L&VW = Jedi Mind Tricks, be careful...
It takes about 2 hours to develop a proper meld.What should I expect? He was up at 5:30am posting!
You have an older boat get seaworthy and go sailing.
Plastic film materials like Saran Wrap, magazine mailer sleeves, and the common grocery bag are too thin. Look through your recyclables for a firmer clear film that was used to cover food items like Breyers ice cream, bacon or raisins. Press the film from one direction, and milk the bubbles out.Everyone seems to really like the product so I'm not going to waver in my confidence in using it.
1) Really tough to get the putty out of the measuring spoon after scooping.
2) The virgin putty is very sticky so anything that touches it gets the stuff stuck to it.
3) The mixed putty is much easier to work with than the virgin putty, so that made things better.
4) The plastic film trick for smoothing the application did not work for me. It trapped air bubbles and left a rippled surface.
Minwax® Helmsman® Spar Urethane
I'm up to 3 coats so far. I'll probably end at 4. I'm a sucker for pain.
Do you have to buff it out and polish it cause I have wet sanded it and it is still very dull compared to the gelcoat finish.MarineTex can be wetsanded out to near gelcoat appearance. The white MarineTex ends up looking like a true white gelcoat. If your hull is a little off-white, add a pinprick amount of yellow gelcoat tint to match the MarineTex to the hull. Go carefully. A little tint goes a long way.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
I should try this on the top side repairs that are pending. I'll have to find a source. Are there other common substances that I could find more easily for tinting? I honestly don't want to invest in a whole cabinet full of boat chemistry. [Insert "impossible-to-please" emoticon here.] I have not even been to my West Marine shop yet. Shame on me. I'm waiting on a friend to show up with fiberglassing stuff so I can avoid that investment. In the end I can see wanting some of that to slather on everything that ails me. We'll see. Just feeling my way into all this new stuff.If your hull is a little off-white, add a pinprick amount of yellow gelcoat tint to match the MarineTex to the hull.
You all agree I should grind the stripe away or sand heavily, then Marine-tex before painting?
Can I get a little feedback on this one? I just don't think I can paint right over these cracks (see above) without filling. I know I have to fill the hole I popped. I'm thinking light angle grinder on the yellow racing stripe to give the Marine-tex something to bite into before I smooth it over. I know I've been told Rustoleum spray paint, but I was OK with buying a quart of Rust-Oleum-Marine-Coat for the stripes, cockpit and coaming. Is this $16 a waste? Or will it hold up better and cover thicker with a couple coats compared to spray?
Would you do this on the hood of your car....? Does your sunfish need to look as nice as a good car shine?......mearly a flesh wound??Can I get a little feedback on this one? I just don't think I can paint right over these cracks (see above) without filling. I know I have to fill the hole I popped. I'm thinking light angle grinder on the yellow racing stripe to give the Marine-tex something to bite into before I smooth it over. I know I've been told Rustoleum spray paint, but I was OK with buying a quart of Rustoleum Topside paint for the stripes, cockpit and coaming. Is this $16 a waste? Or will it hold up better and cover thicker with a couple coats compared to spray?
At the request of Signal Charlie, I'll start a thread on my repair. Reference: Old Style Rudder - Lower Plate Attachment
Notice I'm not calling it a restoration. Restoration would imply that I have a deep passion for this project. Honestly I just want to get the boat working so my kids and I can go sailing. This opportunity just presented itself for $40 (I gave him $80) - trailer included. So, where I could have found a shorter route to the water, I am a sucker for fixing stuff - even when I don't know what I'm doing. Bear in mind I'm running an expense report, too. So no hiding expenses on this little distraction. I'm up to $350 already! So here goes.
Ours (un-named) is a 1970, old style rudder type, with what appears to be little actual use. The damage is from sitting unloved in the weather and from the improper trailer. We weighed it at 195 pounds. Signal Charlie did a comprehensive (and amusing) analysis to indicate she is full of 8.33 pounds of water. I bet it could be more than that even. I thought dry weight was 120. I'll start in the next week or two to cut two inspection ports and try drying and replacing backer blocks for the old tiller parts. I guess this model pre-dates the said "cheeseburger" foam. I also need to decide how to fix the keel damage caused by the trailering. So I'll get some photos on that soon.
I will show the bow damage. Gel coat repair kit will handle that, I think? I want to change her color eventually too. The 1970-yellow coaming makes me dizzy. We'll do that later...LATER!
The most pressing issue is the inspection port locations. I'll search it out, unless someone wants to just give me dimensions. 12-14" forward of the stern (5"), and centered between the dagger board and the name plate (6")? Can I reach the fairlead backer block from that location, I doubt it.
Welcome aboard.
Larry
Price Notes 80Asking price $40, paid him $80, includes trailer. 50New rigging - Complete: Halyard, Main Sheet, Outhauls, Bungee 50Missing Bronze hardware 40One or two inspection ports $20 each 2.72Drain plug 40Gel Coat for the front bow damage? Spectrum color patch paste 1342/5200 Marine Sealant 26Buffing Compound - Buff Magic 261/4"-20 8" Bronze Bolt with wing nut and washer. #12 x 1-1/4" Screw 15Rudder tube - white nylon tube is 1/4" ID x 1/2" OD x 5 1/4" 342.72
I have had similar results to Alan.You need to use a very fine grit wet/n/dry sandpaper (1,000 grit) used wet then a little rubbing compound. Are you sure the MarineTex was fully cured and hard to the touch?
Alan Glos
Cazenovia. NY
BUSTED!!!!We're all guilty of "Mission-Creep".
Now that's what I'm talking about.As for tinting, I will admit that I have used a little Testors brand model paint to tint gelcoat and MarineTex.
Last night the Crew had a meeting. We tried to agree on a stripe design. Some hold that the rearward stripe, intended as a mask for topside Marine-tex repairs, looks just like a mask for something awkward. We played with narrowing and widening and adding a 4th stripe. All agree we really like the forward twins. I think we’ll make the repairs behind the cockpit before we decide on the
That rear stripe would look better if it matched the direction of the bow stripe, no? Or flip bow stripe direction if that’s how you cover the repair behind cockpit. After I repaired a hole in the deck of my early 70’s Sunfish I blocked off the area with painter’s tape and didn’t worry about finding a perfect color match. The repair was solid, the boat was clean. I also love the idea of adding Sunfish logos, as SC suggests.
And my carriage bolt arrived today, too- from Alan Glos, a good friend of Signal Charlie!Hey Signal Charlie,
The package arrived today. Thanks much. We shall enjoy all of it. I'll read zip when the nappers wake.
CaptainLarry