Hello guys:
I just bought a used sunfish that needs a little bit more tlc than expected. As i work on different issues, others pop up, and at this point, i wanted to ask some questions and advice.
-Gelcoat Spider Cracks:
The topic of spider cracks and radial cracks has been discussed at length in the forum, from what i see. I have both:
-Radial Cracks from the glue disks
-Spider cracks from impacts.
The boat has been leak tested already, so i know most of them don't go through. I started carving the cracks until i get to the fiber, and to my inexperienced eye, there is no fiber damage (Pictures a Below)
Questions are:
- Filler vs Gel coat? I was thinking of filling the gaps with gel coat (Since a have a can already) with a little bit of wax, and then sand it. I see a lot of people uses fillers, and i was wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of both. For filler i have Evercoat formula 27 and something called ez-tex marine, which is a 50 50 Mix.
Filler would be fairly straightforward to use, anyone has any tips on applying gelcoat to the cracks?, or even what is the best tool to use, to insure as little air is trapped as possible?
-While grinding down the cracks, even though it is unintended, sometimes a little bit of the fiber gets grind too. How much will this weak the structure? This is specially concerning with spider cracks that have long cracks. Examples of the cracks are below, the one on the angle of the hull is one of the long ones.
20181023_062627.jpg
20181023_062627.jpg
20181023_062722.jpg
20181023_062540.jpg
Hull and Foam:
I have installed two inspection ports, one aft, almost where the tiller is, and another one between the splashguard and the cockpit (Standard locations).
Now, as i mentioned, i have radial cracks from the glue disks (This boat look like it fell at one point). I can see them on both sides and even on the inside of the cockpit.
At the same tame, the hull flexes between the cockpit and the bow. I imagine this is due to the foam blocks getting detached from the hull. I was expecting to have to foam the blocks again, but what concerned me is that when i flex the hull in the mentioned place, next to the keel, i hear cracking. The gel coat is not cracking so i wonder if it is the fiber layer? Is this normal? picture below:
20181023_063245.jpg
Bump in hull:
Anyone knows what that bump in the picture could be? The weird thing is that it looks textured. Like it was pressed to something with a texture, or like its letting a texture from the core material through. I don't think that shows much in the picture:
20181023_063049.jpg
Scratch guard holes:
I took out the scratch guard from the boat, as some cracks were extending under it. I am going to have to fill the holes/fix the fiber cracks on the sandwiched deck and hull, was wondering if anyone has recommendations on this. Picture of an example:
20181023_062917.jpg
Thanks for your help and comments!
Regards
Thanks a lot!
Regards
I just bought a used sunfish that needs a little bit more tlc than expected. As i work on different issues, others pop up, and at this point, i wanted to ask some questions and advice.
-Gelcoat Spider Cracks:
The topic of spider cracks and radial cracks has been discussed at length in the forum, from what i see. I have both:
-Radial Cracks from the glue disks
-Spider cracks from impacts.
The boat has been leak tested already, so i know most of them don't go through. I started carving the cracks until i get to the fiber, and to my inexperienced eye, there is no fiber damage (Pictures a Below)
Questions are:
- Filler vs Gel coat? I was thinking of filling the gaps with gel coat (Since a have a can already) with a little bit of wax, and then sand it. I see a lot of people uses fillers, and i was wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of both. For filler i have Evercoat formula 27 and something called ez-tex marine, which is a 50 50 Mix.
Filler would be fairly straightforward to use, anyone has any tips on applying gelcoat to the cracks?, or even what is the best tool to use, to insure as little air is trapped as possible?
-While grinding down the cracks, even though it is unintended, sometimes a little bit of the fiber gets grind too. How much will this weak the structure? This is specially concerning with spider cracks that have long cracks. Examples of the cracks are below, the one on the angle of the hull is one of the long ones.
20181023_062627.jpg
20181023_062627.jpg
20181023_062722.jpg
20181023_062540.jpg
Hull and Foam:
I have installed two inspection ports, one aft, almost where the tiller is, and another one between the splashguard and the cockpit (Standard locations).
Now, as i mentioned, i have radial cracks from the glue disks (This boat look like it fell at one point). I can see them on both sides and even on the inside of the cockpit.
At the same tame, the hull flexes between the cockpit and the bow. I imagine this is due to the foam blocks getting detached from the hull. I was expecting to have to foam the blocks again, but what concerned me is that when i flex the hull in the mentioned place, next to the keel, i hear cracking. The gel coat is not cracking so i wonder if it is the fiber layer? Is this normal? picture below:
20181023_063245.jpg
Bump in hull:
Anyone knows what that bump in the picture could be? The weird thing is that it looks textured. Like it was pressed to something with a texture, or like its letting a texture from the core material through. I don't think that shows much in the picture:
20181023_063049.jpg
Scratch guard holes:
I took out the scratch guard from the boat, as some cracks were extending under it. I am going to have to fill the holes/fix the fiber cracks on the sandwiched deck and hull, was wondering if anyone has recommendations on this. Picture of an example:
20181023_062917.jpg
Thanks for your help and comments!
Regards
Thanks a lot!
Regards