. There isn't enough damage to have any ill effects, as long as you cover up the exposed fibers in a reasonable amount of time. As you can see on your boat, O'Day put blue gelcoat down before the white. It was the same on my 25. I'm not sure how it would affect color in the end.
A friend of mine worked at a boat yard. The fiberglass guys would start out with white gelcoat, add a drop or two at a time and put a little bit on the boat. If it wasn't a match they'd simply wipe it off. Every time they added a drop, they marked it down for future use. It significantly sped up repairs down the line