Seemed like a good idea at the time?

[stickinthemud57]

I came to the realization today that one of the previous owners of my Hunter 170 decided to overlay the gunwales and deck with a layer of fiberglass, presumably to cover some cracks that were appearing in those areas. Trouble is, a lot of that is delaminating and is either falling off or needs to be peeled off. Spent the better part of the day pulling these sections off. Now I need to try to seal them, sand them, and paint them. Fun and games!

 

[BobbyFunn]

What the PO did appears to be criminal. Good luck with the repairs.

 

[stickinthemud57]

The sad thing is that it appears they put a lot of effort into it. Didn't really look bad on the whole, but talk about ill-advised!

I got the worst of it off and sanded out today. Final sanding and painting remain. I'll just have to wait and see if any of the rest of it starts to come loose.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Does it looked like prep was done on the luran? All scuffed up and what not?

Its really hard to get luran prepped so that large areas will accept epoxy. It "fish eyes" like crazy, and the dust will fish eye a perfectly good application.

Remember the coefficent thing? The luran was expanding at noon and contracting at dawn. The glass on top less so.

I have a big job that i still consider experimental. But so far so good. The key was minimal overlap

 

[stickinthemud57]

No, the Luran looks smooth except for a few places where they patched moderate cracks. That was the main thing that tipped me off. When I removed the first bit of delaminated glass, I was thinking "This looks more like a finished surface than the finished surface". Lightbulb moment. I think they were going for a consistent look for the final layer, because there were not really very many cracks. I think they would have done better with some JB Weld and a coat of paint, which is what my current approach is. I have found a very good color match with Rust-Oleum Painter's touch 2X Ultracover White. I will use gloss for the hull and flat for the upper deck.

Overall the boat is sound. I have found one spongy part on the lower deck a bit aft of the centerboard, but that's another project for another day.

 

[Shorefun]

As you have found out epoxy and poly will not bond to the Luran. JB weld will not bond either, you will be wasting your money. If you want to fix it you need MA. In the other thread the guy found a low cost source for MA.

 

[stickinthemud57]

Shorefun,

MA, methyacrylate, correct?

I appreciate your steering me away from an unsuccessful attempt at repair. Thanks.

You referred to the "other thread". Could it be this one, by any chance?

Most of the cracks on my 170 are pretty small, thank goodness, and call for only a small amount of material to fill. Given the expense of the Plexus MA300 product, the 3-6 minute working time, and the relatively large quantities that have to be used at one go, I have opted for now to see if I can seal these cracks up with more commonly-available materials. None of them are affecting the structure of the hull, just creating places where moisture can get in.

Now, if there were an MA product I could mix in small quantities, that would be great, but from what I can gather, that doesn't work with this product. Once you crack it open, you have to use it, and use it pretty quickly. If anyone is aware of such a product, I would be very interested to learn more.

Thanks again!

 

[Shorefun]

Honestly, but the large pack and a bunch of mixing ends and a good gun to squeeze it out.
Pre grind all the cracks.
Clean with alcohol and make sure they are dry.
Have rags and acetone handy along with a body filler scraper.
Load a foot or two of crack, set gun down and make sure the tip is over something like a rag.
Spread the glue on the crack, keep in mind this will push some through to the other side.
Pick up gun and continue laying a bead.
When done pull mixing tip off and discard, cover tubes.

Seal the leftover glue in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer for later use once you are done.

Keep in mind the MA lets you fix plastic stuff you could not fix before. I have used it for a few other fixes that I could not have done without that glue. Very handy stuff to have around.

In the end, the time and effort to do any repairs will be lost to not using the right glue. When done the joint will be structurally glued together, maybe stronger then other parts. While you could 'seal' the joints with other glues you will not be bonding the sections together. This may be opening up the possibility of much more cracking.

 

[Rictifyit]

@stickinthemud57 The name of the Company that sells Methacrylate (Plexus) for less is Infinity Bond. Their MA is about half the price. They are connected with another branch called Gluegun.com, which will sell the gun needed to easily dispense the MA. They sell MA in different curing times. I bought the MA330, which takes about 25-30 minutes to "go off" I just finished 25 repairs with it yesterday. Buy the mixing nozzles at the same site, on the same page as the MA. I didn't do that, trying to save pennies, and had to reorder the correct nozzles. The price through this company makes it cost effective. 10 X 50ml cartridges was reasonable. I liked the 30 minute cure time, as it gave me time to just be me, old and slow. I looked up the Invoice. 10 X 50ml cartridges was $120.00. I'm not sure if you can buy one at a time, but it would be worth a call. 844 366 7272, or 800 401 1441

 

[stickinthemud57]

Excellent info. Thanks!

 

[Rictifyit]

You're Welcome! Just finished the third coat on my cracks. That is, the boat's cracks! It seems to be a great product. After all, Methacrylate, is Methacrylate, whether or not it's called Plexus, or whatever. Today I found out that is sands well, and doesn't load up the paper too much. One thing, try too make sure you apply it while outside, or with some good ventilation if inside. A fan is even good outside, to blow the fumes away from you. The stuff is pretty smelly, and will make you a little high if you get to many whiffs. It's not terrible, but it's not like a good high. Time "airing out" outside is recommended if you get loopy from it. Seems to go well with IPA while airing one's self.

 

[stickinthemud57]

Ooo. Watch that mixing volatile fumes with alcohol. I heard a story about a guy who spent the day lightly buzzed on the fumes of dope paint then dropped dead after drinking a beer! May be coincidence, but why tempt fate?!

 

[BigEasy]

That's good stuff! I used Plexus MA300 to reattach a de-bonded handle on one of my Lewmar deck hatches. Lightly sanded both surfaces and cleaned well. Used Plexus sparingly and clamped overnite. Repair is holding up well after 2 years. When I researched it initially, I found that Lewmar used a methacrylate product initially during manufacturing. No screws nor bolts, just adhesive.

With regards to volatile fumes, I had a friend whose brother died of noxious fume inhalation. He was working alone, in an enclosed garage and gluing a carpet liner under the deck, in the forepeak, inside the boat. Later that evening, when he didn't return home (pre cell phone era),
someone went to check on him and found him unconscious. Unfortunately, it was too late. Got to careful with these products.