Weldment Repair Turned Hull Repair

[RustyPelican]

Hello, I am a new owner of a 1974 C22 which was gifted to me. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me already in understanding how this boat is constructed and should be maintained or serviced. I am hoping that I can get a little help and guidance on the approach to a fiberglass repair of the keel hinge pocket resulting from a weldment extraction (gone bad...). In grooming the boat which had sat on the trailer for 5 years with the PO, I discovered she was missing the starboard, aft keel bolt. In short, the fastener was broken off in the weldment and in the process of preparinging to remove the fastener with an extractor the other starboard fastener also failed (with almost no torque applied) in place. After failing to remove either bolt with an extractor, I subsequently excavated both starboard weldments. The forward weldment was punched out from below, cleanly. However, the aft weldment was stubborn and after many hours of pounding and additional excavation still wasn't able to be removed. I subsequently worked from above and found that the weldment plate easily pried off and exhibited significant corrosion on the neck of the bushing. So, I was left with the bushing barrel, still buried in the hull fiberglass. This time, I struck the barrel from above which worked, but... a large, conical plug of fiberglass came with it! Below are pictures of the broken weldment and the fiberglass with SS weldment bushing as removed and also pics of the two pieces fitted together.

So now I am left with a hinge pocket to repair and could really use some thoughts on the best way to repair. below are pictures of the hinge pocket now:

I suppose that I have two options:
1. Build a mold around the outboard hinge pocket area and poor thickened epoxy into the hole (thickened with chopped fiber?). Sand, form and drill new hole for weldment, or
2. Apply highly thickened epoxy from below in successive layers to build up. Then seal from above with poured epoxy. Sand, form and drill new hole for weldment.
Comments or Recommendations?
I will take any advice or commentary you have!

 

[Gene Neill]

Same thing happened during @hawk232's resto process. I think you'll find it near the bottom of page four:

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/in...ing-little-turns-in-to-something-more.168388/

 

[hawk232]

yep, same thing happened to me. was really easy to fix up. I just coated the hanger in automotive wax, then bolted the entire assembly in place (with the keel pin and other bracket to locate and orient the one that only has one bolt holding it in place. from there I built it all back from the inside using biax (starting with pieces that fit the hole perfectly then once thick enough slowly tapering out for surface area and strength, something like 14 layers of 1708 biax). using just thickened resin would leave me very concerned about strength.

 

[RustyPelican]

Thanks to all for the guidance!

 

[CloudDiver]

Not to change the subject, but judging by the rust and heavy flaking on that keel you need to drop it all the way out and get it sandblasted, epoxy sealed, filled, faired, etc... It looks about as bad as mine was.

 

[Pecostx]

Hello, anybody home? I was just wondering if there has been any progress or conclusion to this thread. As I have this ahead of me, I am very interested in methods, processes and outcomes.

Thanks

Geoff