Small repair on a SeaRay Bow Rider boat

[tommullin]

Hi All,

Any advice on a small repair for a fibreglass boat hull? Its just a little scrape, but looks like its gone through the gel coat and you can see the fibreglass underneath. Its above the waterline, but don't want water getting in there. Looking at some local product called 'MagicEzy 9 Second Chip Fix', but it looks like it might not be meant for anything other than cosmetic fixing.

Really need a repair that lasts, but also looks good. And as quick and easy as possible!

Hand for scale (sorry no coffee mug)

Thanks

 

[Johnnybravo]

Need to find a stockist of colour coded welding electrodes for fibreglass
With fibreglass boats there is no such thing as quick, easy,or cheap.

 

[Barking Mat]

Belfast with matching pigment, good luck!

 

[cheb]

Gel coat filler or epoxy and pigment. Mix the filler and pigment, take a sample, add hardener and check the colour when it's set. Adjust pigmented filler and repeat until you've a match. Llewelyn Ryland used to do pigments.

Ask if the manufacturer does matched repair kits? Or will they tell you the name of their pigment supplier

 

[addjunkie]

Get some gelcoat of the right colour, hardner etc. Fill the scratch proud, cover it with masking tape, pushing any air out as you smooth it down.
Once set. Remove tape, and delicatly remove excess, and sand with a block, down to 1600 wet and dry. Then polish.

 

[Rig Pig]

@W.olly is probably the man to ask, it looks like a respray of the side or a cunningly placed sticker will be needed after the repair.

 

[Keith 66]

If the boat is relatively recent you may be able to get some gel to match from them. On topsides getting a perfect match aint easy. I have been doing it for 35 years & still find it hit or miss. If its polyester gel use that, epoxy is a waste of time for cosmetic gel work.
East coast fibreglass sell what you need. Sand the gouge out so it has a clean feathered edge & once you think you have a good match you can fill with gel, you may need to hold it from sagging with sellotape. Cut back with wet & dry & polish. If you are lucky it will look great. Sometimes you think it matches then once polished it sticks out like an ugly wart!
One job i did 30 years ago still grins at me every time i see it & i had three goes at it. Another job i did a few years back i told the owner "She is 30 years old gonna be hard to match that white". I just slapped the first bit of white gel i happened to have in & it was so good once i compounded it I couldnt see where it had been. Doesnt happen like that often!

 

[Bullet2012]

If the boat is relatively recent you may be able to get some gel to match from them. On topsides getting a perfect match aint easy. I have been doing it for 35 years & still find it hit or miss. If its polyester gel use that, epoxy is a waste of time for cosmetic gel work.
East coast fibreglass sell what you need. Sand the gouge out so it has a clean feathered edge & once you think you have a good match you can fill with gel, you may need to hold it from sagging with sellotape. Cut back with wet & dry & polish. If you are lucky it will look great. Sometimes you think it matches then once polished it sticks out like an ugly wart!
One job i did 30 years ago still grins at me every time i see it & i had three goes at it. Another job i did a few years back i told the owner "She is 30 years old gonna be hard to match that white". I just slapped the first bit of white gel i happened to have in & it was so good once i compounded it I couldnt see where it had been. Doesnt happen like that often!

Agree 100%

 

[W.olly]

As much a said above, easy but pain in the **** job to do, matching the Flowcoat or gel coat is the hardest part, if gel coat then peel ply is good for that as it seals from the air as gel coat needs to set and Flowcoat doesnt as its got wax already added.

Very tedious to me to sand it back to match up without being seen, i can be a bit OCD on some things lol.

here is the page you want, its in there some where with the step by step.

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/topic/westsystemuserguides

Captain Faffer

 

[Keith 66]

Gelcoat cures with a tacky surface so that the subsequent mat & resin will bond to it Flocoat is simply ordinary gel to which a small percentage of Wax in styrene has been added, on curing the wax migrates to the surface excluding the air allowing a glossy cure. You add the wax in styrene & mix it in before you add the catalyst. I have actually used parafin when i ran out of wax solution to do the same job, it works but its not recomended!

 

[Barking Mat]

Belfast was what it chose to predictively describe gel coat as. Oops.

 

[tommullin]

Thanks everyone, some decent suggestions as always, much appreciated!

@barking mat that's a relief... I don't know if the fuel tank is big enough to get to Belfast!

 

[tommullin]

cunningly placed sticker

I like that idea!