Patching Small Holes in Fiberglass???

[faustkaren]

I have found very little info on small hole repair in search engine. I would appreciate any and all input on the subject. The previous owner mounted little clips and jam cleats all over the place. I want to remove them and fill and finish them properly. Any suggestions?

 

[justsomeguy]

I have found very little info on small hole repair in search engine. I would appreciate any and all input on the subject. The previous owner mounted little clips and jam cleats all over the place. I want to remove them and fill and finish them properly. Any suggestions?

I've soaked small dowels in resin and driven them into holes left by hardware removal, after drilling out the hole to a good fit.
Drive the dowel down below the final deck, and fill the top with bits of chopped mat and resin.
Sand down the repair below the surrounding gelcoat, clean and apply gelcoat.
Piece of cake, really. The worst of it is color-matching your gelcoat.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

thickened epoxy, or polyester resin. fill then gelkote.

there are places you can get computer matched gelcote. FCGI for one.

 

[faustkaren]

If I can get below it can I skip the dowel part? I know in a few places I can get to the other side of the screws. I am thinking taping the bottom then adding the resin.

 

[faustkaren]

Mr. Bill, what does FCGI stand for?

 

[CalebD]

The 'use guides' by West System are pretty good: http://www.westsystem.com/ss/boat-repair/

I've used duct tape in the manner you are suggesting. It works just fine for this.

 

[justsomeguy]

If I can get below it can I skip the dowel part? I know in a few places I can get to the other side of the screws. I am thinking taping the bottom then adding the resin.

More'n one way to skin a cat.

 

[Steve Dion]

Marine Tex works well to fill the holes. I like to put masking tape around the hole prior to applying the putty.

Once it cures you can sand it and then use some touch up gelcoat.

 

[seadaddler]

Filler

How about the can of I think 3M marine filler that I see in marine stores,it is suppose to be so easy to use and than sand and coat gelcoat.
Nick

 

[RichH]

Fill the hole 'completely' with epoxy, FRG, marine-tex, etc. and let fully cure.
Followed by grinding down the 'fill' to the equal 'bottom' surface of the original and surrounding gel-coat (taper it into the old gel) .... then apply layers of gelcoat to be slightly higher than the surrounding surface and let fully cure, followed by 'flat sanding' and buffing back to OEM 'shine'.

A final spray coat of gelcoat, large enough 'over-lap' onto the surrounding gelcoat, so the color/hue differences between the old and new color 'blends' visually to the naked eye .... will 'hide' the repair.

Disposable spray gun: http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...t.do?pid=2155&familyName=Preval+Spray+Gun+Kit when using with thinned-out gelcoat in a Preval, remove the small 'screen' on the suction tube and prefilter the diluted gel with a 'paint strainer'. As a next to LAST step - add catalyst for the gel IMMEDIATELY into to the 'bowl' and the spraygun and quickly 'shoot'. Final step of shooting gel- when you have laid up sufficient thickness of gel, then spray on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) also known as 'parting fluid' to fully catalyze and cure the surface of the gel. Just flat-sanding and buffing after that.

 

[caguy]

No one has mentioned chamfering the edges of the holes so that the gel coat fairs into the existing gel coat. It will help to prevent cracking at the joint.

 

[faustkaren]

You folks are great! I LOVE the disposable spray idea Rich. Also, I will definitely remember to chamfer the edges. I know there are tons of repairs on an old boat, but, I'd like to do each one only once if I can help it. I've got the time and the patience and I love to add a new tool to the arsenal when I can justify it.

 

[sailinmike]

I love Jamestown Distributors, I got my color matched Gelcoat from them, but have also found the Preval sprayers at Home Depot for a fairly good price.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Mr. Bill, what does FCGI stand for?

http://www.fgci.com/

sorry a typo

 

[ohfish75]

I've soaked small dowels in resin and driven them into holes left by hardware removal, after drilling out the hole to a good fit.
Drive the dowel down below the final deck, and fill the top with bits of chopped mat and resin.
Sand down the repair below the surrounding gelcoat, clean and apply gelcoat.
Piece of cake, really. The worst of it is color-matching your gelcoat.

Wow i never thought of this. Thanks for the info

 

[justsomeguy]

Wow i never thought of this. Thanks for the info

My go-to guy for fiberglass stuff suggested it to me, so I'll pass your thanks onto him.
You might even cut a couple flutes or blood-gutters in your dowels.

 

[rardiH36]

Some things I follow best practice advice. Certainly that has been very well given for your project in the previous responses.

Other things I do to the criteria of good from a durability/safety standpoint, but not really necessary to achieve industry best practice. All depends on the situation and the time/cost/benefit/outcome tradeoff's. Looking at your profile, you've got an O'day. They haven't been made for a while, so likely the original gelcoat is getting long on the tooth. Matching exactly might be difficult. Particularly the gloss/oxidation differences. Here is my work-around which I have done in several spots on my boat. Most notably on my cockpit walls/bulkheads where PO's had mounted various stuff that either was no longer there when I bought the boat or I removed myself.

- Stuff some quick set epoxy into a syringe. With this, you can fill the hole very precisely without any spill-over.
- Work quickly before the epoxy sets up in the syringe.
- Fill the holes so that the epoxy bulges a bit above the surface, but doesn't spill much over the surround surface.
- Practice on a dummy hole first so you get the feel.
- When the epoxy sets up, but before it is hard, it is easy to "saw" off the bulge flush against the surface with a box cutter knife like in the attached url below. You will have a 30 or so minute window when the partial epoxy set-up will be just right. That is still soft but not sticky. With a bit of feel, the surrounding surface will not be damaged.
- With white paint, maybe mixed with a touch of beige paint so that you can approximate your gelcoat color carefully, dab over the epoxied hole using a small tipped artist's brush. (For paint, and this was four years ago -- still going strong, I sprayed some white Appliance Epoxy spray paint into a small container. Then added a touch of almond color spray paint to dampen the harsh white. Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes in the container to thicken a bit. Then dabbed on over the epoxy.)

The holes covered by this method can be seen either with a slight depression or a slight raise if the angle of light is just right. But really when I'm sitting in my cockpit they don't stand out as unsightly. On my 32 year past new boat, lots of other getting a bit old stuff stands out much more.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-10-C...593?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc4585f09