Delamination problem

mikemcdonald50

New Member
My next problem on my old Mod1 is delamination of the hull in one spot. How do I go about fixing this? I have a friend who builds airplanes and has plenty of fiberglass material. Can I just cut away the loose stuff and glass in a new piece of cloth over it? I don't care at all about aesthetics. I am only hoping for strength and water-tightness. Help, please...
 
Depends on the severity. If it's just a small bubble, drill a small hole and inject some poly resin. Press down to flatten and then fair it smooth after curing. If it's a large area where the sheets are separated big time, you may want to pick up a book on fiberglass repair, no telling what you may find as you get into it.
 
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Ouch. If it's only one layer, then you could remove the damaged section and reglass. Again, sand it back down level. If it's water damaged and multiple layers are involved, that's past my abilities. Just be sure to go a bit past the delamination into the good stuff, that way you are anchoring to sound material and won't have to do it again in a few years.
 
West Marine Fiberglass and Gelcoat DVD

I'd highly recommend West Marine's Fiberglass and Gelcoat DVD instructional video. It really helps with explaining how to perform a lot of fiberglass repairs on boats. It was only $20. While it is skewed towards using thier product, the techniques they cover apply to pretty much any fiberglassing system.
 
West Epox

And the technical help advisors at their 800 number are the best: patient, knowledgeable to a fault and very thorough.
 
I have not had to do any repairs to my mod 2 (as yet), but all my research on the subject recommend using Epoxy Resin for proper adhesion. It is a bit more expensive than Polyester but then you're not building a boat!
 

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